Why does the IP checksum cover just the header?

Related questions

1. How do I verify checksum on Mac?
2. Does TCP use checksum?
3. What is my checksum?
4. How TCP checksum is calculated?
5. What is the difference between a checksum and a hash?
6. What is a md5 file?
7. What is Internet checksum?
8. How many errors can CRC detect?
9. Why is there no header checksum in IPv6?
10. How do I verify checksum of a downloaded file?

Tags

1. #encapsulate
2. #protocols
3. #level
4. #first
5. #includes
6. #higher
7. #packet
8. #whole
9. #second
10. #datagram
11. #visited
12. #covers
13. #checksum
14. #field
15. #router
16. #changed
17. #header
18. #changes