> > > Wouldn't that be something like expecting the highway dept. to keep > > > thieves out of your house? > > > > No, it's even better, it's like expecting the highway department to keep > > certain ethnic groups out of your neighborhood because statistically when > > those ethnic groups are in your neighborhood they're up to no good. Whether > > or not they have a legitimate reason to be there is, of course, irrelevant. > > It might be possible to park a patrol car at every entrance to your > neighborhood, but of course that assumes that everyone who happens to > live *in* the neighborhood is totally trustworthy. Realistically, to > provide the protection claimed, you need to put a patrol car on every > corner -- or in front of every house. This assumes that everyone in the neighborhood *wants* that level of protection, and that it doesn't interfere (outright or inadvertently) with their social habits or livelihood. The restrictions imposed by such 'protection' could force some residents to have to go 'outside the neighborhood' in order to meet with some of their friends or customers (or family). Better that the Neighborhood Watch or local police instead recommend (or even give away) a small, easy to manage burglar alarm package, and provide easily accessible information on how to reduce your risks. An ISP should pass all reasonable traffic to, from, and between their customers. Actively monitoring the network for patterns of intrusion would usually be acceptable, and would be analogous to the police patrolling the area, or being available to answer distress calls, without actively controlling neighborhood traffic. I don't see why an ISP couldn't recommend, or even give away a copy of at time of sign-up, a good personal firewall product. Many that have been recommended elsewhere are only a few dollars and are quite passive in their operation. Co-branded copies of this software, much like the branded web browsers a lot of ISP's hand out, are a win for both companies. I'm getting weary of running into roadblocks while trying to implement e-commerce or VPN solutions because an intermediary ISP decided to block a particular protocol. - [To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe firewalls" in the body of the message.]
