[8439] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Separation of DDN from the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dick St.Peters)
Thu Nov 18 20:08:27 1993
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 20:03:29 EST
From: stpeters@spare-parts.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters)
To: macnabr@cc.ims.disa.mil
Cc: com-priv@psi.com, stpeters@crd.ge.com
Reply-To: <stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com>
Dear Mr. MacNab,
I believe the separation of DDN to be an exceptionally ill-advised
move that will prove costly and will soon have to be undone anyway.
A view that being on-line is unnecessary as long as people can send
email to each other is as short-sighted a perception as a view that
telephones are unnecessary because people can send telegrams to each
other. Email and telegrams are useful and have their place, but the
telegraph could never have spawned the fax machine or dialup modems or
pushbutton telephone services. Withdrawing from the interconnected
world is isolating yourselves from an array of connection-base
services, technologies and other developments that have yet even to be
conceived, as well as some that either exist now or are just over the
horizon.
As one example, we at GE make medical equipment, and military sites are
among our customers. Our service people are moving to remote diagnosis
of system problems via the Internet and will be encouraging our
customers to be on-line. Remote diagnosis is a proven cost saver of
considerable proportion, for us and therefore for our customers, but
our current dialup system has significant drawbacks that the Internet
can overcome. In many cases, remote service can extend beyond just
diagnosis to solving problems without a physical service call.
I'm sure that if you think a moment you can identify a great deal of
other equipment at military sites that could benefit from remote
service, and I'm also sure that we are not alone in looking at the
Internet as a way to reach our customers.
My own work includes research into on-line services that will enable
physicians and other healthcare personnel such as nurses to provide
better care at lower cost. I like to think that military personnel are
as deserving of better care as the rest of us, but you are proposing to
shut them out from these services.
Please, Mr. MacNab, this telephone was brought to us by your military
after years of work; now is not the time to abandon the benefits it is
bringing and go back to the telegraph. Stay with us as we continue on
the path to the next fax machine. We all need to *speak* to each other.
--
Dick St.Peters
GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com
----- Begin Included Message -----
>From postman@lists.psi.com Thu Nov 18 04:32:20 1993
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 10:30:03 -0000
>From: "Bob Stringfield, ODCSPER" <aeaga-p15@heidelberg-emh17.army.mil>
To: com-priv@psi.com
Subject: Re: DISA Announces Plans to Separate DDN from the InterNet
Content-Length: 2441
p.s. pardon the cross-posting but due to the subject matter
thought it pertinent....
----- Forwarded message # 1:
Subject: DISA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SEPARATE DDN FROM THE INTERNET
This is being posted to multiple lists. Please excuse
the duplication. Note that the address for comments is:
macnabr@cc.ims.disa.mil
DISA to Establish Mail Relay Between DoD and the Internet
A Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) representative,
Mr. Robert MacNab, announced at the Defense Technical
Information Center's Annual Users Training Conference that
DISA is planning to move forward with the separation of the
DDN from the Internet early in 1994. This separation will be
accomplished by the installation of a mail-relay between the
DDN and the Internet. Exchange of electronic mail between DoD
and Internet users will be allowed. Some accommodation will
be required by users to communicate through the new mail-
relay. For example:
Currently: jones@abc.disa.mil
jsmith@def.gsfc.nasa.gov
After Mail-Gateway:
DoD Users: jones@abc.disa.mil
Internet Users: jones%abc.disa.mil@relay.mil
DoD Users: smith%def.gsfc.nasa.gov@relay.int
Internet Users: smith@def.gsfc.nasa.gov
Electronic mail senders must know which network the receiver
is on, in order to direct mail through the mail-relay.
Network connections (for Telnet, FTP, etc.) from DoD sites into
Internet resources will continue to be available to DoD users.
However, Internet users will not be allowed to make direct
network connections to DoD host computers.
Mr. MacNab solicited comments from the user community on
how these changes would effect them. His phone number is
703-285-5143 or email address is macnabr@cc.ims.disa.mil.
Information Prepared by: Carlynn Thompson
Defense Technical Information Center
Directorate of Research, Development
and Acquisition Information Support
Cameron Station
Alexandria, VA 22304-6145
Phone: 703-274-3639
Fax: 703-617-7087
Email: cthomps@dgis.dtic.dla.mil
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