Netscape Security Button

[Bob Cherry]

Hi all!  Well, as a co-producer/developer of librowse, I wanted to make some comments...

The MAC/Internet address being referred to by James Cayz, which supposedly the user can delete, is wrong information.  The MAC address is in HARDWARE!  That's right, it is burned into the actual Ethernet Controller which provides your Internet connection.  If you dialup, its provided by the Comm Server you dial into -- its not even on your system.  This hex address gives the actual ethernet controller a unique ID and is used for routing and other network applications.  It is NOT your actual IP address.  It cannot be deleted or changed by any software application that a typical user would have access to, including Netscape.  Netscape can not change this value.

The second point I'd like to make is that many changes to security require that the browser be restarted.  Restarting the browser will automatically restore all the proper files and abandon all the security changes anyway.  Thus, I do not see this as a problem at all.
All configuration parameters will be restored between patron sessions.

If librowse is installed the way its distributed and none of the distribution files or directories are changed it will work as advertised.  We don't allow changes during installation.  The install files are digitally signed and the installation is not manual - its done by an install program to insure proper installation.  Any modifications to the configuration files, java and javascript or digitally signed files will probably result in abnormal behavior of the software or, even worse, librowse may not work at all.
We will not support modified files or changes in installations.

I don't know what James Cayz objective was in sending all this confusion was but, the information is misleading and deceptive and, its all wrong.  Its a shame it was distributed to such a wide audience.

Bob Cherry
Internet Networking Consultant