[chapter-delegates] Turing Award Recognition Ceremony w/ ISOC Chapters

[Lynn St.Amour]

All Chapters,

Thank you again for your leadership in celebrating Vint and Bob's 
achievements and for organizing this special event.

As I said below I am sorry I cannot attend but hope we can all feel 
good about ISOC's achievements over the years; and that we can use 
these achievements, and Vint and Bob's examples to inspire us all to 
do even more.

Many thanks again for all your efforts and best regards,

Lynn


-----------------------------------
Dear Bob and Vint,

On behalf of the Internet Society Board of Directors and staff, the 
Internet Society Chapters, Internet Society Individual and 
Organizational Members, and members of the Internet community 
everywhere we are delighted to congratulate Internet pioneers and 
ISOC founders Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn for winning the 2004 
A.M. Turing Award. This award, which is considered the "Nobel Prize 
of Computing," is well-deserved recognition for their pioneering work 
on the design and implementation of the Internet's basic 
communications protocols.

A lot has happened in the Internet world since Vint and Bob published 
their paper in 1974 describing a 'new method of communication called 
transmission-control protocol (TCP) to route messages or packets of 
data'. Back then, nobody could have forecast the dramatic impact the 
Internet would have on the way the world communicates or on how 
critical it would become to so many aspects of all citizen's lives.

Vint and Bob have always been ardent defenders of the unique open 
standards processes that have facilitated the Internet's technical 
evolution, and it was their commitment to the Internet and to the 
principles underlying the Internet's development that led to them 
founding the Internet Society in 1992.

ISOC's first charter (see below or see 
http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/isochistory.shtml) described a 
vision of how the society would work to foster collaboration among 
organizations in their operation and use of the Internet. Today, the 
vision expressed in this charter is upheld by more than 75 Internet 
Society Chapters (in 64 countries) and more than 20,000 members 
across the world.

The ISOC Board of Directors and staff would also like to recognize 
and thank the ISOC Chapters for leading this initiative and 
particularly the Washington, DC chapter for organizing this event.

Despite the success and rapid growth of the Internet, there is still 
much to be done and Vint and Bob have both remained dedicated to the 
development of the Internet for the benefit of people everywhere. 
For this they have the heartfelt thanks of ISOC, and we recognize 
that we are fortunate and privileged to have their continued support 
as well as access to their valuable expertise.

Vint and Bob, I am very sorry that I am unable to be with you on this 
occasion.  I hope you will take pleasure in the fact that I am in 
Cairo, Egypt participating in the Pan-Arab Conference on WSIS which 
is being held under the leadership of H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister 
of Communications and Internet Technology, Egypt, whom as you know 
was a participant in some of ISOC's earliest Networking Technology 
Workshops (NTW's).   This is yet another example of the reach your 
paper in 1974, and your support of ISOC has had in key developments 
across the world.

Again, please accept our heartfelt congratulations.

Warmest regards,

Lynn

On behalf of the Internet Society Board of Directors and staff, the 
Internet Society Chapters, Internet Society Individual and 
Organizational Members, and members of the Internet community 
everywhere.


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  History of the Internet Society

Announcing ISOC
  by Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, Lyman Chapin, 1992

Background

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief description of the 
Internet Society and its goals and objectives. It will function as a 
professional society to facilitate, support, and promote the 
evolution and growth of the Internet as a global research 
communications infrastructure. The suggestions and recommendations of 
all parties interested in the Internet are solicited to assist in 
making the Internet Society robust, productive, and structured to 
meet the needs of its members.

The Internet Society

The Internet is a collection of cooperating, interconnected, 
multi-protocol networks which supports international collaboration 
among thousands of organizations. Because of its current scope and 
rapid rate of growth, the Internet will benefit from a more organized 
framework to support its objectives. To this end, an Internet Society 
is being formed to foster the voluntary interconnection of computer 
networks into a global research and development communications and 
information infrastructure. The Internet Society will not operate the 
Internet. Internet operation will continue to be a collaborative 
activity which the Society will seek to facilitate. The Society will 
provide assistance and support to groups and organizations involved 
in the use, operation, and evolution of the Internet. It will provide 
support for forums in which technical and operational questions can 
be discussed and provide mechanisms through which interested parties 
can be informed and educated about the Internet, its function, use, 
operation, and the interests of its constituents.

Membership

The Internet Society will be a membership organization with voting 
individual members and non-voting institutional members. There will 
be several classes of institutional members. The society will produce 
a newsletter on a regular basis and hold an annual meeting to which 
all members and other interested parties will be invited. The topics 
of the annual meeting will vary, but are expected to focus on current 
research in networking, Internet functionality and growth, and other 
interests of the Society constituency. All members will receive the 
newsletter and an invitation to attend the annual meeting of the 
Internet Society.

Membership dues will vary according to class of membership. The 
amounts of these dues and the basis on which they are set will be 
determined by the Board of Trustees of the Society and may be revised 
from time to time as set forth in the By-Laws.

Charter

The Society will be a non-profit organization and will be operated 
for international educational, charitable, and scientific purposes, 
among which are:
	*	 To facilitate and support the technical evolution of 
the Internet as a research and education infrastructure and to 
stimulate involvement of the academic, scientific, and engineering 
communities (among others) in the evolution of the Internet.
	*	 To educate the academic and scientific communities 
and the public concerning the technology, use, and application of the 
Internet.
	*	 To promote scientific and educational applications 
of Internet technology for the benefit of educational institutions at 
all grade levels, industry, and the public at large.
	*	 To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet 
applications and to foster collaboration among organizations in their 
operation and use of the Internet.

Support for Internet Technical Evolution

The Internet Activities Board (IAB) has been concerned with the 
development and evolution of architectures supporting the use of 
multiple protocols in a networked environment. The Internet Society 
will incorporate the IAB and its functions into the operation of the 
Internet Society. The Internet Society will work with other 
interested organizations to support and assist eforts to evolve the 
multiprotocol Internet. The Society will use the Internet Engineering 
and Research Task Forces to stimulate networking research and 
facilitate the evolution of the TCP/IP protocol suite and the 
integration of new protocol suites (e.g., OSI) into the Internet 
architecture. The Internet Society will work with parties and 
organizations interested in fostering improvement in the utility of 
the Internet for its constituent users.

Meetings and Conferences

The Internet Society will convene an annual meeting and will organize 
and facilitate workshops and symposia, jointly with other 
organizations where appropriate, on specific topics of interest to 
the Society membership. The annual meeting will address issues of 
global and regional importance to the evolution and growth of the 
Internet. In particular, future INET conferences will be incorporated 
into the Society's annual meetings.

Information and Infrastructure Services

The Internet Society will publish an Internet Newsletter providing 
members with information about the international activities of 
Internet constituents. In addition, the Society will also provide 
assistance to and support for organizations responsible for 
maintaining the databases crucial to Internet function (e.g., the 
Domain Name System, X.500 Directory Services, etc.) and organizations 
concerned with the security of the Internet (e.g., the Software 
Engineering Institute Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and its 
CERT-System). The Society will assist in the development of 
educational, advisory, and informative materials of use to Society 
members. Where appropriate, the Society will organize or support 
activities which aid in the coordination among the organizations 
operating components of the Internet.

The Society will refer members to appropriate parties involved in 
operating the various parts of the Internet where they may be helpful 
with specific questions. Where possible, the Society would seek to 
provide access to its information on-line, but would also offer hard 
copy and, perhaps eventually, CD-ROM-based information resources.

Plans

The initial organizers of the Internet Society include the 
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), EDUCOM, and the 
Internet Activities Board. During the six month period from June to 
December 1991, the initial organizers will work with interested 
parties to prepare for beginning operation of the Society by the end 
of 1991. Computer networking has become a critical infrastructure for 
the research and development community and has the potential to 
become the basis for world-wide collaboration and cooperation in 
every field of human endeavor. The Internet Society will seek to 
solidify, enhance and encourage further international collaborative 
networking. Visionary individuals joining the Society during its 
formation will receive special recognition as Society pioneers and 
will have the opportunity to shape the early agenda of Society 
activities. Opportunities for organizational and institutional 
participation are also available.

It is time. The technology is available. A global renaissance of 
scientific and technical cooperation is at hand. You are cordially 
invited to take part in an enterprise without precedent and an 
adventure without boundary. The Internet Society sets sail in January 
of 1992 on a voyage of internetwork discovery. Will you be aboard?