[SOT Rant] Non-hostile probes / opt-in/out

Fri Oct 26 04:21:45 UTC 2001

<rant>
	Digital Island is certainly not alone in their practice of
assuming an opt-in stance.  

	When Caida started their ping-a-thons, our IDS went absolutely
bonkers, since they were sending pings from several hosts (3 IIRC) once an
hour - if the target host responded, or a dozen (approx) per hour for
each host that didn't respond.  This may not sound like a lot, but at the
time we were ISDN connected, so all traffic was being looked at pretty
closely.  After requesting an explanation from the originating network, we
recieved a very polite reply explaining what they were doing, and asking
permission to continue (and for us to open firewall holes so that the
probes could get through).  We did in fact feel this was a good use of our
precious limited resources, and allowed it to both continue and go through
our doors.  Still, it rankled that nobody bothered to ask first if this
was something we'd mind.

	Caida has grown, and so have we: they are now probing from
(IIRC) 18 different hosts, and we are now connected with big fat pipes and
don't freak at a few thousand "extra" packets per hour, but...

	We see a new player in the "probes are cool cause we
assume you don't mind" game every couple of months.  And to be frank, it
gets old.  If these folks would ask FIRST, they would in all likelyhood be
let in with open arms, however, we have stopped trying to "work with" the
new players that continually pop up.  Simply put - I am tired of spending
cycles on an involuntary basis, and I seriously doubt that I am alone in
this.

	I would be very interested (off list please) in knowing if this is
a mainstream position, or (as I have been so often told) if I am just
spending too much time talking to my crack pipe :-)  But either way, I
believe that folks who want to send significant amounts of unsolicited
traffic (significant is loosely UNdefined for the moment, OK?) would be
better served by simply looking up the appropriate registry contacts for
networks *they wish to use*, and _asking_ first.  Hell, we might even say
yes ;-)

</rant>

-- 
Yours, 
J.A. Terranson
sysadmin at mfn.org

If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they
should give serious consideration towards setting a better example:
Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of
unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in
the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and 
elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire
populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate...
This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States
as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers,
associates, or others.  Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of
those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the
first place...
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