Thoughts & questions about responsibility for network traffic

Sun Dec 2 16:31:13 PST 2001

>Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 15:29:17 -0800
>From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>

>You say that as if it might be A Bad Thing.  When I allude to
>jackboot-enabling technologies like Derek J. Balling's
>http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/ and your methods, it tends to be with a
>heartfelt sense of admiration and fellow-feeling.

Thanks, but it was phrased in acknowledgement that not all may share the
opinion.  :-)

>...

>I hear your point.  Port-scanning of all sorts is so incredibly
>ubiquitous that trying to chase it down seems like a herculean task,
>but having valid WHOIS contact info seems like a minimal requirement for
>netblock ownership.

That's one way to express my opinion on the matter.

>...[example...]

>Is this a problem for the affected users?  Possibly.  For you?  Well,
>that's entirely a matter of perspective and opinion.  My point is that, 
>if you're envisioning this as one of the building blocks of retrofitting
>needed consequences into the modern Internet -- fixing responsibility
>back where it belongs -- the feedback mechanism may not work very well.

True, it may not.  But is there anything (else) that has a hope of
working better?  For all concerned?

Thanks,
david
-- 
David H. Wolfskill				david at catwhisker.org
As a computing professional, I believe it would be unethical for me to
advise, recommend, or support the use (save possibly for personal
amusement) of any product that is or depends on any Microsoft product.