Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!escher
From: escher@Apple.COM (Michael Crawford)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re:  Growing sentiment against gateways
Message-ID: <8680@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 13 Jun 90 18:58:00 GMT
References: <9006060613.AA00673@shamash.McRCIM.McGill.EDU> <25174@usc.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 47


In article <25174@usc.edu> kmeyer@pollus.usc.edu writes:
>
>Most, if not all, of the regional networks attached to the NSFnet backbone
>have appropriate usage guidelines.  Traffic which is solely for commercial
>purposes is prohibited from traversing the NSFNet backbone--there are most
>definitely rules which govern Internet access.  However, in the case of

I am curious how a commercial UUCP site would post to misc.jobs.offered,
and guarantee that their ad did not traverse the backbone.  Suppose
their upstream site was on UUCP, and so on for a few hops, and all these
commercial companies provide each other UUCP for commercial purposes.

It seems to me that it is absurd for a company to have to consider what
political requirements a distant network layer might have when posting
to the news.

Or consider this: suppose a company has a network that links itself and
its clients.  Suppose the company and the client each have an internet
connection, but the shortest-hop is to go over the internal network.

It is perfectly legitimate in this case that the company should bill its
client via SMTP mail.

Suppose the regional or the NSF backbone now installed a router that made the
hop count from accounts receivable to the client's account payable office
shorter than the hop count on the internal network.  Current protocols
will shortly send all the bills over the NSF backbone.

I am not advocating that the NSF or the regionals should provide free
communications services to companies, but really, there should be some
realistic thought on this.

Perhaps one could set a bit in the IP header that says this packet is
not "Used Appropriately", and NSF routers could drop such packets.  (Just
kidding).  What would be more reasonable is for the companies to pay
for the usage they actually incur on the net, in some manner that is
simple and manageable.

-- 
Michael D. Crawford
Oddball Enterprises		Consulting for Apple Computer Inc.
606 Modesto Avenue		escher@apple.com
Santa Cruz, CA 95060		Applelink: escher@apple.com@INTERNET#
oddball!mike@ucscc.ucsc.edu	The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

		alias make '/bin/make & rn'