From: Jim Fleming <JimFleming@unety.net> Subject: RE: F means filtered ? Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 11:58:07 -0600 [...] Someone claimed that they could not access the public Root Name Server operated by Paul Vixie and supported by the U.S. Government and the National Science Foundation via the InterNIC by the inclusion of the address of that server in the root.cache file provided by the NSF/InterNIC.

Paul Vixie, the sys admin, for that server replied that he could not see why this would be the case.

I asked Paul if he ever filters people's traffic to that public Root Name Server. There has been no answer.

In my opinion, the U.S. Government and the NSF need to investigate these matters. If that Root Name Server is no longer valid, the U.S. Government and the NSF should not be endorsing it. ISPs rely on the reliable, stable, secure Root Name Servers and they rely on the U.S. Government to provide them with information on which servers are reliable.

In my opinion, the U.S. Government and the NSF have far more important things to do. Many of these more important things will continue to develop and strengthen the Internet infrastructure. It is also worth noting that every U.S. Government or NSF research contract I have read contains explicit language about the ideas generated through the grant are not endorsed by the funding agency. -tjs