Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!unido!fauern!faui44!dkhusema@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de
From: dkhusema@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Dirk Husemann)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Soviet Access to Usenet
Message-ID: <743@faui10.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Date: 22 Nov 88 10:30:01 GMT
References: <8081@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Sender: nntp@faui44.informatik.uni-erlangen.de
Lines: 69

From article <8081@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, by ajdenner@athena.mit.edu (Alexander J Denner):
> 
> ... [ talk about Soviets and net ]
> 
> 	I do not think this would be a very good idea.  Now that the Soviets
> do not already have access to American networks (ARPANET, etc.).  (I am 
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

	What are you trying to say here? That access to internet information
can only be done via ARPANET access (I wish this'd be the case: We'd be 
able to do anonymous ftp even from West Germany [No - we're not belonging
to the Eastern bloc, that's East Germany, we're "partners" in the NATO ...],
which - at present - we can't!)?

> saying that I am sure the KGB intercepts as much internet information as
> they can.)  Although I have nothing against the Russin people, the Soviets
> are NOT our friends.  The Soviet KGB has an immense information gathering
> network in this country, why make it easier for them to tune into
> western scientific thought?  Andrei Sakahrov has just said that the
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

	How about letting western scientist tune into western scientific
thought - I think that as long as West European sites are not admitted to
the ARPANET where a lot of stuff (articles, papers, sw) is available that
cannot be accessed otherwise, it is - in my view - ridiculous to use the
phrase "western scientific thought" - unless the western world consists of
the USA alone (a concept I found among a lot of US citizens ...)

> changes are only superficial.  I do not think that he can trust the Soviet
> government at all.  (Even if one believes that Gorbachev is really 
> sincere and wants to destroy all weapons on the Earth, it is very possible 
> that he will be overthrown by conservatives who wil return to the "old"
> way.)  I think that we have seen how the Soviets have cut research costs
> by copying our Shuttle, why let them get so much information so easily?
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

	True, the outer appearance is nearly the same, yet there are some
differences concerning technical details: The Soviet shuttle is able to lift
more than three times as much as the US shuttle. Also, there seems to be no
connection between shuttle and carrier rocket (the (hopefully former) weak
point of the US shuttle).

> 
> 	Having a UUCP site would make it much easier for them to
> spread a malicious virus in a time of friction.  Also, what if a virus
> from the US leaks into Russia (or a virus from the USSR gets into the US)?
> Such a situation would cause many problems and bad feelings.

	The virus wasn't even observed over here in West Germany, yet, we
do get news and stuff like that ...

> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Alexander J. Denner                    ajdenner@athena.mit.edu
> 234 Baker House, 362 Memorial Drive    mit-eddie!mit-athena!ajdenner
> Cambridge, MA 02139                    ajdenner%athena@mitmva.mit.edu

	Dirk Husemann

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