Subject: Simbad on the Web

From: [email-masked] (D. egret)
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 12:40:37 +0200

Copy of a message sent to Michael Naumann.
The pointer mentioned in the first two paragraphs was the following:

<a href="rlogin://[email-masked]/">
    SIMBAD Bibliographic Database (Strasbourg, France)</a> 
        Die Datenuebertragung ist <em> sehr langsam</em>, da ein 
        kostenfreier Zugang ueber Harvard benutzt wird. 

-----------------

Michael Naumann,

  I would like to inform you that your pointing to the SIMBAD Cfa gateway
as a "free of charge" access to SIMBAD (from the Muenster WWW pages)
has had some unfortunate consequences: namely that the ADS project has
now turned off this facility for all users.
  The point here is that the SIMBAD account you were pointing at, is
part of an agreement between NASA and CDS aiming to implement an easy
"native access" to SIMBAD through the ADS (ADS also offers a "GUI access"
which is currently not affected). If the access is "free of charge"
for the user it is because NASA agreed to support the ADS users. You
should understand that NASA is not willing to support users from all
parts of the world, coming through uncontrolled and unconsidered paths.

  I understand your enthusiasm towards these new information
technologies, but you should understand that the general access to all
these resources frequently result from formal and explicit agreements
between institutions. Unconsidered behaviors, such as unauthorized
use of computer accounts, and absence of credits given to the resource
providers, certainly jeopardize the support of such agreements by
our funding institutions.

  As a first step, I would like to ask you to be much more careful
in the building of your WWW pages. Getting the preliminary approval of
the head of your institute could be a wise precaution in this context.
As a general rule, it would be also considered as a more friendly
attitude by all your colleagues on the web, to inform them whenever
you attempt to make local copies of their pages and services on your
own server.

Sincerely yours,
Daniel Egret
CDS, Strasbourg

CC: Michel Creze (Director CDS)
    Guenther Eichhorn (ADS Project Manager)
    Waltraut Seitter (Director Astronomisches Institut Muenster)
CC: AstroWeb consortium