[dafoex]

I haven't read the article entirely because it very quickly started to feel like a conspiracy piece by avoiding the topic as long as possible, but I'm sure if any of the other search engines succeeded then we'd be seeing people digging up whatever dirt they could on them.

I'm sure there was some input from american surveillance in the creation of a lot of modern computer tools, but this would be indirect influence at best, and the three letter agencies gambling on already existing technology at worst.