From: "Richard F. Dutcher" <rfdutcher@igc.apc.org>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 95 19:14:21 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: (Fwd) Information Superhighway - GAO Report
Message-ID: <199501260315.TAA07854@mail.igc.apc.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Old news, I'm sure, but certain to be cited in the legal & regulatory 
debates ...

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Wed, 25 Jan 1995 11:49:42 EST
Reply-to:      gao-docs <gao-docs@MAILHOST.GAO.GOV>
From:          gao-docs <gao-docs@MAILHOST.GAO.GOV>
Subject:       Information Superhighway - GAO Report
To:            Multiple recipients of list PUBPOL-L <PUBPOL-L@UMINN1.BITNET>

                       GAO Report - Information Superhighway

The U.S. General Accounting Office, the Congressional watchdog
agency, has recently released the following report:

  *** ASCII Full Text Access and Ordering Info Follows ***

TITLE:    Information Superhighway: An Overview of Technology Challenges
          RPTNO: AIMD-95-23                  DOCUMENT DATE: 01/23/95

BACKGROUND:
    GAO reviewed the technical issues associated with protecting the
    information superhighway from unauthorized access.
FINDINGS:
    GAO found that: (1) the information superhighway poses technical challenges
    concerning the security, privacy, and reliability of personal and
    proprietary information; (2) a large proportion of the information that
    will traverse the superhighway will be sensitive and a tempting target for
    hackers, foreign governments conducting political and military intelligence
    operations, domestic and foreign enterprises engaged in industrial
    espionage, or terrorist groups seeking to disrupt society or the economy;
    (3) significant effort will be needed to define, develop, test, and
    implement measures to prevent unauthorized access to the superhighway; (4)
    although the federal government could play a leading role in ensuring the
    superhighway's security, critics argue that individuals should be free to
    choose the technical means for meeting their security requirements; (5) a
    major challenge facing the development of the information superhighway will
    be creating a consensus between the federal government, computer and
    communications industry, business community, and civil liberties groups on
    how to ensure information security and privacy; (6) federal and private
    sectors have begun establishing uniform standards to ensure the
    superhighway's interoperability; and (7) questions remain about how to
    protect the superhighway from large network failures and encourage the
    telecommunications industry to develop a secure and reliable
    infrastructure.

***************************************************************

This report is available both in print and electronically.

***************************************************************
[junk deleted]
***************** ELECTRONIC ORDER INFORMATION ****************

To access GAO reports as FULL TEXT ASCII electronic files from
the Government Printing Office (GPO) BBS, follow these steps:

1) TELNET to <federal.bbs.gpo.gov> and designate "port 3001"
   or dial 202-512-1387 (Menu Selection #22 on FEDWORLD);

(***NOTE*** Depending on how your system accesses the TELNET
feature, you may need to TELNET to this address:

                   <federal.bbs.gpo.gov 3001>
                                        ^^^^^
and hit return a few times after connecting.  You should receive
a greeting screen.  If you receive a prompt for "PASSWORD",
something is wrong.  Either re-try or contact GPO at the phone
number below.)

2) Log in or register on system (type: "NEW" if first time user);

3) From the Main Menu, select "File Library System - 6";

4) Select "S - Select Library";

5) Type:  "GAO_RPTS";

6) Select file name: Information Superhighway: AI95023.TXT

*****************************************************************

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at 202-512-1530.  Please do NOT use this e-mail address for
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GPO charges a fee to download each file.  Exact costs are listed
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NOTE: All Federal Depository Libraries are authorized to download
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system in order to be authorized free download access.

****************************************************************

                 PRINTED COPY ORDER INFORMATION

Printed copies via U.S. Mail are also available by calling
202-512-6000 (TDD number is 301-413-0006), sending a FAX to
301-258-4066, or by writing to:

        P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015.

Please include the report number and complete postal mailing
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Sorry, we are NOT able to accept electronic orders for printed
documents at this time.

The first printed copy is FREE of charge.  Additional copies are
$2.00.

****************************************************************
[more junk deleted]

Please forward comments and suggestions to:

                       <gao-docs@gao.gov>

Thank you.

***************************************************************
Rich Dutcher, San Francisco Greens
P.O. Box 77005, San Francisco, California 94107 USA

"That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves."
                          Kim Stanley Robinson, "Green Mars"

Greens, of course, only enslave plants - so weed-whackers work better than cops ...