High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991

The High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 (HPCA) is an Act of Congress promulgated in the 102nd United States Congress as Pub.L. 102-194 on 1991-12-09. Often referred to as the Gore Bill,^[1] it was created and introduced by then Senator Albert Gore, Jr., and led to the development of the National Information Infrastructure and the funding of the National Research and Education Network (NREN).^[1][2][3]

The act built on prior U.S. efforts of developing a national networking infrastructure, starting with the ARPANET in the 1960s, and the funding of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFnet) in the 1980s. The renewed effort became known in popular language as building the Information Superhighway.^[2][4] It also included the High-Performance Computing and Communications Initiative and spurred many significant technological developments, such as the Mosaic web browser,^[5] and the creation of a high-speed fiber optic computer network.

Overview

Further information: Al Gore and information technology

Senator Al Gore developed the Act^[1] after hearing the 1988 report Toward a National Research Network^[6] submitted to Congress by a group chaired by UCLA professor of computer science Leonard Kleinrock, one of the creators of the ARPANET, which is regarded as the eve network of the Internet.^[7]

The bill was enacted on 1991-12-09 and led to the National Information Infrastructure (NII)^[8] which Gore referred to as the "information superhighway". President George H. W. Bush predicted that the Act would help "unlock the secrets of DNA," open up foreign markets to free trade, and a promise of cooperation between government, academia, and industry.^[9]

Among the many technological achievements that resulted from the funding of the Gore Bill, was the development of Mosaic in 1993,^[5][10] the World Wide Web browser software which is credited by most scholars as beginning the Internet boom of the 1990s:

Gore's legislation also helped fund the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, where a team of programmers, including Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, created the Mosaic Web browser, the commercial Internet's technological springboard. 'If it had been left to private industry, it wouldn't have happened,' Andreessen says of Gore's bill, 'at least, not until years later.' ^[11]

Controversy

Following a 1999 CNN interview Gore became the subject of some controversy and ridicule when his expression I took the initiative in creating the Internet^[12] was widely quoted out of context, indeed often misquoted, by comedians and the popular media who took his expression to be a claim that he personally had invented the Internet.^[13] But Gore's actual words were widely reaffirmed by notable Internet pioneers, such as Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, who stated, "No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice President."^[14]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Computer History Museum – Exhibits – Internet History – 1990s
2. ^ ^{a b} Information Superhighway Envisioned-Legislation Pending to Establish National Computer Network
3. ^ NREN | Technology Resources
4. ^ FCLJ Vol 46, No. 3 – Blake and Tiedrich
5. ^ ^{a b} NCSA Mosaic – September 10, 1993 Demo
6. ^ Kleinrock, Leonard; Kahn, Bob; Clark, David; et al. (1988). "Toward a National Research Network". http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=NI000393. Retrieved 2007-06-01 
7. ^ Kleinrock, Leonard; Cerf, Vint; Kahn, Bob; et al. (2003-12-10). "A Brief History of the Internet". http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml#Transition. Retrieved 2007-06-01 
8. ^ Chapman, Gary; Rotenberg, Marc (1993). "The National Information Infrastructure:A Public Interest Opportunity". http://www.cpsr.org/prevsite/publications/newsletters/old/1990s/Summer1993.txt. Retrieved 2007-06-01 
9. ^ Bush, George H.W. (9 December 1991). "Remarks on Signing the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991". bushlibrary.tamu.edu (George Bush Presidential Library). http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=3723&year=1991&month=12. Retrieved 2008-01-16. 
10. ^ "Mosaic – The First Global Web Browser". livinginternet.com. http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_mosaic.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-01. 
11. ^ Perine, Keith (23 October 2000). "The Early Adopter – Al Gore and the Internet – Government Activity". findarticles.com (The Industry Standard). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HWW/is_43_3/ai_66672985/print. Retrieved 2007-06-01. 
12. ^ "Transcript: Vice President Gore on CNN's 'Late Edition'". CNN (CNN). 9 March 1999. http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcript.gore. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 
13. ^ Urban legend on Snopes.com: "Al Gore Invented the Internet"
14. ^ Kahn, Bob; Cerf, Vint (2000-09-29). "Al Gore and the Internet". http://amsterdam.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0009/msg00311.html. Retrieved 2007-06-02 

• Gore, Al. "Infrastructure for the global village: computers, networks and public policy." Scientific American Special Issue on Communications, Computers, and Networks, September 1991. 265(3): 150–153.
• ---."Information Superhighways: The Next Information Revolution." The Futurist, January–February 1991, Vol. 25: 21-23.
• --- and et al.High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 Pub.L. 102-194, (S. 272)
• ---."The Digitization of Schools," BusinessWeek, 10 December 1990.
• ---."Networking the Future: We Need a National Superhighway for Computer Information", The Washington Post, 15 July 1990:B3.
• ---."Congressional Record: Presentation on the National High Performance Computer Technology Act" and "Opening Remarks before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space by Senator Al Gore" in "National high performance computer technology act: SIGGRAPH and national high-tech public policy issues" by Donna J. Cox, Computer Graphics, Volume 23, Issue 4, August 1989: 276-280.
• Agre, Phil. Who Invented "Invented"?:Tracing the Real Story of the "Al Gore Invented the Internet" Hoax. 17 October 2000
• Bush, George H.W. "Remarks on Signing the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, 9 December 1991.
• Campbell-Kelly, Martin; Aspray, William. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. New York: BasicBooks, 1996.
• Chapman, Gary and Marc Rotenberg. The National Information Infrastructure:A Public Interest Opportunity. In Computers, Ethics, & Social Values. Deborah G. Johnson and Helen Nissanbaum (eds.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1995: 628-644.
• Kahn, Bob and Vint Cerf. Al Gore and the Internet. 29 September 2000.
• Kleinrock, Leonard, Bob Kahn, Vint Cerf, et al. A Brief History of the Internet. 10 December 2003
• LaQuey, Tracy. The Internet Companion:A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking (2nd edition), 1994.
• Lee, Cynthia and Linda Steiner Lee. Gore Details Telecommunications Ideas. UCLA TODAY, Vol. 14, #9, January 13, 1994:1, 4. (The Superhighway Summit)
• Stix, Gary. Gigabit Gestalt: Clinton and Gore embrace an activist technology policy. Scientific American, May, 1993.
• Highways of the Mind or Toll Roads Between Information Castles? – Whole Earth Review (issue #70), 1991.

External links

• Creating a Giant Computer Highway, via NYTimes.com
• Early draft of Gore Bill, via EFF.org
• Introduction of Gore Bill, via EFF.org
• Summary of Gore Bill, via NITRD.gov
• S. 272: High Performance Computing Act of 1991, via THOMAS