Test Traffic Measurement Service
Data Disclosure Policy
Henk Uijterwaal
RIPE NCC
Document ID: ripe-300
Date: 23 January 2004
Obsoletes: ripe-180
____________________________________________________________________
1 Introduction
This document describes the Data Disclosure Policy (also referred to as
the acceptable use policy or AUP) for the the data collected by the RIPE
NCC Test Traffic Measurement Service (TTM) [1]. It describes who can
access the data from this service, what one can do with the data and
conditions that must be fulfilled before data can be published outside
the RIPE Test Traffic Working Group (TT-WG) and the organisations hosting
the test boxes.
This policy is based on discussion in the RIPE TT-WG. It replaces the old
policy as described in [2]. Existing users of the service will be asked
to confirm that they agree with this change in policy. New test boxes
will only be installed if the hosts agree with this version of the
policy.
2 General principles
This policy is based on 2 principles:
* Avoid abuse while giving as much freedom as possible to use the data.
* A simple procedure that describes the basic idea and is easy to
follow rather than a heavy document that attempts to describe every
possible case.
Collecting data with the test-boxes means collecting data about
organisations and the performance of their networks. This is a delicate
matter as nobody wants to see an analysis that puts the performance of
his networks in a bad light, particularly if the scientific merits of the
analysis cannot be proven. On the other hand, the results of TTM can be a
valuable tool for day-to-day operations, long-term planning and
scientific research. One does not want to be too restrictive about what
can be done with the data.
To implement these principles, 3 basic rules are set:
* The RIPE NCC controls the distribution of the data.
* All data analysis should be peer reviewed before publication.
* All reports should include a pointer to the official description of
the data as well as appropriate credit and copyright statements.
These basic rules are discussed in the next sections for two cases:
section 3 discusses the situation for the owners of a test-box and their
customers, section 4 for all others. The latter category generally
consists of researchers doing scientific analysis of the data in order to
better understand the behaviour of the Internet.
3 Participating Organisations
This section deals with organisations that own a Test Box and participate
in the service, and their customers. Customers are loosely defined as any
organization that uses the network of the test box host in order to
connect to the rest of the Internet. There may or may not be a formal
business relation. Sites owning a Test Box are called ``test box hosts''
in the remainder of this document,
1 Access to the data
There are several ways in which a test box host can access the data:
1. Through an interface on the test box. This shows the data as it is
being collected, with a delay of only a few minutes. Access to this
interface is restricted to IP addresses specified by the test box
host and allocated to the host or its customers. The host will make
the customer aware of this policy.
2. Through the RIPE NCC website. Processed data (plots, summaries) will
be put on the RIPE NCC web site without password restrictions (but
see section 4 below). Plots can be copied to another, internal web
site if necessary, provided that proper credits are given and the
test box host makes the users of that site aware of this policy.
3. Through the RIPE NCC ftp-site. Unprocessed data will be put on an
ftp-server on request. The URL will be made available to the test box
host and/or its customers.
Data can be downloaded and the host can share the data with its
customers. The host is responsible for making the customer aware of
this policy. Redistribution of the data to any other party in any
form is not allowed.
2 Analysis and publication of the data
The data can be used freely for any analysis. The host can freely discuss
the results with its customers or present the results to the RIPE NCC
TT-WG.
Before an analysis is presented to the outside world, the analysis will
have to be verified. This means that the organisation (including the RIPE
NCC) that did the analysis will have to provide a write-up of the
analysis that includes enough detail for anybody to independently verify
its conclusions. This write-up will be circulated amongst all hosts for a
peer review. This review period will last 2 weeks and a mailing list for
comments will be made available.
If there are objections to an analysis, they will be discussed with the
authors and the authors will be invited to submit a new version. When a
new version is published, another 2 week review period will start. If a
host still disagrees, they can ask that data related to their site is
removed from the analysis. However, no single host can veto the
publication of an analysis by another host or the RIPE NCC.
When data is published, it should include as few references to names of
other sites, IP-addresses of test-boxes and routers etc. while keeping
the document readable (for example, by calling the hosting sites ISP-A,
ISP-B, etc.). Note that it will never be possible to make the data
completely anonymous.
The RIPE NCC will take care of the administrative aspects of setting up a
peer review, such as the distribution of draft papers and providing a
mailing list for comments. It should be noted that the review process
takes time. Anybody planning to present data at a conference should keep
this in mind.
Once a document is published, the authors of the document should provide
the RIPE NCC with a copy of the final paper. The RIPE NCC will maintain a
list of published papers on its website.
3 Credits.
In any publication, appropriate credit to the source of the data should
be given. The ``official'' reference for the TTM service is:
F.Georgatos et al,
``Providing Active Measurements as a Regular Service for ISP's''.
In: Proceedings of the Passive and Active Measurements Workshop
PAM2001, Amsterdam, April 2001.
http://www.ripe.net/ttm
For the data, the reference is:
Data from the RIPE NCC TTM service, �RIPE NCC, 2003, all rights
reserved. Data may not be redistributed without prior approval of the
RIPE NCC. Please see http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-300.html for
details.
4 Others
This section deals with all others requesting access to the data.
1 Access to the data
There are two ways in which one can access the data.
1. Processed data on the RIPE NCC website. Plots will be visible on the
RIPE NCC website without restriction. The first time the website is
accessed, this policy will be explicitly shown on the screen, asking
the user to confirm that he has read it before proceeding. All pages
will include a reference to this document.
2. Raw data on the RIPE NCC ftp-site. Raw data will be made available on
the ftp site. The URL will only be made available after the
organisation has signed a copy of the policy (see appendix A).
Redistribution of the data to any other party in any form is not
allowed. Data should be removed when the studies have finished.
2 Analysis and publication of the data
The data can be used freely for any analysis. One is free to discuss the
analysis inside the organization that did the analysis or the RIPE TT-WG.
Before an analysis is presented to the outside world, the analysis will
have to be verified. This means that the organisation that did the
analysis, will have to provide a write-up of the analysis that includes
enough detail for anybody to independently verify its conclusions. This
write-up will be circulated amongst the hosts for a peer review according
to the procedure described in section 3.2.
When data is published, it should include as few references to names of
other ISPs, IP-addresses of test-boxes and routers etc. while keeping the
document readable (for example, by calling the hosting sites ISP-A,
ISP-B, etc.). Note that it will never be possible to make the data
completely anonymous.
The RIPE NCC will take care of the administrative aspects of setting up a
peer review (see section 3.2).
Once a document is published, the authors of the document should provide
the RIPE NCC with a copy of the final paper. The RIPE NCC will maintain a
list of published papers on its website.
3 Credits.
In any publication, appropriate credit should be given (see section 3.3).
5 Changes in the policy
Changes in the data-disclosure policy can be suggested by the
participating ISPs or the RIPE NCC. All changes will be discussed with
test box hosts participating at that point. If all parties agree on the
change, then this document will be revised. It is our goal that the new
policy will be acceptable to everybody participating in the project.
6 Concluding remarks.
The RIPE NCC will take care of the administrative details related to this
policy. It will make decisions on small issues not covered in this
policy. Major issues with this policy will be brought forward on the
tt-wg@ripe.net mailing list.
Bibliography
1. H. Uijterwaal, O. Kolkman, ``Internet Delay Measurements using Test
Traffic, Design Note'', RIPE-158.
2. H. Uijterwaal, ``Internet Delay Measurements using Test Traffic, Data
disclosure policy'', RIPE-180.
A. Acceptance of the Data Disclosure Policy
Name(s):
Email:
Legally representing
Name of Organisation:
Address:
has/have asked the RIPE NCC for access to data collected by the Test
Traffic Measurement Service (TTM).
I/We have read and understood the data disclosure policy for this
service (``AUP'') as described in document RIPE-300.ps
(http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-300.html). I/We agree to abide by
these conditions.
I/We will ensure that all other members of our organisation who will
get access to the data, will be made aware of this policy.
Name:
Date:
Signature(s):
Please print a copy of this form on your organisation's stationary,
sign and send a copy of this form to the RIPE NCC by post or fax.