I would like to chime in here with a couple points.
1. Not all 44-net traffic is routed over the air. This address space is indeed reserved for the amateur radio community, but that doesn't mean that it's routed over the air and is necessarily subject to the content rules the FCC has laid out for our wireless communications. In such situations, it makes little sense to restrict to only 44/8 space unless that is the only community you're serving. As bill said, there are certainly things that would be of interest to the outside world, and are part of the ham community so shouldn't be restricted.
2. For the traffic that does go over the air, consider the case of a repeater operator/owner, and say that repeater has a phone patch. The FCC has laid out rules that the operator of the repeater is not liable for the content of other's transmissions, provided they take reasonable corrective action to prevent abuse. Specifically in the case of a phone patch, in most cases, this means configuring it for only outgoing calls, however, it is permissible to receive a phone call from the outside provided it is expected by a licensed operator. If we apply this to IP space, this would translate in my mind to generally firewalling incoming traffic, allowing for exceptions in the firewall rules as desired for ham services that are compatible with the wireless nature of the path, and in my opinion, I'd prefer to not restrict other licensed users of a network. They're responsible for their own transmissions, and if it comes to be a problem, as in the case of a repeater, steps can be tak! en to limit or stop the abuse.
So, in agreement with Bill, it's going to very much depend on your situation, as is the case with all internet connected systems, you need to protect it in the way that makes most sense for your applications of it.
Nigel K7NVH
On Apr 1, 2014, at 5:23 PM, Paula g8pzt@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
(Please trim inclusions from previous messages) _______________________________________________ Hi Bill,
Thank you for the explanation. It more or less confirms the way I was thinking. :-)
73, Paula
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Vodall" wa7nwp@gmail.com To: "AMPRNet working group" 44net@hamradio.ucsd.edu Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 1:16 AM Subject: Re: [44net] routable or private?
(Please trim inclusions from previous messages) _______________________________________________
I am searching for a definitive, plain-english answer to two questions that have bothered me for a long time:
My opinion - after years of experience and more years of net discussions... This is slightly changed after the discussions last week...
a) Should 44-net be accessible to non-44 source addresses?
It should be possible - but only in a highly filtered and controlled special case.
As one example, I've been turning on MRTG traffic charts on the various home and radio subnets. That page could be something that would be of interest in the non-44 world and could be safely shared.
b) Should non-44-net destinations be accessible from 44-net source addresses?
It should be possible - more than the incoming case above but still carefully controlled. Recently I've come to appreciate more the corporate structure where outgoing access is somewhat controlled. Somethings I've seen on some systems are a bit scary.
If the answer to either of the above is "yes", then there is the potential for traffic which violates radio licensing laws to be carried by radio.
As long as you have 'users' there is potential for traffic violations. That's the small price we pay for doing cool things.
Personally I block all traffic with a non-44/8 source or destination, but I was never sure if that is the "correct" policy?.
There is probably no universal 'correct' policy. Everybody has to weigh all the consequences of their configuration.
73, Paula G8PZT
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