[IP] ucla on internet conference

There's a phrase in this announcement that I strongly disagree with: "ARPANET, which later became the Internet".

While it is clear that many in the Internet community began work in the ARPANET project, that ARPA did indeed fund the development of the Internet technologies in the earliest days, and that some of the key application technologies in the ARPANET were carried forward into the Internet,
in fact the Internet did not one day "become the Internet". That perspective is historically wrong.

The Internet work was begun as a way to unify and interconnect networks that were not part of the Internet. In particular, the Packet Radio project, Satellite networking projects, a variety of Local Area Networking projects (including the one at MIT called LCSNET, where I was based) each were part of the Internet development activity, and had operational systems that had nothing to do with the Internet, well before the Internet was the primary mode of using the ARPANET. The Internet began with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn.

This observation does NOT take anything away from those pioneers who created packet networking, the ARPANET, etc. It's worth celebrating their accomplishments.

However, historic accuracy matters more than many think. It was the careful thinking that Cerf and Kahn started with their initial publication of the TCP work that led to a world-wide network that was not "owned" or controlled by the US Department of Defense for its own purposes. The decoupling of the Internet from a particular set of hardware and user community was crucial.

I do not understand why this highly distorted view of history persists in being promoted.

On 10/16/2009 10:01 AM, David Farber wrote:

Begin forwarded message:

From: Leonard Kleinrock <lk@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: October 15, 2009 10:05:57 PM PDT
To: David Farber <dfarber@cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: For IP

Hi Dave,

Long time since we have chatted. Hope all is well with you.

If you find it suitable, please post the following announcement to your mailing list.

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On October 29, 2009, UCLA Engineering will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Internet with a Symposium that focuses not on the history or even on the technology, but rather on the impact the Internet has had on society, business, communities, lifestyles, culture, etc., and on the likely directions it will take in the future.

Forty years ago, a team led by UCLA's Professor Leonard Kleinrock, sent the first message on the ARPANET, which later became the Internet. The Internet has revolutionized communication, education, business and entertainment leading to dramatic changes in our social, political and economic lives.

What's next? The event's featured Internet leaders, activists and analysts will offer valuable insights on the opportunities and pitfalls that lie ahead. Please check the website http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/IA40/index.html for detailed information.

During this event, an IEEE Milestone Award will be unveiled by IEEE President John R. Vig.

The keynote address will be given by Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman of One Laptop Per Child.

Other Featured Speakers include:

Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
John Taylor, Co-Founder & Bassist, Duran Duran
John Perry Barlow, Co-Founder & Vice Chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Shiva Shivakumar, Vice President, Google, Inc.
Michael Morhaime & Frank Pearce, Co-Founders, Blizzard Entertainment
Mark Bregman, Chief Technology Officer, Symantec
Thomas Gewecke, President of Digital Distribution, Warner Brothers
Regina Dugan, Director, DARPA
Gary Bridge,SVP, Cisco

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Best regards,

Len

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