What abuse? Is there an expectation of privacy in Web-world, such that all users can honestly expect that a site is compelled to keep its "visitor log" private?

Absolutely, just as there is an assumption that private email will not be distributed over USEnet. There is a clear expectation of privacy. Just as the user of a USEnet server has an expectation of privacy. The question of what is legitimate to use log file data for is a very keenly debated one at W3 conferences. Phill H-B

I know a few folks at eop, and I can tell you that it's a tad bigger setup that a few boxes in bill's private office. This is the "office" of the executive, not "the executive office". There's a good amount of people who work there. Most of them are good folks too. They are not power hungry nuts, they are not bad clones of "The Monroes", they are not weirdos like "Cancer Man" out of the X-Files, in fact, in many cases they are just real normal people who belive in trying to do something for their fellow citizens. They don't *do* partisan politics, and in fact, partisan politics are the greatest source of fear for their job security. I've watched allot of *good* people, by ANYONES standards, leave their jobs in the government lately due to the lack of support they have gotten from the congress & the executive branch, and I know how bad morale is in places where everyone would be better served if people didn't have to worry about how to feed the kids next month. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with allot of *political* stuff that's going on at all. But the idea of some poor sod worrying about his job becasue he decided to check out a web site with "controversial" material is enough to make me vomit. Attributing a conspiracy to this is just plain and simple ignorance. Any agency worth much wouldn't "monitor" from a site with a big 'ol .gov at the end of the IP. THEY arn't that stupid, but apperently the whackos in the woodpile think that people would be that dumb. Personaly I'd be flattered if some gov site were looking at "dissident" material I put up, if I chose to do that, God knows it might actually mean my elected representatives were listening, or at least their staff might be. I swear, Clinton "scandals" make me nostalgic for the 'ol republican days when we had REAL scandals like Watergate & Iran-Contra... All this Foster crap & black helicopters just strikes me as goofy, and in some cases ignorantly obnoxious. I guess this is what happens when the trailer park crowd get's on the net... Tim ________________________________________________________________ tfs@vampire.science.gmu.edu (NeXTmail, MIME) Tim Scanlon George Mason University (PGP key avail.) Public Affairs I speak for myself, but often claim demonic possession