THE INTERNET HONORS AL GORE

The wingnuts still make jokes about Gore for his awkwardly phrased statement about his role in the development of the Internet but now that Gore is getting some quasi-official recognition, it will he harder to keep the jokes alive.

Internet Hall of Fame inducts first members

The inaugural award ceremony for the Internet includes individuals from nine different countries and well-known leaders, such as Tim Berners-Lee, Phil Zimmerman, and even Al Gore.
by Dara Kerr April 23, 2012 5:26 PM PDT
CNET

The Internet Hall of Fame officially kicked off today, inducting big tech names like Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, Mitchell Baker, and Brewster Kahle. This was the inaugural award ceremony sponsored by the Internet Society to celebrate more than 30 pioneers, innovators, and global connectors of the Web. 

...former vice president Al Gore, who the Internet Society said was "a key proponent of sponsoring legislation that funded the expansion of and greater public access to the Internet."

Here's the online Gore acknowledgment:

INTERNET HALL of FAME GLOBAL CONNECTOR
Al Gore

Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States, was a key proponent of sponsoring legislation that funded the expansion of and greater public access to the Internet. Instrumental in helping to create the “Information Superhighway,” Gore was one of the first government officials to recognize that the Internet’s impact could reach beyond academia to fuel educational and economic growth as well.

Gore’s interest in computers dates back to the 1970s when he was a Congressman, where he had a reputation for being an “Atari Democrat.” He created the High-Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991 (the Gore Bill), which allocated $600 million for high performance computing and helped create the NREN (National Research and Educational Network). In addition, the Gore Bill created the National Information Infrastructure (NII) also known as the Information Superhighway.

In his essays entitled “Infrastructure for the Global Village,” and “No More Information Have and Have Nots,” Gore recognized the importance of building the information infrastructure and making it available to everyone. As the first administration to launch an official website, federal agencies were mandated to fully utilize technology to make agency information available to the public. Additionally, through his involvement with Net Day, Gore made it his mission to connect “every classroom to the Internet by the year 2000.”