Peter Swedock wrote: [much discussion snipped for brevity]
But if you want "unrestricted internet access" you'll get pages like "The Nuremburg Files" and you'll get people who object to that...
I don't know what the solution is... but I do think we'll all be better off opening our eyes to the situation, rather than simply blaming the 'skriptkiddiez'.
"Unrestricted Internet Access" will indeed mean different things to different people. For some, it'll mean access to the web without transparent proxies. For others, it means access to properly secured SMTP servers anywhere without someone either filtering or transparently redirecting their packets. I tend to think of it as "don't limit my ability to do 'normal' things." Since I do network consulting, I may well log onto Mindspring or AT&T Worldnet or some other ISP to run traceroutes or pings back against a network I'm working on, to be sure it looks OK from outside. I may be testing to see that routing policy or filters at a corporate site are functioning correctly. So, I ask ISPs what their policies are. Granted I'm not a typical customer. The real lesson to be learned here, though, as others have stated, is the 'net is getting an exposure to terrorism. Now, we can run around and say "illegal, illegal" and try to get law enforcement to do something, but law enforcement may well say "why don't you improve your security?" If waging a campaign to get smurf amplifiers eradicated helps, then DO IT. At the same time, add the ability to detect attempted smurfings, and report them. Take it as a gift that the you were woken up to the problems by "kids" (if that's what it was), rather than by hardcore terrorists. It may well be time for the backbone providers and larger ISPs to develop anti-terrorism plans. The Internet has passed the point of being a useful tool in society and is becoming a critical element in everyday life. Perhaps this should be a new topic at NANOG. Dan -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Senie dts@senie.com Amaranth Networks Inc. http://www.amaranthnetworks.com