Internet Hall of Fame: awards for "open internet" work

The Internet Society has congratulated itself and all internet contributors at the organisation's 20th anniversary awards gala. At the inauguration of the Internet Hall of Fame, the society honoured 33 individuals who were instrumental in the early design and development of the internet, and who helped to expand the internet's reach. Inductees included "pioneers" such as TCP/IP inventor Vint Cerf and former ARPANET contributor Leonard Kleinrock, and "innovators" such as the inventor of the world-wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Linux operating system, Linus Torvalds, and Mozilla Foundation Chair Mitchell Baker.

Inductees received much applause during the first Internet Hall of Fame awards presentation
Source: Ragni Zlotos The CEO of the Internet Society, Lynn St.Amour, was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Visibly moved, she said "I'm finding it very hard to accept this, because this whole project is about you. And I'm not finished after all." With a wink, she added: "Unless this is a message for me."

When honouring the first Internet Hall of Fame inductees, the CEO explained the criteria that were used to select them. "While the inductees have extremely diverse backgrounds and represent many different countries, each individual has an incredible passion for their work," said St.Amour, adding that, "We all benefit from their outstanding contributions to a global internet."

All of the inductees can be found on the new Internet Hall of Fame web site. The site also explains the reasons why the awards were presented. The Internet Society plans to honour further Internet Hall of Fame members on an annual basis.

(crve)