That sounds pretty, well, yuck. I prefer the "outside the box" approach to solving problems. ;) Weird > elegant in my book usually. Not that I have given it much thought you would likely be able to achieve this sort of environment using ACLs. I recommend checking out the VMS security manual. Do ACLs like that carry over DECnet? I seem to recall Brian S. saying they don't. Guys, I decided to go with a more or less free-for-all environment, I'll make batch job that will set the FILE/PROT to W:RE every couple of hours but right now, CHIMPY::[.DROPBOX] is open to everyone. BTW, the SAMPSA*.* images are me, I think this "Faces of HECnet" project would be cool. sampsa