[11102] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re[2]: "Fed **deal** may speed
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Stephen Wolff)
Tue Mar 22 02:03:23 1994
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 11:09:58 -0600 (EST)
From: Stephen Wolff <steve@nsf.gov>
To: com-priv@psi.com
On Fri, 11 Mar 1994, Martin L. Schoffstall wrote:
> .
> .
> .
> On another baselin issue, the NSF and its contractors have wiretapped
> information out of the NSFNet for years, fundamentally ignoring the
> complaints of many organizations. ...
> .
> .
> .
You should define what you mean by "wiretap," and exactly whom you are
accusing of patently illegal activity.
Neither NSF nor its awardees examine the contents of email or other
communications on the NSFNET. Network-level statistics from IP headers
are collected for engineering purposes, but to avoid possibly
infringing on anyone's privacy, host-level data are not. TCP/UDP port
number stats are also kept for engineering. Port numbers are never
associated with hosts or networks.
The data collection by NSFNET grantees is consistent with sound
engineering practice, and I fail to see that anyone's privacy is
threatened.
To term such activities "wiretapping" is inaccurate, inappropriate,
deliberately inflammatory, and a clear attempt to prey on contemporary
concerns over the "Clipper" chip - concerns that are legitimate but wholly
unrelated to any NSFNET issue.
You have in the past objected to ALL statistical activity on the NSFNET,
but I have not received complaints from anybody else.
-s
