It has always been true that as a major user of technology and customer of companies that develop them, governments have played a significant role in the development of computing. It has provided funding and in-house R&D, and often pioneered technologies that would later become more widespread and commercial.

The role of governments in the history of IT has equally often been less edifying and more sordid, too. In many cases, it has sought not to advance the art, but to slow or halt the progress of successful technology companies.