>>Others might have a very different definition of VPN. The "P" in "VPN"
>>stands for "privacy", which
>I thought the word was "private" rather than "privacy". "Private" has two
>different meanings, one for shutting out others from seeing, but the other
>referring to restricted management, as in being under private control.
That is correct. A "Virtual Private Network" is a network that utilizes a
public medium, but is privately managed. Encapsulation is what makes a VPN
private, not encryption. I think that encryption is a tremendously
important component of an Internet-based VPN, and I wouldn't use a VPN over
the Internet without encryption. Nevertheless, the term VPN does NOT
necessitate encryption.
