Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[burnett AT pobox.com]

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006, B Holroyd wrote:

> A-hem. Surely you know that the reference is to George Orwell's
> distopia, so well described in the book _Ninteen Eighty-four_ that the
> term "Orwellian" has come to describe the state of affairs that
> results from the use of technology by the powerful to oppress the rest
> of us. Of course, Eric Arthur Blair (Orwell's real name) also paid
> homage to the age-old understanding that power corrupts. (My dad
> always adds... "and absolute power corrupts absolutely.") If you

Surely you know that your father was quoting Lord Acton, from an 1887 
letter.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/288200.html