Fifty years ago, Arpanet, the ancestor of the Internet, was born: its pioneers are talking about it (and they are disappointed)

But the initial enthusiasm was undermined by the unintended and unintended consequences of this innovation – the power of the Internet.

"I did not see the social networking aspect at all, I thought of getting people to communicate with computers, or computers between them, but not people between them," says Leonard Kleinrock, who turns 85. in June.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the event, the professor opens a new Internet-based lab, supposed to help combat the unforeseen problems that have arisen with the adoption of the large-scale network.

Some 4 billion people around the world now use the network, which it was believed would bring equality and knowledge to the majority.

"In a sense, it's a very democratic invention," he says.

"But it also has a perfect formula for the dark side of humanity. (…) There are so many things being shouted online that moderate voices are drowned and extreme, amplified, hate-filled views , misinformation and abuse, "he says.

"As engineers we did not think about malicious behavior."

The new "Connection Lab" will focus on topics such as automated machine learning, artificial intelligence, social networking, the Internet of Things and blockchain, a database of decentralized and secure data, which allows traceability deemed inviolable.

Leonard Kleinrock is particularly interested in the possibility of using the blockchain as a measure of confidence.

For example, if you read a review of a restaurant, you might know if the author has published articles considered reliable so far.

"It would be like a network of reputations constantly updated," explains the professor. "The challenge is how to do it ethically and responsibly, anonymity is a double-edged sword, of course."

According to him, in the early days, the serenity of the network was thwarted only by solitary hackers (hackers).

While now disruptive agents include nation-states, organized crime and powerful corporations that do "big and bad things" like making profits by violating privacy.

Leonard Kleinrock regrets the lack of social fiber scientists of the time, who have not anticipated the need to integrate tools for authentication of people and data, from the foundation of the Internet.

"We would not have avoided the dark side of the network, but we could have mitigated the impact that everyone feels today."

It still keeps a part of optimism.

"I still believe that in the end the positive aspects prevail.I would not turn off the Internet, even if I could."

Originally, the project was called "Arpanet", named after the research arm of the US military that financed it, the "Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency", founded in 1958.

Engineers had found ways to transmit data through computers by breaking them into several "digital packets".

On October 29, 1969, a UCLA student began typing the word "LOG" ("connection"), to establish the link with the remote computer. The letter "L" passes, but the machine crashes just after the letter "O".

"So the first message was 'LO', as in 'Lo and behold' (an expression that means 'And now …')," Leonard Kleinrock recounts. "We could not have dreamed better as the first succinct message".

The Arpanet was born. The creation of the Internet, it remains the subject of heated debate, because it is the result of several steps, such as data routing protocols or the creation of the "World Wide Web" with the online system of pages.

"The $ 1 billion question is what kind of internet monster has it become?" Asks Marc Weber, curator at the Computer History Museum of Silicon Valley.

"It has become the default means of communication for humans, it's not nothing," he says.

"The Internet has done more good than bad," says Olaf Kolkman of the Internet Society, who sees the 50-year-old as a "turbulent teenager."