Why didn't the Dems nominate this guy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jan 15, 2001 USA Today

The papa of protocol

By Tara McKelvey

When Vinton Cerf was working at MCI in the early '80s, he served sherry in crystal glasses in his office each Friday at 5. "I tried to bring a little civility into the engineering world," he says. Cerf, 57, widely cited as "the father of the Internet," is again trying to bring a measure of civility to a technocratic bunch. Cerf is the new chairman of ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which has been at the center of debate over creating new domain names on the Web. The 19-member international group also has been a lightning rod for other issues, many having little to do with its official role in setting policy for Internet addresses.

"Some people think of ICANN as Internet governance writ large," Cerf says. "They imagine every possible complaint about the Internet should come to ICANN for resolution, and I think that's not the direction we should be headed in at all."

Outgoing chairwoman Esther Dyson agrees. ICANN is "supposed to build consensus. Vint is the ideal person to carry this on. He's got a great reputation, and he's been around these issues a long time. He also has a certain old-fashioned air about him that's very nice."

As ICANN chairman, Cerf plans to focus on "the technical side" of the Net. "If you've ever listened to two engineers having a knock-down, drag-out battle, you'd detect the absence of civility," Cerf says. "The easiest way to mediate debates that have inflamed passions is to keep people focused on technical objectives."

"He is an excellent listener," says ICANN's chief policy officer, Andrew McLaughlin. "He does not seem to be somebody who approaches problems with a lot of ego."

Cerf likewise shrugs off the "father of the Net" label. He quotes MIT senior research scientist David Clark on how thing are done online: "We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code."

And, of course, it's true the Net has no single inventor. It was created by several dozen grad students, scientists and engineers working on a Defense Department project in 1968 — and by thousands who tinkered over the years.

Yet Cerf, described by his former boss as "an impeccable engineer" who "would always think in terms of infinity," is called the father for two reasons.

First, he was co-inventor of protocols called TCP/IP, which allowed different kinds of computers to talk with one another. Cerf and colleague Robert Kahn published an academic paper about TCP/IP in 1974. It has held up for more than 25 years, even with the addition of the Web, local area networks and 360 million human users.

Cerf also has been instrumental in popularizing the Net. He co-developed its first commercial e-mail system at MCI in the '80s and co-founded the Internet Society in 1992.

"He introduced the Internet to the commercial world over the opposition of scientists who wanted to keep it a tool of research," says Bob Harcharik, who hired Cerf at MCI in 1982.

Cerf may be a Net populist, but he has aristocratic tastes.

"On the first expense account Vint ever turned in, in 1982," Harcharik says, "the bill for a dinner was $250 to $300. Expensive. He said, 'Well, the wine was $85 a bottle.'

"I said, 'Vint, at home do you drink $85 bottles of wine?' He said, 'Sometimes. But we usually have something better.'"

At 6-foot, 1/2-inch, Cerf cuts an impressive figure in his trademark three-piece Hickey-Freeman suit with Irish-linen collar. "Some people think I was either born in a three-piece suit or I wear three-piece pajamas."

But his reasons are largely practical: He has suffered gradual hearing loss since age 13 and wears two hearing aids. "It's a convenient place to hold my batteries," he says, pulling a set out of his vest pocket.

The disability heightens Cerf's appreciation of technology. Not only does he prefer e-mail to the telephone (he gets 200 e-mails a day), he met his wife, Sigrid, 35 years ago at a California hearing-aid dealer's office. She went deaf at age 3.

A workaholic who stands out even in an industry in which long hours are de rigueur, Cerf often juggles many projects. In addition to giving several speeches a month for WorldCom and chairing ICANN, he's also expanding the Net into outer space.

As a visiting scientist with Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Cerf is helping to develop prototype software that he hopes NASA astronauts on a mission to Mars in 2003 will be able to use to exchange e-mail with Earth.

"Three networks made the original Internet," Cerf says. "So maybe two planets make the original interplanetary Internet. Maybe toss the moon in there. Make it three."

"Some people think of ICANN as Internet governance writ large," Cerf says. "They imagine every possible complaint about the Internet should come to ICANN for resolution, and I think that's not the direction we should be headed in at all."

Outgoing chairwoman Esther Dyson agrees. ICANN is "supposed to build consensus. Vint is the ideal person to carry this on. He's got a great reputation, and he's been around these issues a long time. He also has a certain old-fashioned air about him that's very nice."

As ICANN chairman, Cerf plans to focus on "the technical side" of the Net. "If you've ever listened to two engineers having a knock-down, drag-out battle, you'd detect the absence of civility," Cerf says. "The easiest way to mediate debates that have inflamed passions is to keep people focused on technical objectives."

"He is an excellent listener," says ICANN's chief policy officer, Andrew McLaughlin. "He does not seem to be somebody who approaches problems with a lot of ego."

Cerf likewise shrugs off the "father of the Net" label. He quotes MIT senior research scientist David Clark on how thing are done online: "We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code."

And, of course, it's true the Net has no single inventor. It was created by several dozen grad students, scientists and engineers working on a Defense Department project in 1968 — and by thousands who tinkered over the years.

Yet Cerf, described by his former boss as "an impeccable engineer" who "would always think in terms of infinity," is called the father for two reasons.

First, he was co-inventor of protocols called TCP/IP, which allowed different kinds of computers to talk with one another. Cerf and colleague Robert Kahn published an academic paper about TCP/IP in 1974. It has held up for more than 25 years, even with the addition of the Web, local area networks and 360 million human users.

Cerf also has been instrumental in popularizing the Net. He co-developed its first commercial e-mail system at MCI in the '80s and co-founded the Internet Society in 1992.

"He introduced the Internet to the commercial world over the opposition of scientists who wanted to keep it a tool of research," says Bob Harcharik, who hired Cerf at MCI in 1982.

Cerf may be a Net populist, but he has aristocratic tastes.

"On the first expense account Vint ever turned in, in 1982," Harcharik says, "the bill for a dinner was $250 to $300. Expensive. He said, 'Well, the wine was $85 a bottle.'

"I said, 'Vint, at home do you drink $85 bottles of wine?' He said, 'Sometimes. But we usually have something better.'"

At 6-foot, 1/2-inch, Cerf cuts an impressive figure in his trademark three-piece Hickey-Freeman suit with Irish-linen collar. "Some people think I was either born in a three-piece suit or I wear three-piece pajamas."

But his reasons are largely practical: He has suffered gradual hearing loss since age 13 and wears two hearing aids. "It's a convenient place to hold my batteries," he says, pulling a set out of his vest pocket.

The disability heightens Cerf's appreciation of technology. Not only does he prefer e-mail to the telephone (he gets 200 e-mails a day), he met his wife, Sigrid, 35 years ago at a California hearing-aid dealer's office. She went deaf at age 3.

A workaholic who stands out even in an industry in which long hours are de rigueur, Cerf often juggles many projects. In addition to giving several speeches a month for WorldCom and chairing ICANN, he's also expanding the Net into outer space.

As a visiting scientist with Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Cerf is helping to develop prototype software that he hopes NASA astronauts on a mission to Mars in 2003 will be able to use to exchange e-mail with Earth.

"Three networks made the original Internet," Cerf says. "So maybe two planets make the original interplanetary Internet. Maybe toss the moon in there. Make it three."

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001