Directory >> Key People in the Domain Name Sector >> Internet Pioneers
The Web was invented in 1989 in Geneva at CERN by British physicist Tim Berners-Lee. However, the Internet—the infrastructure behind the Web—was developed by Americans Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf, who created the TCP/IP protocol in the mid-1970s. Another key figure is American computer scientist Steve Crocker, who initiated the RFC system and contributed to the early development of ARPANET.
Among other Internet pioneers can be mentioned Ira Magaziner, who shaped early Internet policy, Francois Fluckiger, who advanced Web development at CERN, Esther Dyson, who chaired ICANN's first board, and Louis Pouzin, inventor of the datagram concept.
These key historical figures remain moral authorities in the internet community but no longer play a decisive role in shaping the current direction of the domain name system.