Clarify the Internet part

Clarify the "do not use the Internet" part to make it clearer that we're
talking about backend actions, and custom build scripts in particular.
We're not talking of Python dependencies that are fetched and installed
by frontends.  Also, reflow the text to be more logical.

source/discussions/downstream-packaging.rst

@@ -136,9 +136,12 @@ Why?
 ~~~~
 
 Downstream builds are frequently done in sandboxed environments that cannot
-access the Internet. Even if this is not the case, and assuming that you took
-sufficient care to properly authenticate downloads, using the Internet
-is discouraged for a number of reasons:
+access the Internet. The package sources are unpacked into this environment,
+and all the necessary dependencies are installed.
+
+Even if this is not the case, and assuming that you took sufficient care to
+properly authenticate downloads, using the Internet is discouraged for a number
+of reasons:
 
 - The Internet connection may be unstable (e.g. due to poor reception)
   or suffer from temporary problems that could cause the process to fail
@@ -159,22 +162,31 @@ is discouraged for a number of reasons:
 How?
 ~~~~
 
-Your source distribution should either include all the files needed
-for the package to build, or allow provisioning them externally. Ideally,
-it should not even attempt to access the Internet at all, unless explicitly
-requested to. If that is not possible to achieve, the next best thing
-is to provide an opt-out switch to disable all Internet access.
+If the package is implementing any custom build *backend* actions that use
+the Internet, for example by automatically downloading vendored dependencies
+or fetching Git submodules, its source distribution should either include all
+of these files or allow provisioning them externally, and the Internet must not
+be used if the files are already present.
+
+Note that this point does not apply to Python dependencies that are specified
+in the package metadata, and are fetched during the build and installation
+process by *frontends* (such as :ref:`build` or :ref:`pip`). Downstreams use
+frontends that use local provisioning for Python dependencies.
 
-When such a switch is used, the build process should fail if some
-of the required files are missing, rather than try to fetch them automatically.
-This could be done e.g. by checking whether a ``NO_NETWORK`` environment
-variable is set to a non-empty value. Please also remember that if you are
-fetching remote resources, you must *verify their authenticity* (usually against
-a hash), to protect against the file being substituted by a malicious party.
+Ideally, custom build scripts should not even attempt to access the Internet
+at all, unless explicitly requested to. If any resources are missing and need
+to be fetched, they should ask the user for permission first. If that is not
+feasible, the next best thing is to provide an opt-out switch to disable
+all Internet access. This could be done e.g. by checking whether
+a ``NO_NETWORK`` environment variable is set to a non-empty value.
 
 Since downstreams frequently also run tests and build documentation, the above
 should ideally extend to these processes as well.
 
+Please also remember that if you are fetching remote resources, you absolutely
+must *verify their authenticity* (usually against a hash), to protect against
+the file being substituted by a malicious party.
+
 
 .. _support-system-dependencies-in-builds: