jsgray@watmath.UUCP (Jan Gray) (05/15/84)
From info-nets a few days back -- I hope others find it interesting... Jan Gray (jsgray@watmath.UUCP) University of Waterloo (519) 885-1211 x2730 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: ARPA/UUCP gateways The ARPANET is for official Government business ONLY. Each site administrator must agree to limit use of the net to such official business and must agree to control access. CSNET through an agreement worked out between NSF and DARPA has legal and complete mail access to/from the ARPANET. Agreements are being developed for CSNET X.25 sites (which run TCP/IP) to allow them FTP and TELNET access to the ARPANET. Each CSNET site must also agree to accept responsibility for their users and such use must be limited to computer science research activities. You must remember that ARPANET, while developed by DARPA for network research, is now a DoD operational network. After the MILNEt/ARPANET split, ARPANET is to be an R&D network to test and develop software and protocols for the eventual Defense Data Network. DARPA is aware of uucp, BITNET, etc. gateways and tolerates them when there are no abuses. These gateways are not legal (i.e., not official recognized gateways such as SATNET, CSNET, etc.) and thus when abuses occur (if they do) then DoD will shut the gateways down as they will an ARPANET site which abuses its access rights. It is useful to the ARPANET community to be interconnected with Usenet for the interactions and the information. The CSNET organization polices itself, but a site abusing the NSF/DARPA/CSNET policies on the ARPANET subnet (remember that CSNET is a logical network encompassing a large portion of the university-based ARPANET sites) will find itself in some trouble. Usenet is a free and open network. That's the way it should be. Usenet policies or lack there of can not be extended to free access to every network. Cooperation and responsibility will keep all the gateways open. Rick Adrion Director, Networking Activities NSF