Letter: How do you define non-official?

A reader says DOD’s proposed policy to ban personal use of networks would have to include a very clear -- and very detailed -- explanation of non-official traffic.

Your article on the Defense Department banning non-official network traffic sounds like a hoax. In the Navy, Web sites that obviously involve non-official traffic are already blocked, along with Web sites that might or might not involve non-official traffic.

Doing more than blocking sites or unplugging from the Internet altogether would take a lot of internal surveillance and a very clear and very long definition of what non-official traffic is. Is visiting online retailers non-official or official? What if it’s to obtain price estimates on items the individual intends to buy to support his or her organization's mission?  

Your article left out any information about the feasibility of preventing non-official traffic without stripping DOD employees of the ability to use the network and the Internet to do their jobs as efficiently as the private sector.

Anonymous


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