|
|
|
Merit Network Third-Party Connections PolicyMay 30, 2006
This document explains Merit's policy on network connections provided by Merit Members and Affiliates to third-party organizations. Such connections
are sometimes called "backdoor" connections. In a third-party connection, a Merit Member or Affiliate gives a third-party organization that has no business relationship with Merit, direct network access and Merit is not specifically paid for the third-party organization's use of the network. Except as outlined below such third-party connections are not allowed.
Direct network connections for third-party organizations are allowed if there is an explicit agreement between Merit and the Member or Affiliate providing the connection, or between Merit and the third-party organization. In these cases the Member, Affiliate or the third-party organization pays Merit a fee, and the third-party organization becomes an Affiliate. Because the third-party organization becomes an Affiliate and Merit is specifically paid for the attachment, the attachment is not a third-party connection. The fee that is paid is usually less than the amount that Merit would normally charge because:
- The Member or Affiliate is providing some of the services that Merit would normally provide.
- The Member or Affiliate is sharing its bandwidth and router with the third-party organization, so there are no new circuits or routers for Merit to monitor and manage.
- Merit does not provide user support to the third-party organization.
Third-party connections are allowed under the following circumstances:
- The connections are provided by Members or Affiliates for third-party organizations that occupy space in buildings that are owned or leased by the Member or Affiliate, OR;
- The connections are provided by Members or Affiliates for third-party organizations that are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Member or Affiliate, OR;
- The connections are provided by Members or Affiliates for third-party organizations that receive 80% or more of the revenue that supports activities at the site from the Member or Affiliate, OR;
- The network access is at speeds of no more than 128,000 bits per second and the connections are temporary in nature. Temporary connections are connections over phone or other access lines that are shared rather than dedicated for use by a single individual or organization, an individual or organization is not normally connected for more than four hours during any 24 hour period, the user is not guaranteed to get the same IP address each time they initiate a new network access session, and there is no one domain name that can be used to identify different sessions.
"Third-party organizations" and "direct" vs. "indirect" network access are explained below.
Background of the PolicyThe following statement is taken from the Merit "Affiliate Direct Attachment Policy" dated March 1, 1990:
All permanent connections to Merit are provided solely for the use and activities of the organization which has entered into an Affiliate agreement with Merit. The network connectivity provided by that agreement is not to be extended to any other organizations for their use and activities without separate approval by Merit.
Direct vs. Indirect AttachmentsDirect network access refers to a situation in which a computer or LAN at the third-party organization is linked to a network at a Member or Affiliate over a dedicated circuit or dial-in call. Indirect access refers to a situation in which someone gets network access by logging in to a host computer at a Member or Affiliate organization, and then has the ability to go outbound from that host computer onto the network. Direct access may violate the prohibition against third-party connections, but indirect access does not.
An example of indirect access is a Merit Member or Affiliate that supplies e-mail accounts on their computers to people who are not directly associated with their organization. Because this is indirect access, these people can send and receive e-mail over the Internet without violating the prohibition against third-party connections.
Determining Third-Party Organization StatusIn some cases, it may not be clear if a given organization is part of a Member or Affiliate organization or if the organization is in fact a third-party organization and subject to the provisions of the Third-Party Connections Policy. Merit uses two tests to help sort this out. First, who issues the paychecks to staff of the organization? Second, can the organization use the purchasing department of the Member or Affiliate? If the paychecks come from a Member or Affiliate or the organization can purchase through the Member's or Affiliate's purchasing department, the organization is considered part of the Member or Affiliate and not a third-party organization, and there is no problem about possible third-party organization connections. If the paychecks do not come from the Member or Affiliate and the organization cannot purchase through the Member's or Affiliate's purchasing department, the organization is considered a third-party organization and subject to the terms of the Third-Party Connection Policy.
If an organization is a federation of other organizations, the individual organizations are not considered third-party organizations for the purposes of the Third-Party Connection Policy. Examples would be an Intermediate School District (ISD) or a Library Cooperative. If such organizations make direct network access available to their member organizations (a member school district or a member library for the examples given), Merit would not consider that to be a third-party organization connection. However, the individual libraries or school districts may not call or receive support from Merit directly. Instead, they must work through the Member or Affiliate and the Member or Affiliate would work with Merit. Merit expects such federations' members to be a well defined group of organizations, for example all community colleges or all schools and public libraries in a geographic region of Michigan. Merit expects such federations to make network access available only to organizations that are members of the federation, and will not allow this sort of network access from organizations that are formed for the sole purpose of obtaining network access from Merit contrary to this Third-Party Connection Policy.
In special circumstances Merit's Director for the network may determine that an organization that would normally be considered a third-party organization under this policy will not be considered a third-party organization, when treating the organization as a third-party would impose unusual or unfair costs or administrative burdens on the Member, Affiliate, or Merit, or would encourage the deployment of inefficient network designs.
Additional ConsiderationsWhen Members or Affiliates make third-party connections that are not temporary in nature available to third-party organizations at speeds of more than 128,000 bits per second, the Member or Affiliate must inform Merit of the names of the third-party organizations and the circumstances under which the network connections are being provided.
When Members or Affiliates make network connections available to third-party organizations, the Member or Affiliate is responsible for the third-party organization's use of the network, for ensuring that the third-party organization is familiar with Merit's Acceptable Use and Conditions of Use policies, or equivalent policies, and for ensuring that the third-party organization follows these policies.
When Members or Affiliates make connections available to third-party organizations, the Member or Affiliate may charge the third-party organization no more than the actual cost of providing, using, and supporting the connection.
Before extending network access that includes access to Internet2 to third-party organizations, Members and Affiliates must ensure that the third-party organization is eligible to receive access to Internet2 under the rules established by the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), possibly including the need to become a member of Internet2, having the third-party organization's participation sponsored by a regular Internet2 member, and/or paying membership, participation, or other fees to UCAID.
Members and Affiliates that make direct network connections available to third-party organizations are strongly encouraged to assign separate ranges of IP addresses and distinct domain names for use by the third-party organizations so that it is clear when access originates from the Member or Affiliate and when it originates from the third-party organization. These IP address assignments should be registered with the appropriate agency and made available in the appropriate who is database.
This policy pertains to access provided to organizations, rather than to access a Member or Affiliate may provide to individual guest users for a limited period.
Questions and Comments
If you have questions about this policy or for more information, please
contact your Support team.
|
|
