Discussion on:

If the Internet was a nation, who would be its president?

Original post:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=1894

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I would make myself unavailable, and reign in benign neglect, retaining the four you mention, and yourself (obviously a voracious reader), as lieutenants.

Benign neglect, knowledgeable lieutenants. Yup.

What about Al Gore? After all, he invented the internet.

Naw...he didn't 'invent' the Internet.....

...but he did 'make up' Global Warming!

That's 'virtually' as good.

He made it safe for Democracy. It is well on its way toward being completely "Patriotized"! Fits right in with Green Dam. Nothing like Moral equivalency to allow freedom to florish in all the corners of the world.

Ya gott'a appreciate how he phased in "accountablity" and plugged all the Leaks during his administration.

Besides, he whupped Big Al.

The "Green Dam" of the music lyric world. Gore's a twofer...

Man, it is impossible to underestimate her invaluable contributions towards making the net safe for the children of parents who refuse to accept any responsibility for what their children do on the computers Mom and Dad negligently allowed the kids to install in their bedrooms.

Don't get me started on that smarmy, lazy-arse waste of water and carbon.

I can't stand Tipper Gore. Enough said.

According to the popular vote, Bush lost to Gore, 50,456,002 to 50,999,897. A margin of 1.5%.

What "accountability" do you attribute to the only president appointed by the Supreme Court?
He defunded the agencies that could have prevented the financial collapse, and he let 9/11 happen.

Freedom did not flourish during the reign of King George. The Patriot Act saw to that.

Regarding your disinformation about the 2000 election:

First off, VP Gore conceded the election to President Elect Bush. Nothing after that happened matters.

But assuming that it did....

We have a Constitutional process for electing the president. The popular vote is not part of it. President Elect Bush won the Electoral vote, he is President. The Supreme Court was called in and ruled in accordance with the Constitution, which is exactly what they are supposed to do.

Not that these facts are going to change the opinion of someone so ignorant of our electoral process to begin with, but I can't stand to see lies spread as "truth", or should I say Pravda.

Don't misunderstand me, I despise the Patriot Act, the DCMA, and many of the other things that came to pass under the Bush administration. But if you think the Obama Administration is going to be any better, starting with the Generational Theft Act and moving on to who knows what, then you are wearing goggles so heavily rose tinted that it is a wonder you can see where you are going.

I'm with you, Gore says he invented the internet, and a politicians job is to lie, so he gets my vote.

Molly Wood is just too honest to be a politician!

Gore never said he "invented the Internet". He said he worked hard in Congress at its public birth to get the funding needed for expansion to the masses.

Is Molly old enough to run?

Heres the quote.

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet."

This is funny because the internet was around and in use before he ever took office.

Sorry about the wall of text, but Wikipedia says he really helped the birth of the Internet...

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Al Gore" article:
"Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn have also noted that, "as far back as the 1970s, Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship [...] the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication."

The only thing that Al Gore invented was "global warming."

All Hail the Demigod GORE for imparting such a thing on us mere mortals!!

Gore said he "created" the internet, not "invented" it.

Oh yes since he claims to have invented it. He should be president, then again, he probably won't win that election either...

Come on! If John McCain invented the Blackberry (he never said this ) of course then Al Gore invented the Internet. I was there at DARPA with him, personally saw it. He and I drew it on a napkin back in the mid-1970's when I was on leave from KI Sawyer AFB.

Just ask my Shop Chief and anyone in the Orderly Room. (Of course, SAC became ACC in 1992 or so and KI is now closed ... but ... this can be verified!)

Al gore is just like anyone else in politics looking out for his own selft interest. Do you really belive that he would have only the best intrest of the internet in mind even if it was against his own interest or do you think he would find ways to use it for himself?

just making fun of his "I created" flub of trying to be more relevant than he really was.

Not only did he invent the internet, but he also invented electricity!

he also invented the mobile phone, remote controls, jet packs and AI.

We are all deeply indebted to Al Gore for his marvelous invention!

I would be happy to vote for him as President of the Internet, if it would keep him out of Tennessee!

He's also an "environmentalist" who has a lot of stock in Occidental Petroleum and engineered the sale of Lost Hills to Occidental so they could drill for oil on a Native American burial ground (at least it's domestic oil, but it's fossil fuels he pretends to be against). WTI was also a good one -- wrote a whole book about how it shouldn't exist, and then once in office, his staff signed the permits to bring it online. And no, he didn't invent the internet, but I'm sure the poster knows that and offers the suggestion in jest...

I did like his movie though. $10 and a drive to the theater to watch a power point presentation captured on film. Awesome, but probably should have just been on PBS instead...

anyone still beating this dead horse is an idiot.

I'm a benevolent dictator.

It's already started. Just like Elvis and several others. So be it! The world was a far more interesting place with your presence sir!

Although Molly Wood would be awesome in some respects.

What about:

Michael Kassner: Excellent frame of mind, networking, security.

Daniel J Bernstein: http://cr.yp.to/djb.html

Bruce Schneier: http://www.schneier.com/

Vint Cerf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf

Tim Berners-Lee: http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/

Lawrence Lessig: http://www.lessig.org/

Paul Vixie: http://www.circleid.com/members/620/

David Ulevitch: http://david.ulevitch.com/

Anyone else?

from having to steal it or buy it later after making a clone and selling it with a different name.

And no way. He'll have to work for it.

Keep Ballmer and Myhrvold away from this position as well.

I vote for Michael Kassner. He's intelligent, and responsive.He takes in everyone's opinion and doesn't dismiss any consideration out of hand.

I share many of his concerns when it comes to the internet, policy and security. We'd need someone who can think, but who's also open to the ideas of others. (and not afraid to ask for them)

Since this is a 'fantasy league' election anyway, I declare him the winner.

Congratulations,Mr. President. Now, about that secretary of the treasury position...

=D

So far I haven't heard anyone mention the current Pres. of the Internet... Leo Laporte!

C'mon.. how can you all forget him? I know you've all seen his old shows.. and if you haven't how can you call yourselves tech masters?

And as for Gore.. well he may have invented the internet.. but he still doesn't know how to use it.

What 'old shows'? Never heard of him. Links please.

"I've concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We suppress our genius only because we haven't yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage themselves."

John Taylor Gatto

It should be painfully obvious by now that a having a president (centralised power figure) is far from ideal.

I vote this idea as an insult to the distributed nature of the internet and (intentionally or not) supportive of existing power structures that abuse the planet and the entire world's population.

I like where this is goin'!

In that case i don't vote, but swear allegiance to Doctor Doom!!!

May he Rule us all with an Iron Fist!

rules by comitees! no individual power on Internet. Such foul idea, one head ahead of millions. Internet is like air, belongs to every human been.

One thing the net does not need and that is a ruler or government of any kind. A governor or government would only impede progress. As Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is not the solution. Government is the problem."

I agree with you on this, governments are ham fisted and incompentent. With autocratic governments filtering content and even the US government sifting through everyone's email and internet use; the problem is that governments only want control.

Reagan may have said that "..Government is the problem" but he got involved and elected and also made more problems. He was right but he also was not a solution.

Here BFilmFan has a fine response that sum it all
Thank you John

Why do people think we need some kind of king or leader for every group? I dismiss that mentally small way of thinking and agree that we should rule ourselves. Collectives of like minded individuals are way more effective than an idiot with control issues who thinks he knows the "right way" to do everything.

The internet is too large an organism to be ruled over by some ominous organization, governing body, or some other type of collective.

Clearly its being influenced in different directions for positive and nefarious ends; yet the end result should be and continue to be directed, by Humans for andvancement of knowledge.

Stewie Griffin for Govenor,!! d(O_*)b
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP-flZzJwVc ]

Anarchy at the truth of its definition; not the image society seems to have of the word now. The internet wouldn't have a president. A great example is this very site to which we all belong. It's kind of funny if you think about it: TechRepublic's members do a damn good job of policing ourselves and keeping each other in line. That's more like anarchy than a republic.

Nobody +1
I agree there should be no one person in charge.

Why do Americans want to govern everything?

The Internet is a fantastic example of self-governance and keeping politics out!

The internet has gone this far without anyone having more power over it than anyone else and this is surely one of its greatest strengths.