Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 13:32:31 -0400 From: Dean Anderson <dean@av8.com> Sender: owner-nanog@merit.edu
Actually, I think this issue dates back to when Network Solutions thought they "owned" the database, and had some plans to sell it. There was a lot of pushback to that idea, which they eventually dropped. But they have still resisted letting anyone else have the full database.
I don't think they are actually concerned so much with abuse as they are with trying to maintain or establish a proprietary control over the database. Of course, "abuse prevention" is a good cover for proprietary control.
ESnet had no problems getting access to the databases from NSI. We just asked, explained why we wanted access and promised not to use it improperly. I think we had a password to FTP the files in less than a day. This does not sound like "proprietary control" (though I'm unsure what this is). R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) E-mail: oberman@es.net Phone: +1 510 486-8634