tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/internet-providers-7377/articlesInternet providers – The Conversation2016-06-28T09:43:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/614782016-06-28T09:43:21Z2016-06-28T09:43:21ZThorny technical questions remain for net neutrality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128345/original/image-20160627-28382-dujjl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not all online traffic is the same; should we treat it the same anyway?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-432286009/stock-vector-net-neutrality-free-internet-access.html">Scale via shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal rules mandating network neutrality – the concept that all internet traffic should be treated equally – were <a href="https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/3F95E49183E6F8AF85257FD200505A3A/%24file/15-1063-1619173.pdf">upheld recently by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals</a>. The decision was <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/fcc-s-net-neutrality-rules-upheld-by-u-s-court-of-appeals">hailed as a win</a> by civil-rights groups, entrepreneurs and tech giants like Google, as well as the Obama administration itself, which had <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/general/open-internet">proposed the rules in the first place</a>. Under them, internet service provider companies are <a href="https://theconversation.com/appeals-court-upholds-net-neutrality-rules-why-you-should-care-61064">prevented from giving speed boosts</a> (or delays) to traffic of certain types or from certain sites. </p>
<p>There is an important principle at stake: Treating all internet traffic the same protects innovation. Otherwise, new services seeking to compete with Google, Facebook and the like would be at a <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3042787/what-a-net-neutrality-lose-would-mean-for-entrepreneurs">significant disadvantage</a>, with not enough money to buy enough network bandwidth to properly showcase their innovations.</p>
<p>But not all internet traffic is the same. Despite this significant legal win for network neutrality, it remains unclear how it should work in practice. Getting the details wrong risks creating a system where customers don’t get the best possible service, and society misses out on some potential innovation.</p>
<p>In fact, there are several scenarios in which I’d argue ISPs really should be able to treat different types of traffic unequally, speeding some along while slowing others down. Imagine a particular network link is congested, which is <a href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/nsdi13/technical-sessions/presentation/winstein">often the case with mobile data</a> and network routing facilities <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2663716.2663741">where ISPs connect to each other’s networks</a>. Congestion typically happens when lots of wireless customers are in one place trying to connect to the internet, or when one ISP is sending more data than a recipient ISP can handle, as when Netflix customers’ streaming <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/186576-verizon-caught-throttling-netflix-traffic-even-after-its-pays-for-more-bandwidth">maxed out Netflix’s network links with Verizon</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>Now consider two users whose internet traffic goes through the congested link. If one user is streaming video and another is backing up data to the cloud, should both of them have their data slowed down? Or would users’ collective experience be best if those watching <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/03/09/net-neutrality-connection/">videos were given priority</a>? That would mean slightly slowing down the data backup, freeing up bandwidth to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TNET.2013.2281542">minimize video delays</a> and keep the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2043164.2018478">picture quality high</a>.</p>
<h2>What is ‘reasonable management’ anyway?</h2>
<p>The Open Internet Order, as the federal net neutrality rules are formally known, does anticipate this, to some degree. It allows ISPs to use “reasonable network management” practices to keep data flowing, without violating the overall purpose of the regulations. However, the Federal Communications Commission has not yet defined what that means – perhaps because doing so is difficult.</p>
<p>It makes sense that when a link is not fully occupied, no traffic should be delayed. Similar logic would suggest that if a link is overloaded, it might be useful to delay some data and prioritize others. But where do we draw the line between the two extremes? </p>
<p>And what if a link is mostly full, but not yet all the way? Could an ISP throttle back some delay-tolerant traffic (such as software update downloads) to leave room in case any new time-sensitive traffic (streaming videos, internet phone calls) came through? Or would it have to wait until the link was completely filled before stepping in to manage priority?</p>
<p>Next imagine that the only solution to handling a full link pits one user’s Skype call against another user’s Netflix stream. How should the ISP make the decision about the effects its selective traffic priorities will have on both users’ experiences?</p>
<p>The FCC has not ruled on these technical details, but declaring what is reasonable will be important for consumers and ISPs alike. I and my colleagues are studying <a href="http://web.eecs.umich.edu/%7Eharshavm/papers/internetqoe16.pdf">how to measure users’ experience from internet traffic</a> – rather than just quantifying the speed of data flows. One of our goals is to help ISPs understand the effects of various traffic-handling methods.</p>
<h2>Finding ways around neutrality</h2>
<p>Throttling and prioritization are not the only ways ISPs can improve or degrade the performance of internet traffic. ISPs can route internet traffic along a variety of network paths, which are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/863955.863970">not always as short, and therefore as fast, as they could be</a>. A firm could, therefore, route traffic from one video streaming service (say, the one the ISP itself owns) via a network path with a large amount of bandwidth, while routing a competitor’s traffic along a more circuitous path with limited bandwidth.</p>
<p>ISPs tend to consider information about their <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2567561.2567566">network layout and capacity, routing policies and traffic-handling settings</a> as competitive secrets not subject to public scrutiny. That makes it very hard to tell from the outside if a particular routing decision is discriminatory or a legitimate network-management choice. The FCC’s rules do allow government regulators to review some of this data, but only after a complaint has been made. Without the data, though, it’s nearly impossible to document a pattern of discrimination that might warrant complaining in the first place.</p>
<p>All in all, while the spirit of equality underlying the federal government’s drive for network neutrality is well-intentioned, a perfectly neutral network is not in the best interests of consumers. How the rules of an imperfectly neutral network are set up will determine if we can indeed have the internet serve as a utility that facilitates long-term innovation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The National Science Foundation and Google have funded Prof. Madhyastha's research on topics unrelated to network neutrality.</span></em></p>Not all internet traffic is the same. Despite the recent legal win for network neutrality, many questions remain.Harsha V. Madhyastha, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/554772016-03-03T11:18:58Z2016-03-03T11:18:58ZWill the next U.S. president close the digital divide for Americans without broadband access?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113596/original/image-20160302-25872-1jz27di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If they build it, will you come?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/5500692848">Doc Searls</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most of the 2016 presidential candidates’ policy platforms recognize the strategic <a href="http://broadband.about.com/od/speedissues/a/Do-Increased-Boadband-Speeds-Boost-Economic-Benefits.htm">importance of high-speed Internet</a> (HSI), or broadband, in <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/08/26/does-high-speed-broadband-increase-economic-growth/#5d61df8d18e2">transforming the economy</a> and <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22231347%7EpagePK:34370%7EpiPK:34424%7EtheSitePK:4607,00.html">spurring innovation</a>.</p>
<p>The candidates appear motivated by a shared belief that high-speed Internet and HSI-enabled digital innovations – such as Uber, AirBnB, Amazon, Facebook, Google and so on – are driving economic growth and transforming society. The question then becomes what should be done to further unleash HSI’s potential economic and societal benefits. </p>
<p>The candidates approach Internet issues from different perspectives, dividing along party lines. Suggestions by Republicans <a href="https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/jobs-and-opportunity/">Cruz</a> and <a href="https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/marco-rubio-internet-policy-web-position/">Rubio</a> about minimizing Internet-related taxes and enhancing cybersecurity are indeed important. But these policy platforms are more relevant to the so-called Internet Haves than to the Internet Have-nots who aren’t online.</p>
<p>Only Democrats Clinton’s and Sanders’ stated policies aim to address the fundamental issue of the <a href="http://www.internetworldstats.com/links10.htm">digital divide</a> – the gap between those with digital technologies and access to high-speed Internet <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-divide-technology-internet-access-mary-beth-hertz">versus those without</a>. </p>
<p>However, is what Clinton and Sanders endorse enough to get all Americans hooked up to blazing fast broadband and all it enables?</p>
<h2>Current state of Internet access in the US</h2>
<p>According to the Pew Research Center, the home broadband adoption rate in the U.S. <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/21/home-broadband-2015/">dropped from 70 percent to 67 percent from 2012 to 2015</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113430/original/image-20160301-31020-1w4ws4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/21/home-broadband-2015/pi-2015-10-21_broadband2015-02/">Pew Research Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cost is a big factor for those who aren’t connected. At the same time, the majority of Americans indicated that having home broadband access (rather than mobile Internet) is critical for many important life activities, including job hunting, access to health information or government services and so on.</p>
<p>Some families do rely on mobile phones as an alternative to HSI, mostly because of its greater affordability. But mobile service providers impose a data cap. And smartphones have limited capabilities compared to regular desktops or laptops, so mobile access isn’t a perfect substitute.</p>
<p>Those who do not have home broadband or who rely on mobile Internet as their sole HSI access are usually <a href="http://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1090.0256">socioeconomically disadvantaged</a> (e.g., lower income, education), racial or ethnic minorities, and/or rural residents.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/21/home-broadband-2015/pi-2015-10-21_broadband2015-16/"><img width="638" height="705" src="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/12/PI-2015-10-21_broadband2015-16.png" class="attachment-large" alt="Percentage of adults who have home broadband."></a></p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2012.689271">Research suggests lack of HSI limits</a> education opportunities, career development and social mobility.</p>
<h2>Platform plans</h2>
<p>Both Democrats aim to address the digital divide by offering broadband access to those who currently lack it. </p>
<p><a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/improving-the-rural-economy/">Sanders’ platform asserts</a> that HSI is “no longer a luxury” and he casts the digital divide as a rural infrastructure issue. By missing out on high-speed broadband access, rural residents aren’t able to use it for “21st century commerce, education, telemedicine and public safety.” Sanders’ Rebuild America Act</p>
<blockquote>
<p>would invest US$25 billion over five years to expand high-speed broadband networks in underserved and unserved areas, and would boost speeds and capacity all across the country, particularly in rural areas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sanders’ website doesn’t mention how he’d hope to finance this expansion.</p>
<p>Clinton’s platform, too, stresses that HSI is “a necessity for equal opportunity and social mobility in a 21st-century economy.” </p>
<p>Part of her infrastructure plan calls for connecting “all Americans to the digital economy.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She will finish the job of connecting America’s households to the Internet with a commitment that by 2020, 100 percent of households in America will have access to affordable broadband. She will also invest new resources in bringing free Wi-Fi to public buildings and public transportation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Clinton says she will “harness both public and private capital” to make it all happen.</p>
<p>These free or affordable broadband access plans seem reasonable. But a critical question remains: will the digital divide be resolved simply by offering high-speed Internet access at low or even no cost to the have-nots? </p>
<p>My research suggests the answer is “maybe not.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113427/original/image-20160301-31030-1yz5zo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beyond access, new Internet users need support and training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/70268842@N00/176800957">Colleen Taugher</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More to it than just hooking up</h2>
<p>The results of <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0894439309335169">numerous initiatives</a> that <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2575.2006.00207.x">aimed to address the digital divide</a> collectively suggest the digital divide is a multifaceted problem.</p>
<p>Take, for instance, the case of the LaGrange Free High-Speed Internet Initiative in Georgia. Even when the city made free high-speed Internet access available to everyone, only about <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/25148830">40 percent of the 10,000 eligible households signed up</a>. One cannot help but ask: it’s already free, why don’t you adopt it? </p>
<p>It turns out that for digital have-nots, the challenges go well beyond just the financial and material barriers. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1090.0256">The disadvantaged may also need</a> motivation, knowledge, skills and even confidence in order to use digital technologies. They also need social support that provides the needed assistance and encouragement so as to hop on the Internet. And they may not have opportunities for meaningful use of the high-speed Internet.</p>
<p>To help the disadvantaged cross the divide <a href="http://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1090.0256">requires an orchestrated effort</a> coordinating the various necessary resources – financial, technical, educational and social supports. </p>
<p>But once someone is online, it can be life-changing. Here’s how one physician described a patient from LaGrange:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>She was financially strapped, didn’t have any income. She was using this and actually for her, it brought her out of depression. Because she was very depressed, and she was able to make human contact with people all around the world. And she had friends she would correspond with in India and other countries.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even when the digital divide is bridged for some have-nots, we still find inequality in the way people use the Internet. This difference in usage behaviors between the socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged is called <a href="http://www.webuse.org/webuse.org/pdf/DiMaggioEtAl-DigitalInequality2004.pdf">digital inequality</a> or the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2673277">second-level digital divide</a>.</p>
<p>In particular, my colleagues and I found that the advantaged are <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2012.689271">much more productive in using broadband</a> to attain educational, economic, health, financial, social and political benefits.</p>
<p>In other words, access to high-speed Internet may wind up reproducing and enhancing existing advantages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113599/original/image-20160302-25881-1tkvxok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s still a lot more to be done after you lay some cable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vattenfall/7466349584">Vattenfall</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The process is ongoing</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=28832">Municipal governments launch initiatives</a> to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2009.01.002">offer public broadband service</a> with an eye toward multiple benefits: developing a digital labor force, attracting new investment, bridging the digital divide, and harnessing opportunities for digital innovations.</p>
<p>But other stakeholders aren’t as excited. For instance, <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-03-fiber-cover_x.htm">incumbent service providers typically criticize</a> these free initiatives as compromising their interests by offering competing service. </p>
<p>Some lawmakers (e.g., <a href="https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/jobs-and-opportunity/">Cruz</a> and <a href="https://marcorubio.com/issues-2/marco-rubio-internet-policy-web-position/">Rubio</a>) oppose such initiatives on the grounds government shouldn’t intervene with market mechanisms.</p>
<p>Even if a Clinton or Sanders administration is able to structure a deal that potentially serves the interests of different stakeholders – government, incumbent service providers, the digitally advantaged and disadvantaged – these initiatives typically encounter <a href="https://www.heartland.org/sites/default/files/municipal_broadband_policy_paper.pdf">financial constraints that endanger their continuation</a>. Any future economic downturn could also challenge the economic sustainability of such deals.</p>
<p>Successfully bridging the digital divide is complicated. Besides providing the financial resources and technological means, an effective plan would need to motivate and encourage the have-nots, develop their digital competencies, and provide technical and social support. </p>
<p>After connecting the disadvantaged to HSI, policymakers should be aware of the second digital divide – rooted in ongoing socioeconomic inequalities – and provide continuous training and community support. </p>
<p>Finally, a successful plan would likely structure deals that serve different stakeholders’ interests and are designed to sustain the initiatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J.J. Po-An Hsieh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Democrats’ policy platforms address the fundamental issue of Internet haves and have-nots in the U.S. But research suggests just hooking people up to broadband won’t solve the problem.J.J. Po-An Hsieh, Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/394292015-03-30T18:55:32Z2015-03-30T18:55:32ZIs it possible to circumvent metadata retention and retain your privacy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76420/original/image-20150330-25053-up2ylv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many of your online activities leave a digital trace that can reveal your identity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/altemark/443580023/in/photolist-nj7Bs-bt5yno-3r4UCy-bEy1pi-FcsTr-9eqn7-RBaYo-bFZpyg-bWVguK-a89UgM-8nuRwu-ai8mDD-4ra9b6-aSoK2H-dS2UaQ-75hLej-ai8mDB-7Vo9nc-imS2E-hMoLVq-5AbUSH-pVcw6r-66Krr1-d7945-8iX4yW-75dUfa-dipTch-aSoKht-9SPCzf-bFZqyB-7z7QTr-uop9t-bt5yG3-4XbwhY-RBbbj-RBaPJ-5fV2aB-nurBWm-2he9dV-aSoKyH-bF6kV9-o6ukzJ-dipToE-av6N1N-58caSN-bkA1Lm-bWU33u-imSAL-imTof-65kCdP">mikael altemark/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been quite a lot discussion lately on how to avoid <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/metadata">metadata retention</a>, particularly in the context of leaking sensitive information to journalists. </p>
<p>Notable examples have come from journalist <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/how-to-get-around-the-metadata-laws-and-leak--to-me-20150325-1m74io#">Laura Tingle</a> and, rather surprisingly, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/25/malcolm-turnbull-explains-how-people-can-avoid-having-metadata-collected">Malcolm Turnbull</a>, who gave the impression that avoiding metadata collection was trivially easy.</p>
<p>Is metadata retention really that easy to avoid? If so, what is the point of the legislation? Has parliament just passed a bill for a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4182282.htm">A$400 million</a> white elephant? Let us have a look at some of the suggestions for legally avoiding metadata collection and see how they stack up.</p>
<h2>Third party protection?</h2>
<p>One of Laura Tingle’s suggestions is that whistleblowers use <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/skype">Skype</a> to avoid metadata collection. The reasoning is that Skype communication is encrypted and the servers are located in Estonia, beyond the reach of Australian metadata collection. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this suggestion confuses a number of things. It is true that the content of a Skype call is encrypted, and that the signalling to set up the call might go via servers located in countries beyond the collection capability of our intelligence agencies. </p>
<p>But Skype is a peer-to-peer protocol. Once the call is established, there will be a stream of packets containing the call content travelling between participants. The content of these packets might be indecipherable, but the metadata (i.e. the <a href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/question549.htm">IP addresses</a>) showing communication between participants may be collected and can be traced back to the identities of the participants.</p>
<h2>Not my email</h2>
<p>Another suggestion is to use Google’s Gmail or another offshore email service provider. Communications to these email servers are encrypted, including the source and destination email addresses. </p>
<p>However, there are some ways in which emails that use such services might be able to identify the sender. Most of these service providers are based in the US and so come under the “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/02/history-of-5-eyes-explainer">Five Eyes</a>” agreement. </p>
<p>Under this agreement the US, UK, NZ, Canada and Australia share intelligence data. Also, if the recipient’s email server is located in Australia, once the email is delivered to it, the source email address will be visible and can be collected. </p>
<p>A messaging application favoured by Mr Turnbull is <a href="https://wickr.com">Wickr</a>. Using this is a much better suggestion. Wickr messages are sent to a server and then delivered to the recipient when they log in. The metadata captured for both the sender and receiver will only show that there has been communication with the Wickr server. There is no metadata directly linking the recipient and the sender. </p>
<p>Wickr also has some impressive features that <a href="https://wickr.com/how-wickr-works/">secure it</a> against the possibility of being compelled to hand over data from logfiles. But it too is not perfectly secure. </p>
<p>If the recipient is online when the message is sent, they will receive the message a very short time afterwards. An investigator with access to the metadata held by the ISPs could get a good idea of who the sender was by finding a correlation between who sent messages to the Wickr server just before the recipient received them.</p>
<h2>From WLAN to VPN</h2>
<p>So how might metadata retention be avoided legally? As noted <a href="http://phetdreams.tumblr.com/post/114548389585/leaking-securely">here</a>, the fundamental problem is avoiding connections between your identity and the device the message is sent on, and any accounts used to send it. Using a work computer and any email address, social media handle or other identifier that is in anyway linked to the sender is not secure. </p>
<p>One possibility is to use a WLAN service that does not require registration, such as the Wi-Fi at your local cafe or shopping centre. The person who wishes to avoid detection takes their WLAN device to the local shopping centre and just joins it. So long as they do not have to register, they may avoid identification. </p>
<p>However, there are a few things to be wary of. Using WLAN access from a smart phone is probably not a good idea. At the time of purchase, a lot of identification information is supplied. The WLAN address is linked to that smart phone and might be able to be traced back to the owner. </p>
<p>Once again, using a device that cannot be traced to the sender would be necessary. Of course they would also have to use a secure service such as Wickr that could not be traced back to them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76421/original/image-20150330-25053-6x5n8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even logging on to an open WiFi connection at an internet cafe might not prevent you being monitored.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/1475471/in/photolist-ajBZVZ-4WjZDf-8yBa-6wo5vG-8yBd-6sjHji-9fAgbu-dQSzhC-9PXfFh-dMR1bE-61eVuz-2TDDMZ-cVGU-2P2WN-6HLQcm-9WzFZf-dwakZp-9M5SRv-afANQf-iotsX-Xd3Jb-cVGX-4hMus-4iV2bC-JJ2Xk-omf3Bd-acTzaK-6DzSTJ-duCLbw-8roJMB-9LQKHL-dia7nC-8jfThX-55nCJt-7WNZD2-2Guc5-ccUQc-ccUHC-4GiPbs-7Yb9aW-6NsbdH-dVFUt7-42ZaG-fPUum-9wvDpC-9RpHda-4hnENR-27za9d-6rUqJW-4W5nhv">Jared Tarbell/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another approach might be to use a virtual private network (<a href="https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc739294%28v=ws.10%29.aspx">VPN</a>). This will cause communications between the sender and the VPN server to be encrypted. As with Wickr, the only metadata that will be collected will show that the recipient’s data came from the VPN server. </p>
<p>But, again, there are things to be wary of. As with email, using a VPN server that is based in one of the “Five Eyes” countries is probably not a good idea. Even if the server is overseas, the VPN provider may well retain logs of who connected and when, which might be seized by that country’s law enforcement agency and, ultimately, identify the sender.</p>
<h2>Entering the onion</h2>
<p>A number of news organisations have a <a href="https://securedrop.theguardian.com">secure drop</a> system based on <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a>. Tor consists of a number of nodes within the internet through which communications is routed. It makes use of encryption techniques to ensure that communications between the nodes of Tor cannot be traced back to the source. </p>
<p>But again some caution is needed. Many organisations track use of Tor access and may ask awkward questions as to why the sender was using Tor around the time of a major leak. But, again, using a device that cannot be traced to the sender will make detection difficult.</p>
<p>So what can we make of this? Scott Ludlum may have been a little harsh when <a href="http://www.ecudaily.com.au/11963/news/you-might-catch-the-stupid-ones-scott-ludlam-slams-data-retention-measures/">reportedly told</a> a group of university that metadata collection might only catch the stupid criminals. </p>
<p>But with a little care the legislation can, at the moment, be sidestepped. However, avoidance is reliant on services and devices that cannot be traced to an individual. It is unlikely that law enforcement agencies would tolerate such a gap in their capabilities. </p>
<p>Perhaps we will see further legislation in this area yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Branch has, in the past, received funding from organisations working in Lawful Interception. </span></em></p>Avoiding the metadata retention laws and sending messages entirely privately is harder than it might seem.Philip Branch, Senior Lecturer in Telecommunications, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/389102015-03-30T03:37:06Z2015-03-30T03:37:06ZThe security paradox: individual privacy versus digital driftnets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76412/original/image-20150330-25063-1nhsjmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How safe is your metadata once it's been collected and stored? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmelchordiaz/11054955103">Flickr/David Melchor Diaz</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The great irony of the Abbott government’s plan enforce the mandatory data retention legislation is that while this is being done to make us safer, in fact it creates new data security risks for us all.</p>
<p>While much of the debate has been dominated by the anti-surveillance vs protection camps, with attention paid to <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-retention-plan-amended-for-journalists-but-is-it-enough-38896">journalistic field</a>, the more obvious data security risks have been largely ignored by the two major parties, with the Senate passing the legislation with minimal scrutiny.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r5375">Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014</a> – now passed by both Houses – will force telecommunications companies and internet service providers (ISPs) to gather and store for two years an enormous amount of data about their customers’ communications, such as whom you call on your phone, how long you talk for and a close approximation of your location when you make that call.</p>
<p>The intelligence and security agencies have told the public they need this information so they can trawl the information looking for the bad guys.</p>
<p>Yet the huge data set this proposed law will create is in itself a giant security risk, even for the innocent and boring, so it is also a security paradox.</p>
<h2>The principle of privacy</h2>
<p>The approach demanded by this Bill is completely at odds with the recently passed <a href="http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/australian-privacy-principles">Australian Privacy Principles</a> which say, in brief, don’t gather more data than you need to, don’t keep it longer than necessary and destroy the data when you no longer need it.</p>
<p>As an example, <a href="http://www.oaic.gov.au/images/documents/privacy/applying-privacy-law/app-guidelines/APP_guidelines_complete_version_1_March_2014.pdf">Principle 3</a> says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] an organisation, may only collect this information where it is reasonably necessary for the organisation’s functions or activities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Further the Principles require organisations to ensure “the security of personal information it holds”.</p>
<p>But the sheer amount of data that will need to be collected, stored and secured will be a security risk, making companies collecting the data ripe pickings for hackers who specialise in identity theft.</p>
<p>The data covered should not be downplayed as just metadata – it’s your life in a nutshell. If you call a suicide hotline or a obstetrician, anyone going through that data can conclude a great deal without actually hearing the conversation’s content. It is exactly the kind of data that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ongoing-war-against-cybercrime-38051">identity theft rackets</a> look for, now stored for two years.</p>
<h2>Why, then, are they doing this?</h2>
<p>The only people pushing for this law are a small set of government agencies and departments. They already have extraordinary powers, and received yet more just recently, such as the controversial “Special Intelligence Operations” provisions which makes it legal for <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/08/15/igis-media-flag-concerns-about-national-security-reforms/">ASIO officers to break the law</a>, including lying to Parliament and the courts.</p>
<p>Even the normally docile Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has flagged concerns about these expanded powers last year.</p>
<p>No hard evidence has been provided as to why any these new powers are actually necessary, including the data retention proposal. </p>
<p>It’s important to remember that these law enforcement agencies already have the power to access telecommunications data, issue data preservation notices and seek a warrant to intercept communications.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-retention-plan-amended-for-journalists-but-is-it-enough-38896">amendments for journalists</a> are an improvement but often organisations have a suspicion of who has leaked information to the media. There is no warrant required for following the electronic breadcrumbs from the door of the alleged source, only from the journalist’s end. Thus the newly imposed protection has only limited value. </p>
<p>This legislation will have a profound effect on the very fabric of our free and open society, despite the welcomed amendments. Journalists across the country will see sources dry up.</p>
<p>Whistleblowers who reveal stories that really do matter to average Australians – like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/greyhound-racing-in-disgrace-as-riches-push-trainers-to-barbarity-37652">live-baiting of greyhounds</a> or political corruption – will think twice before contacting the media because all phone records will be kept for two years.</p>
<p>The legislation will also likely have a negative impact on other relationships that rely on trust and confidentiality such as lawyer/client and doctor/patient or even politician/constituent.</p>
<h2>Data retention elsewhere</h2>
<p>There are 11 countries in the European Union that have data retention schemes and have still managed to make sure there is some independent oversight, often by a judge.</p>
<p>In fact, Europe shows us that data retention schemes are moving in the opposite direction to Australia. Schemes in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Cyprus have been ruled unconstitutional.</p>
<p>The UK legislation – held up as a model here and justification for why we need one too – is in fact under legal challenge. The Court of Justice of the European Union <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2014-04/cp140054en.pdf">shot down</a> the Data Retention Directive.</p>
<p>Germany <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-12/berg-going-against-the-grain-on-data-retention/5664082">abandoned</a> its data retention scheme. A German <a href="http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/83/87/lang,en/">study</a> showed no discernible improvement in solving crimes when the scheme was in place. </p>
<p>The European countries that still do retain data typically do so for only six to 12 months – much less than the two years proposed in Australia’s legislation. The less data kept, the lower the security risk to the citizenry. The reality is, privacy is something we are losing bit by bit, so painlessly that we don’t even see it. </p>
<h2>What do IT experts think about this?</h2>
<p>The amendments do not set a standard for encryption, and good security requires more than encryption. The amendments also fail to address the issue of off-shore storage of data.</p>
<p>Those who work in the telecommunications industry, or are responsible for information security would tell you that this poses a <a href="http://blog.iinet.net.au/protecting-your-privacy/">real risk</a> for not just society, but individual users.</p>
<p>There is also a common misconception that someone is going to sit in front of a computer and trawl through line by line of your phone calls or other meaningless numbers.</p>
<p>In fact, data analytics tools (which is the science of examining often disparate raw data to draw conclusions about a phenomenon) can be built to automate most of this trawling, and your identity can be cobbled together very quickly and from a wide variety of sources (all of which will now be in common repositories).</p>
<p>Creating a situation where the data is stored for such a long time, you would hope ISPs have a crack team of IT experts to defend our data.</p>
<p>Yet, Australia continues to face a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-security-issue-that-will-hit-australias-economy-38104">shortage of IT skills</a>. The Australian IT Industry which includes our key ISPs, continue to rely on foreign supply of these skills.</p>
<p>This is unavoidable as long as low numbers of Australian students <a href="https://theconversation.com/cyber-security-winners-will-be-those-that-nurture-talent-38416">choose to take up IT</a> programs post-secondary education. This situation potentially places our well of data in the hands of non-Australians, which is an interesting proposition to increase national security.</p>
<p>At every new crossroad in law where privacy, security and technology collide, we must ask: is this new law reasonable, necessary and proportionate? That case has not been made here, particularly for all the complex internet data.</p>
<hr>
<p>Dr Suelette Dreyfus is participating in the IQ2 public debate in Sydney on Tuesday March 31, 2015, on the topic <a href="http://www.iq2oz.com/only-the-wicked-need-fear-government-spying/">Only The Wicked Need Fear Government Spying</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suelette Dreyfus is affiliated with Blueprint for Free Speech, a not-for-profit international NGO which supports freedom of expression, protection of individual privacy and institutional transparency. She has also previously received funding from the Australian Research Council for related work.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shanton Chang receives funding from Telematics Trust, the Collier Foundation and the NHMRC. He is also a member of the Australian Computer Society, ISANA International Education Association and the International Education Association of Australia.</span></em></p>The new legislation forcing telcos and internet companies to store your metadata for two years creates a new set of secuirty risks.Suelette Dreyfus, Research Fellow, Department of Computing and Information Systems, The University of MelbourneShanton Chang, Associate Professor in Information Systems, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/364732015-01-21T11:00:05Z2015-01-21T11:00:05ZMunicipal broadband offers hope for lagging US internet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69563/original/image-20150120-24424-18at4zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who controls the wires?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NBN_Co_fibre_optic_cable_being_laid_in_Tarcutta_St_in_Wagga_(7).jpg">Bidgee</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>No one disputes the importance of affordable access to high-speed internet for economic growth in the 21st century. </p>
<p>The United States has seen consistent and rapid growth in its broadband infrastructure since the internet became popular in the 1990s, offering more households and businesses connectivity at faster speeds. However, rather than leading the world, the United States is drifting towards mediocrity. Compared to the global leaders, consumers in the US pay <a href="http://www.netindex.com/value/allcountries/">higher prices</a>, average <a href="http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/">connectivity speeds</a> are in the middle of the pack and <a href="http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/oecdbroadbandportal.htm">household penetration rates</a> are far from the top.</p>
<p>Although geography, demographics and demand partly explain the situation, the most obvious culprit is the <a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/broadband/">dearth of competition</a> in broadband markets. But that could change. Twenty states currently restrict what local governments can do in deploying their own broadband infrastructure to compete with the big providers. Now, the Federal Communications Commission appears to be on the verge of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/01/15/the-fcc-will-vote-next-month-on-whether-itll-help-cities-build-their-own-internet/">making changes</a> that could make it easier for individual communities to invest in their own broadband infrastructure. </p>
<h2>State of the union’s internet connection</h2>
<p>A majority of the US is served by two providers: a cable company and telecom company. A small proportion of households, about 15%, have a third option. A quarter of households have one <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-329161A1.pdf">broadband provider</a> or less. As we consider high speeds, the picture is more dismal. A 10 Mbps connection is not available for two out of five households, and three out of four households have one or fewer options at 25 Mbps. A 25 Mbps connection, which <a href="http://www.newamerica.org/oti/the-cost-of-connectivity-2014/">typically costs</a> more than US$50 in US cities, costs US$24 in London, US$28 in Seoul, and US$31 in Paris. In France, triple play packages have typically been priced at 30 euro (about US$35). A price war in February 2014 brought the price <a href="http://www.digitaltveurope.net/152692/bouygues-kicks-off-triple-play-price-war-in-france/">down to 20 euro</a>.</p>
<p>It’s no mystery why there’s so little competition for internet access in the US. Unlike European countries and a large majority of OECD countries, the US has abandoned policies that require the sharing of infrastructure with competing broadband providers. Instead, the US has taken a deregulatory approach that requires competitors to build their own infrastructure in order to enter the market.</p>
<p>Rewiring neighborhoods and homes is expensive. It <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/technology/19fios.html">costs</a> approximately US$700-800 per house to run new fiber infrastructure through a neighborhood and another US$600-700 to make each household connection. In order to upgrade parts of its infrastructure to offer its fiber-to-the-home service, FiOS, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303703004577474491608119330">Verizon invested US$23 billion</a> to run fiber past 18 million homes in the US.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69559/original/image-20150120-24462-qx9d7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Americans get fed up with what the big providers are willing to provide and at what price.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/8506026">Steve Rhodes</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Municipalities take matters into own hands</h2>
<p>For communities with poor broadband connectivity, there are few options: wait for the cable and telecommunication providers to decide it is in their interests to upgrade their systems, convince <a href="https://fiber.google.com/newcities/">Google Fiber</a> to <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/kansas-city-kan-to-be-googles-broadband-test-bed/">wire up your community</a> or build your own. </p>
<p>This is no small decision. Wiring a community with new fiber is expensive, and what it buys you is the ability to compete against existing cable and telecom incumbents who will do everything within their power to discourage you from eating into their profits. </p>
<p>But despite the risks and high capital costs, this is just what a growing number of communities in the US are choosing to do, in places including <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/15/our-view-rockport-leads-the-way-to-municipal-broadband/">Rockport, Maine</a>; <a href="http://www.chanute.org/index.aspx?NID=235">Chanute, Kansas</a>; and <a href="http://www.dailyyonder.com/big-broadband-success-small-town-wyoming/2011/06/07/3364">Powell, Wyoming</a> The projects underway now number in the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/community-based_broadband_report_by_executive_office_of_the_president.pdf">hundreds</a>. In my own research, the most common reason I hear comes not from communities without broadband, but from those communities poorly served by existing broadband providers.</p>
<p>Incumbent broadband providers have <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/isp-lobby-has-already-won-limits-on-public-broadband-in-20-states/">responded</a> to community broadband projects with lawsuits, steep price cuts, public relations campaigns and lobbying at the state level to inhibit community-based broadband competition. Twenty states have enacted such legislation using a wide range of <a href="http://www.baller.com/pdfs/BallerHerbstStateBarriers%281-1-14%29.pdf">measures</a>: banning retail sales, restricting the use of public finance, requiring referendums and instituting profitability thresholds, among others. While many of the requirements appear reasonable at first glance, they are designed to open up avenues for litigation and to introduce costly delays. </p>
<p>The principal arguments put forward against municipal broadband networks are that the government should not be involved in broadband infrastructure as the market is working fine, that this constitutes unfair competition against private sector alternatives, and that municipal broadband projects tend to fail and leave tax payers saddled with high debts to pay off. The rationale for state intervention is thus to save local communities from making costly mistakes. </p>
<p>No doubt, the learning curve has been steep for many of the pioneers of municipal broadband. <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2014/11/17/burlingotn-city-council-sees-new-chapter-burlington-telecom/19202731/">Burlington Telecom</a>, a municipal project in Vermont, ran into financial trouble and has been sold to a local business. The <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/specialreports/1692502-155/utopia-cities-macquarie-network-member-valley">Utopia project</a> in Utah, a consortium of cities, is negotiating a sale of its network to complete the build-out of its network and resolve financial problems. The municipal network in Provo, Utah was <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56288307-79/network-iprovo-provo-google.html.csp">sold</a> to Google Fiber for $1. Another <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/community-based_broadband_report_by_executive_office_of_the_president.pdf">set of communities</a> have demonstrated <a href="http://www.muninetworks.org/content/successes-and-failures">signs of success</a>, including Chattanooga, Tennessee; Bristol, Virginia; Lafayette, Louisiana; Santa Monica, California; Cedar Falls, Iowa; and Wilson, North Carolina.</p>
<p>The common feature in each of these examples is that the public investments have boosted competition and brought businesses and households in their regions faster broadband at better prices. Even those projects that have struggled to pay back their debts,for example in Monticello, Minnesota, have <a href="http://www.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/09/all_hands_on_deck_mn.pdf">stimulated broadband providers</a> to offer better service at better prices.</p>
<h2>Obama throws down the gauntlet</h2>
<p>The decision to allow municipalities to invest in broadband infrastructure is solely at the discretion of the FCC, an independent agency. But President Obama has provided his endorsement and backing by coming out strongly in favor of removing these obstacles — obstacles put into place with the encouragement and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/georgias-internet-uprisin_b_2860657.html">support of cable</a> and telecommunications providers. Obama has also promised assistance for communities through a new project, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/13/fact-sheet-broadband-works-promoting-competition-local-choice-next-gener">Broadband USA</a>, which will “provide communities with proven solutions to address problems in broadband infrastructure planning, financing, construction, and operations across many types of business models.”</p>
<p>Following his stand on net neutrality, this is the second time the Obama administration has chosen to wage war against the biggest players in the telecommunications industry, including Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T and Verizon, among others.</p>
<p>The prospects for major changes in broadband competition policy in Washington D.C. appear to be remote. That may matter less if communities are able to take matters into their hands. We may be on the cusp of a substantial shift in broadband policy away from Washington towards decisionmakers in communities across the country. The stakes are high. Expect the fight to be vicious.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Faris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>No one disputes the importance of affordable access to high-speed internet for economic growth in the 21st century. The United States has seen consistent and rapid growth in its broadband infrastructure…Robert Faris, Research Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/353302014-12-10T19:38:33Z2014-12-10T19:38:33ZForced negotiations and industry codes won’t stop illegal downloads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66844/original/image-20141210-6060-1xs4dbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Service providers will be given more responsibility when it comes to stopping illegal downloads ... but will it be a deterrent?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39908901@N06/8403086195">m01229/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Attorney-General George Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced yesterday that they <a href="http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/issues/new-measures-to-tackle-online-copyright-infringement">expect</a> internet service providers (ISPs) to work with copyright owners to help police infringement. </p>
<p>ISPs will have to agree to a new industry code that passes on warning notices to their customers when copyright owners make allegations of infringement against them. They will also have to start handing over the personal details of subscribers who have several allegations against their name.</p>
<p>The government also plans to introduce an obligation for ISPs to block access to file sharing websites such as The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>These announcements are better than the government’s last attempt to force ISPs to negotiate, which would have <a href="https://theconversation.com/brandis-leaked-anti-piracy-proposal-is-unrealistic-29709">made a mess</a> out of copyright law for everyone. But there are still real problems, and the measures will probably <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australians-should-back-turnbull-in-the-stoush-over-copyright-30198">increase the cost</a> of internet access for little, if any, benefit.</p>
<h2>A quick negotiation</h2>
<p>ISPs and copyright owners have 120 days (over the holiday period) to come to agreement on an issue that they have been at loggerheads over for the past five years.</p>
<p>The government hasn’t given ISPs much negotiating power, either. The clear threat is that if ISPs don’t give the industry what it wants, the government will do it for them.</p>
<p>These types of industry codes can be an effective way to regulate, but the only way they will reflect the overall public interest is if consumer groups are also given a seat at the negotiating table. We also need transparency and continual monitoring to ensure the scheme is not being abused, and public interest groups must have the power to effectively protect end users.</p>
<p>In this proposal, consumer groups are not invited, and rightsholders hold all the power.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66853/original/image-20141210-6057-3bjye7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/keanan_t/3662810317">k3anan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Three strikes and you’re out?</h2>
<p>Yesterday’s press release is careful to distance itself from claims that this new scheme will include a termination regime, without actually ruling it out. But because of the way Australian copyright laws work, there is a good chance that ISPs will also start terminating access of people who have received multiple allegations of infringement.</p>
<p>In the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/iinets-hollywood-ending-what-does-its-court-victory-mean-for-copyright-law-6577">iiNet case</a>, the High Court ruled that ISPs were under no obligation to go out of their way to protect the rights of copyright owners. The High Court explained that there was no basis for ISPs to be certain that the allegations made by copyright owners were true.</p>
<p>The Court also noted that there was no evidence about whether warnings would actually deter infringements, and ruled that it would be unreasonable to disconnect people from the internet purely on the unverified allegations of copyright owners.</p>
<p>This announcement is the result of sustained lobbying to overturn the effects of the iiNet decision. There is a pretty good chance that if ISPs agree to a code that only requires them to warn users, not terminate their connections, then they won’t be liable.</p>
<p>But our law already includes a provision to ensure that ISPs are not liable in these circumstances. The “safe harbours” provide ISPs with a limited immunity, on the condition that they terminate the accounts of “repeat infringers”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=858&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=858&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=858&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66851/original/image-20141210-6048-1bbxujv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Copyright infringement notices are not always accurate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Smart ISPs will want some certainty that they won’t be liable in a future lawsuit. Their best method of protecting themselves is to implement a policy to cut people off the internet after they receive a set number of notices.</p>
<p>But there are problems with notices. Allegations of infringement are just that; they’re not proof. History has shown that notice-based systems get abused.</p>
<p>We have seen <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/the-inexact-science-behind-dmca-takedown-notices/">allegations</a> that a laser printer downloaded Iron Man and Indiana Jones. The <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/">Chilling Effects Clearing House</a> has thousands of examples of people who have used copyright threats to bully critics, silence their political opponents or shut out their business competitors.</p>
<h2>‘Speculative invoicing’</h2>
<p>The code will include a way for copyright owners to demand the personal details of people who have received multiple allegations of infringement. Presumably, this is to stop them from having to go to the trouble of proving the reliability of their methods in court, like iiNet is <a href="http://blog.iinet.net.au/not-our-kind-of-club/">making the owners</a> of Dallas Buyers Club do now.</p>
<p>The problem is, nobody wants to actually sue individuals. Copyright owners want warnings first, because they’re cheap to send out – particularly if they can convince the ISPs to bear the costs.</p>
<p>If warnings turn out not to work, the next step is not to sue individuals. The music industry found out six years ago that this was not only <a href="https://www.eff.org/wp/riaa-v-people-five-years-later">largely ineffective</a>, but also <a href="http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB122966038836021137">a terrible PR strategy</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, we will probably see more “speculative invoicing”. This is a way to “monetise infringements” by sending legal threats directly to users.</p>
<p>Say a consumer is alleged to have downloaded a few movies that she otherwise would have paid for. The actual loss to the studios would probably be between US$30 and US$100. But the <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Movie-Studio-Targets-Consumers-For-Illegal-Downloads-257608961.html">letters that users get sent</a> ask for US$5,000 to settle the claims. Because it would cost much more than that to go to court, consumers will often choose to settle, even if the notice wasn’t accurate to begin with.</p>
<p>No safeguards have been announced to regulate how copyright owners can get access to or use the personal details of Australian internet users under this scheme.</p>
<h2>Will blocking work?</h2>
<p>Other countries have tried getting ISPs to block websites such as The Pirate Bay before. There is <a href="https://theconversation.com/blocking-piracy-websites-is-bad-for-australias-digital-future-34418">very little evidence</a> that this is effective at either reducing infringement or increasing profits of copyright owners. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, the Dutch Court of Appeal overruled previous orders to block The Pirate Bay, finding that website blocking was <a href="http://pirateparty.org.au/2014/12/09/website-blocking-ineffective-and-disproportionate-says-translated-dutch-court-judgment/">ineffective and disproportionate</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66854/original/image-20141210-6030-678hcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnowitts/2429133381">Jonno Witts/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UK is still pressing ahead and currently blocks a <a href="http://www.ukispcourtorders.co.uk/">large list of websites</a>. Even professional “anti-piracy agents” point out that not only is website blocking <a href="http://zine.openrightsgroup.org/features/2013/blocking-orders">not actually useful</a> for blocking access to sites such as The Pirate Bay, but it’s actually creating a wasteful game of whack-a-mole that makes everyone’s job more difficult.</p>
<h2>What obligations does the copyright industry have?</h2>
<p>The government has been careful to explain that it expects the industry to do better in providing access for Australian consumers. We currently <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ic/itpricing/report.htm">pay much more</a> for access to digital content, and are still faced with significant delays in getting access to both <a href="http://reckoner.com.au/2014/08/fixing-efas-analysis-movie-delays-australia/">physical goods</a> and <a href="http://streamin.it/discover">digital downloads</a> compared to consumers elsewhere.</p>
<p>This is important. The only way to fix the problem with copyright is to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-only-way-to-fix-copyright-is-to-make-it-fair-23402">make it fair</a>.</p>
<p>But the truth is, the industry has little incentive to do better. Often, its choices to exclusively restrict access to premium channels – such as Foxtel – are <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/75933/">more profitable</a> than making the same content available faster to more people at a lower price.</p>
<p>We are still waiting for the government to announce how exactly it plans to convince foreign copyright owners to treat Australian consumers more fairly. It has been nearly 18 months since the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ic/itpricing/report.htm">IT Pricing report</a> recommended serious action. We’re not holding our breath.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Attorney-General George Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced yesterday that they expect internet service providers (ISPs) to work with copyright owners to help police infringement…Nicolas Suzor, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of TechnologyEleanor Angel, Student fellow, Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Research Program, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308822014-08-27T00:54:38Z2014-08-27T00:54:38ZThe NBN needs Australian action, not a lesson from Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57322/original/64vcf983-1409013664.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia has chosen not to rely on market forces for ubiquitous broadband.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kirk Lau/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-top-broadband-policy-look-no-further-than-canada-30662">piece</a> in The Conversation suggested that for “top broadband policy” the Australian government should look to Canada. Many observers of the development of Canada’s broadband infrastructure would disagree. </p>
<p>As Robert Imre and Stephen Owen argued in encouraging Australian policy makers to adopt “Canada’s broadband project,” there are indeed similarities between the two countries. But it’s not at all clear that Canada offers a vision for developing high quality broadband infrastructure that could advance the provision of broadband in Australia.</p>
<p>Urban Canadians were early adopters of broadband services. The widespread availability of cable television networks allowed development of hybrid fibre coax (HFC) cable broadband as competition to the ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line) offerings from telephone companies (copper network operators). </p>
<p>The intensity of competition among broadband providers in Canadian cities depends on which telephone company is competing with which cable company, and on the extent of third party competition in the area. Third party competitors offer services using the existing copper or HFC networks, but have much lower market share in Canada than similar competitors do in Australia.</p>
<p>Competition is fiercer in some provinces than others (for instance, phone company Bell and its subsidiary Bell Aliant’s broadband pricing and service offerings are different in the province of Québec, where the primary cable competitor is Vidéotron, than in Ontario or in New Brunswick, where major competitors are Rogers and Eastlink respectively). Nevertheless, Canadians in urban centres do have a choice of broadband providers. </p>
<p>Over 80% of Canadian households have <a href="http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/policymonitoring/2013/cmr6.htm#n3">access to speeds greater than 25 Mbps</a>, as compared to <a href="http://www.communications.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/212535/Broadband_Availability_and_Quality_Report.pdf">less than 30% in Australia</a>. But many Canadian customers still have plans with <a href="http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/PolicyMonitoring/2013/cmr5.htm#n14">restrictive download caps</a>, and a <a href="http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/rp130422.htm">2014 study comparing Canada’s broadband prices</a> with other countries shows Canadian prices are higher than in Australia, the UK, France, Germany or Italy.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/soti-visualizations.html#stoi-map">Akamai</a>, Canada’s average broadband connection speed is higher than Australia’s but speeds in both countries are below those in the US and many European and Asian countries. It seems that Canadian legal scholar Michael Geist’s 2009 description of the Canadian broadband market as “<a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2009/10/goldberg-broadband-report/">not awful</a>” remains accurate today, calling into question the conclusion that learning from Canada might improve broadband connectivity in Australia.</p>
<h2>A market-driven policy</h2>
<p>Canadian telecommunications policy relies upon market forces “<a href="http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2006-355/page-1.html">to the maximum extent feasible</a>”. The market has provided copper and HFC-based broadband to urban Canadians but the percentage of “next generation” fibre connections in use in Canada is extremely low. With fewer than 4% of Canadian broadband subscribers connected to fibre networks at the end of 2013, Canada ranks 22nd among <a href="http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/oecdbroadbandportal.htm">OECD countries</a>. This is ahead of Australia’s 24th place ranking. Both countries are well below the OECD average of ~17%, and orders of magnitude behind Japan (~70%), Korea (~65%) and Sweden (~38%).</p>
<p>Australia and Canada face similar challenges in encouraging the market to provide affordable next generation broadband services to all urban and non-urban areas. NBN Co’s 2009 mandate was to build a wholesale fibre network offering download speeds of up to 100 Mbps to 90% of premises in the country, and to offer satellite or fixed wireless speeds of at least 12 Mbps to the rest. The vision was to fundamentally change the nature of competition in Australia’s broadband market, by building a near-ubiquitous, uniform, upgradeable, future proof fibre network that would be open to all providers. The Canadian government’s 2009 action was to fund 50% of the costs of extending broadband coverage at speeds of at least 1.5 Mbps to several hundred thousand households in rural and remote Canada.</p>
<h2>A changed vision</h2>
<p>In the midst of several reviews of the previous government’s NBN model, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered changes to the technical design of the network in an attempt to speed the network rollout. As communicated to NBN Co in April 2014 (and supported by the just-released <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-nbn-model-outstrips-labor-version-in-net-benefits-study-30927">cost-benefit analysis</a>), the government’s new broadband <a href="http://www.communications.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/221162/SOE_Shareholder_Minister_letter.pdf">policy objective</a> is to ensure the completion of a national wholesale broadband network that will provide speeds of at least 25 Mbps to all premises affordably, and as soon as possible.</p>
<p>The Canadian government’s April 2014 <a href="http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/028.nsf/eng/h_00587.html">policy objective</a> is to ensure that by 2017, 98% of Canadian households have access to broadband speeds of at least 5 Mbps. It will provide some funds to extend 5 Mbps broadband availability in rural and remote Canada. Current Canadian policy relies upon competition to improve affordability, to drive a transition from copper and HFC broadband networks to next generation fibre connectivity (this is happening in some areas) and to ensure ubiquitous and uniform broadband connectivity to all.</p>
<h2>Time to get on with it</h2>
<p>Australia’s National Broadband Network is far from complete, and its evolution to date certainly illustrates the complexities of building national broadband infrastructure. As the government moves further away from a fibre to the premises NBN there are no guarantees the NBN will ever fully deliver the broadband infrastructure proposed by the previous government. But even with a “multi-technology mix” NBN, the Australian government still has a commitment to develop broadband infrastructure that does not rely upon market forces to enable ubiquitous, affordable connectivity. </p>
<p>Rather than looking to other countries for alternative policy approaches, or continuing to review past practices, Australians would be well-served by an approach that sets politics aside and simply gets on with the job of building the NBN as a “significant piece of Australian critical infrastructure that will underpin the provision of a range of essential services to the Australian community,” as called for in the <a href="http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/statement-of-expectations.pdf">original vision</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30882/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Middleton receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the GRAND Networks of Centres of Excellence and the Canada Research Chairs program.</span></em></p>A recent piece in The Conversation suggested that for “top broadband policy” the Australian government should look to Canada. Many observers of the development of Canada’s broadband infrastructure would…Catherine Middleton, Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/276972014-06-11T05:09:33Z2014-06-11T05:09:33ZHow will Inmarsat bring in-flight internet to Europe?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50704/original/c7yjdfy7-1402403530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inmarsat has announced expensive new plans to improve in-flight internet over mainland Europe.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/7MSWz6">Thomas Hawk/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UK-based satellite communications company Inmarsat last week <a href="http://www.inmarsat.com/news/inmarsat-to-deliver-in-flight-connectivity-over-new-european-aviation-network/">announced plans</a> to build a hybrid satellite/cellular (air-to-ground) network to offer in-flight internet connectivity over mainland Europe.</p>
<p>Inmarsat – which has recently received <a href="http://www.inmarsat.com/news/malaysian-government-publishes-mh370-details-uk-aaib/">significant media attention</a> as the owner of the satellite service that tracked missing Malaysian Airlines <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/flight-mh370">flight MH370</a> – has earmarked US$200 million for the satellite and US$200-250 million for the terrestrial parts of the network.</p>
<p>This is a substantial investment that demonstrates the company’s belief in a fast growing market sector. So what technology is required for Inmarsat to bring in-flight internet to air travellers?</p>
<h2>Dialing up in the air</h2>
<p>Internet connectivity in the skies is nothing new. Airlines such as Emirates already offer in-flight mobile and internet connections. This service, supplied by Swiss-based company <a href="http://www.onair.aero/">onAir</a>, uses Inmarsat’s <a href="http://www.inmarsat.com/service-collection/swiftbroadband/">Swiftbroadband</a> satellite network.</p>
<p>At the heart of this network are three geostationary satellites that cover the entire globe with the exception of the polar regions.</p>
<p>But relying solely on satellites imposes a number of limitations, as reflected in the range of access plans and their costs.</p>
<p>Satellites require a substantial capital outlay. In the newly proposed hybrid network, for example, the single satellite (named Europasat, to be built by <a href="https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/thales-alenia-space">Thales Alenia Space</a>) will cost about US$400 million with Inmarsat contributing half that amount. This is nearly double the cost of the entire terrestrial component of the network.</p>
<p>Additionally, once satellites are launched, there is no scope for maintenance or upgrades. Thus they must be made extremely reliable and future proof. </p>
<p>Where satellites come into their own is in offering access across remote and very low population density areas such as the vast oceans.</p>
<h2>Building terrestrial support</h2>
<p>When it comes to the European landmass, terrestrial wireless networks offer much more flexibility and address many of the limitations of a satellite-based network.</p>
<p>Since the network infrastructure is accessible, it is upgradeable as the technology improves. Also the latency (the time it takes the signal to travel between the transmitter and receiver) is much smaller for an earth-bound tower than for a satellite orbiting approximately 36,000km above the earth.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50747/original/j5zvvtkp-1402443083.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inmarsat cited the success of Gogo’s in-flight internet in North America.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/71LpBo">Sanjoy Ghosh/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The terrestrial component of the new Inmarsat network will consist of about 300 transmit towers across Europe.</p>
<p>Instead of transmitting downward, as is the case with traditional cellular towers, these will be flipped upside-down, pointing upwards to serve aircraft overhead.</p>
<p>This concept has already been successfully implemented in North America by <a href="http://www.gogoair.com/">Gogo</a>, which offers in-flight internet connection at much reduced costs (US$16 for a full day’s access compared with the US$7.50 for 15MB on Emirates’ satellite-based system).</p>
<p>In its <a href="http://www.inmarsat.com/press-release/inmarsat-lead-eu-wide-roll-flight-passenger-broadband-services/">announcement last week</a> Inmarsat cited the success of Gogo’s air-to-ground network, and its system is at least partly inspired by it.</p>
<h2>So how will it work?</h2>
<p>In a traditional mobile phone network, the geographical coverage area is <a href="http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/%7Eg.legrady/academic/courses/03w200a/projects/wireless/cell_technology.htm">divided into small cells</a> with users in each cell served by a transmit tower or base station (BS).</p>
<p>When a mobile user takes part in a call, the network tracks the user’s location to ensure the call is handled by the right BS. As it moves from one cell to another, the user terminal is instructed to switch over to the next cell’s frequency.</p>
<p>Now imagine you are sitting in a moving car and you enable the <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1157110/hotspots_explained.html">wireless hotspot</a> on your mobile phone. If you connect your laptop or tablet to the phone you would in effect be mimicking the way Inmarsat’s in-flight system would work. </p>
<p>A flight equipped to access the Inmarsat network would possess a mobile BS (identical to the BS that your phone normally connects to) that handles voice calls, as well as a wireless access point for internet access. These connect to a transmitter that is able to talk to terrestrial transmit towers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50790/original/vxs287b5-1402454193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inmarsat’s planned hybrid network will ensure that air passengers over mainland Europe enjoy fast, uninterrupted internet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the start of a flight, the on-board system establishes a link to the nearest terrestrial tower. As the plane travels from the airspace of one cell to another, it behaves much like a mobile phone moving through the cells of an ordinary cellular network. </p>
<p>The overlap between cells ensures that the plane’s connection is handed from one cell to the next without interruption.</p>
<p>In the event that the aircraft enters a part of the airspace not covered by a tower, the satellite would take over to ensure uninterrupted access.</p>
<p>This hybrid technology will increase the speed, reliability and cost efficiency of in-flight internet access, not only enhancing the user’s experience but also potentially creating new business opportunities, such as <a href="http://ir.gogoair.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251827&p=irol-homeProfile&t=&id=&">targeted advertising</a> based on a passenger’s airline or destination.</p>
<p>So while this air-to-ground network represents a substantial investment in infrastructure for Inmarsat, its expected financial returns may well justify the effort.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elias Aboutanios received funding between September 2011 and June 2013 from the Australian Space Research Program to set up a Masters of Satellite Systems Engineering at UNSW.</span></em></p>The UK-based satellite communications company Inmarsat last week announced plans to build a hybrid satellite/cellular (air-to-ground) network to offer in-flight internet connectivity over mainland Europe…Elias Aboutanios, Senior Lecturer in Signal Processing, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/263662014-05-08T11:09:54Z2014-05-08T11:09:54ZIs mutual obsession placing BT and Sky’s future at risk?<p>These days you can easily get your landline and mobile, your internet access, and your TV package from a single provider. Whereas consumers previously had four separate contracts, one will now suffice. Simple maths would suggest this spells trouble for 75% of the traditional set of providers.</p>
<p>BT and Sky are aware of the threat and, despite their different origins, have responded with similar strategies of diversification. BT reported <a href="http://www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Quarterlyresults/Quarterlyresults.htm">upbeat results</a> today and Sky last week, but it remains unclear whether diversification is paying off. Sky’s big push towards broadband domination has <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56167c4e-cf6e-11e3-9b2b-00144feabdc0.html">hit a dead end</a> and BT’s bet on <a href="https://theconversation.com/kick-off-for-bts-big-bet-on-television-sport-16438">sports programming</a> looks unlikely to return its <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f5cc8366-d679-11e3-b251-00144feabdc0.html">£2bn investment</a>. And the two seem to be hurting each other directly by doing things the other knows better.</p>
<h1>Convergence and unbundling</h1>
<p>BT’s roots might be in phones, and Sky’s in pay TV, but this distinction is no longer relevant if consumers can get both online. All that matters is a good “bit pipe”, the plumbing that connects you to the internet. These days, such connection might be via cable, DSL, or even mobile 4G. </p>
<p>Gone are the days when the internet was just about surfing web pages. With calls and TV now an integral part of our internet experience, paying separately for these services on BT’s & Sky’s bills seems odd. And what’s more, few people like their online freedom of choice restricted. There is no obvious reason why our choice of bit pipe should tie us to particular phone deals or content packages.</p>
<p>Providing mere connectivity is of course a chilling prospect for many firms in the affected industries, who fear nothing more than being <a href="https://theconversation.com/mobile-operators-neednt-fear-big-spender-zuckerberg-23634">reduced to selling a commodity</a>. But although sports content or social media may appear sexier, offering good plumbing actually remains a sizeable business. </p>
<p>True, the converged market space is contested, and this will only intensify as European markets integrate <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19371a32-c57c-11e3-97e4-00144feabdc0.html">across borders</a>. But chances are the winners will be those companies that provide the fastest, most ubiquitous and reliable internet access, irrespective of whatever else they sell.</p>
<p>While BT is distracted by its multi-billion pound content adventure, and Sky is equally hamstrung by programming commitments, the likes of Vodafone are focusing on enabling exactly that kind of high-performance package.</p>
<p>And it is not only that consumers are unlikely to forgo a fast bit pipe for a slower one with a bit of added content. It is also that TV might not be sold in pre-bundled packages for much longer anyway. People increasingly like to assemble their own menu. You can pay for selected shows on Sky’s <a href="http://www.nowtv.com/">Now TV</a>, sign up to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2013/10/22/with-netflix-rolling-is-it-time-for-hbo-to-go-direct">HBO directly</a>, get your news through the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/video">New York Times videos</a> site, and rent your favourite films through Blinkbox, for example. Set against such freedom of choice, the strictures of pay-TV bundles seem increasingly arcane, especially if these then come tied to the bit pipe. </p>
<p>This is not to say that content cannot differentiate comparable products at the margins, such as US mobile network Sprint’s attempt to spruce up its <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/90a5cd9e-cb9d-11e3-8ccf-00144feabdc0.html">deals with Spotify</a>. But this is a short-term tool, not really exclusive, and unlikely to make up for any shortcomings in the the core product.</p>
<h1>Focusing on the strategic core</h1>
<p>The industry trends of convergence and unbundling require a new sense of focus. BT would benefit from containing its outlays in BT Sports and refocusing on top-notch connectivity. It has advantages in network reach and has taken encouraging steps towards <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bc29b858-b5b9-11e3-a1bd-00144feabdc0.html">complementing coverage with mobile technology</a>. Seamless connection on all devices, whether at home or out and about, would be a compelling offer for discerning customers. BT could try harder to increase speeds and its customer service has room for improvement too.</p>
<p>Sky would probably do well to refocus on content creation and curation, especially with regards to sport. This would allow it to offload its network infrastructure to a firm like Vodafone that would <a href="https://theconversation.com/vodafone-misses-opportunity-to-reinvest-verizon-proceeds-17758">benefit from a stronger backbone</a>.</p>
<p>Money and attention that would otherwise go to its networks business could then be fully concentrated on the quality of its content offering. Among other things, it would stand a better chance of securing expensive assets such as the premier league rights offered in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10559693/Premier-League-aims-to-pit-BSkyB-against-BT-in-early-TV-rights-sale.html">upcoming auctions</a>.</p>
<h1>Not the end of the world</h1>
<p>If BT executives envy their peers at Sky for the greater appeal of content products over mere bit pipes, they will take comfort from several other revenue growth opportunities that are closer to BT’s strategic core. The most obvious is the internet of things. Any “thing” that is being connected constitutes a potential customer.</p>
<p>Further opportunities are to be found in services that add value to connectivity. Security solutions for devices are one example, as are solutions to make the internet experience consistent across users’ devices and locations. Companies that provide bit pipes should also be able to monetise the big data they generate, and they might be allowed to charge higher rates for particular types of traffic as <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/23/wsj-fcc-net-neutrality">net neutrality rules weaken</a>.</p>
<p>It is understandable that the recent market upheavals have had companies like BT and Sky scrambling for a viable strategy. It is high time though that they remembered their core capabilities. A converged telecommunications market calls for differentiation, yes, but not through content – rather through the quality of the bit pipe. </p>
<p>Both BT and Sky need to consider whether they can afford to be master of two trades when both are under pressure. The companies’ respective strengths in connectivity and content are their best hopes of weathering the current industry transformations. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26366/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronald Klingebiel researches and advises companies in the telecommunications and high-tech industries. His work attracts support from both corporate and government funding sources.</span></em></p>These days you can easily get your landline and mobile, your internet access, and your TV package from a single provider. Whereas consumers previously had four separate contracts, one will now suffice…Ronald Klingebiel, Assistant Professor of Strategy, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/252522014-04-04T03:57:49Z2014-04-04T03:57:49ZEurope votes for a ‘neutral net’ … but what does that mean?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45614/original/ckpn8p6j-1396582946.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If the deal is sealed, ISPs will no longer be able to dictate which of their customers get faster service – well, in Europe anyway.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ariefstudio/5335889531">redCreative~/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Yesterday the European Parliament had an historic vote on the issue of “<a href="http://edri.org/european-parliament-leads-world-open-internet-vote/">net neutrality</a>”, and became the largest bloc in the world to affirm this open internet principle. </p>
<p>This was part of a law on communications which also includes <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26866966">a ban on mobile roaming fees</a> in the European Union.</p>
<p>So what is net neutrality?</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-net-neutrality-2315">Net neutrality</a> is a principle posed for user access to the internet, which prevents internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating between different types of internet traffic and from restricting (legal) content, sites or platforms.</p>
<p>This was the “default” position for the internet when it was first released to the public in the early 1990s, but due to changes in technology – particularly on-demand services available via broadband connections such as Netflix, the development of <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1628024">deep packet inspection</a> (technology which allows examination of the content of information packets being sent over the internet) and the rise of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network">content delivery networks</a> – this is not the case anymore. </p>
<p>ISPs have the ability and incentive to prioritise certain traffic, speed up or slow down other traffic and possibly block some traffic outright. </p>
<p>The debate over net neutrality boils down to the extent to which ISPs can manage their own networks and what their customers can send and receive successfully, and raises concerns of competition, free expression and pluralism.</p>
<h2>What did the European Parliament vote?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/45609/original/8wf86jnk-1396582184.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkcotton/3508982214/sizes/o/">janine/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Parliament adopted in its first reading the Regulation of the Single Telecoms Market and amended the text largely following <a href="https://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Voting_List_1st_Plenary_Net_Neutrality">proposals</a> made by the Social Democrats, Greens, United Left and Liberals, backed by “a very strong citizen mobilisation”. </p>
<p>The text adopted by the Parliament creates two categories:</p>
<ol>
<li>“internet access services” which are subject to a net neutrality principle</li>
<li>“specialised services with an enhanced quality of services” which are not subject to net neutrality.</li>
</ol>
<p>The Parliament adopted an amendment which contains a strong definition of net neutrality. All internet traffic should be treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference and independent of its sender, receiver or type. </p>
<p>End-users will also have the right to access and distribute information and content and use applications, services and terminals of their choice. </p>
<p>While ISPs can limit data volumes or speeds for internet access, they are not allowed to block, slow down, degrade or discriminate against specific content, applications or services except in limited circumstances (such as temporary and exceptional network congestion).</p>
<p>The definition of “<a href="http://gigaom.com/2014/04/03/european-parliament-passes-strong-net-neutrality-law-along-with-major-roaming-reforms/">specialised services</a>” was narrowed from the original proposal: they must be provided on “logically distinct capacity” and not be “marketed or usable as a substitute for internet access service”. This means that ISPs cannot suddenly decide that <a href="http://iview.abc.net.au/">ABC iView</a>, for instance, is no longer a normal internet service.</p>
<p>Also, ISPs can only offer these specialised services if they have enough network capacity to do so without interfering with the quality or availability of normal internet access services. They are also not to discriminate between “functionally equivalent services or applications”.</p>
<p>One important amendment that the Parliament <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/04/03/the-european-parliament-takes-important-step-to-enshrine-net-neutrality-int">did not adopt</a> would have laid down “clear measures for implementation and enforcement” of net neutrality.</p>
<h2>A win for European citizens</h2>
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<p>While, perhaps predictably, European ISPs are <a href="https://www.etno.eu/home/press-corner/etno-press-releases/2014/280">not happy</a> about more regulation of their conduct, this is a win for normal European citizens, whether creators or consumers of internet content, applications and services. </p>
<p>It’s also a win for big content providers as well, as they can be reassured that ISPs cannot threaten to block their content reaching end-users if they do not pay the ISPs extra.</p>
<p>This also puts European citizens on a better footing than their counterparts in the US, where net neutrality rules were recently <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/appeals-court-strikes-down-fccs-net-neutrality-rules/">struck down</a> and Netflix also <a href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/netflix-comcast-and-net-neutrality/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0">caved into pressure</a> to strike a deal with Comcast after consumers found access to Netflix was very slow.</p>
<p>In Australia, there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-net-neutrality-lesson-for-the-us-22245">no net neutrality rules</a>, so ISPs are free to manage traffic as they wish (subject to the competition and consumer protection rules). </p>
<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (<a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/">ACCC</a>) has been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/blogs/gadgets-on-the-go/net-neutrality--a-debate-we-cant-afford-to-ignore-20140226-33hco.html">criticised</a>, though, as not being a particularly pro-active regulator, so Australian consumers and businesses seem not to be strongly protected in this area.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>Net neutrality is not quite a done deal in Europe yet. The text adopted by the European Parliament also has to be agreed upon by the <a href="http://www.consilium.europa.eu/">Council of the European Union</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are already suggestions that <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisTMarsden/status/451674734363959296">ISPs will be lobbying</a> the Council fiercely to get a watered-down version of net neutrality passed in the end.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25252/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Daly is a member of the United Nations' Internet Governance Forum Dynamic Coalition on Net Neutrality.</span></em></p>Yesterday the European Parliament had an historic vote on the issue of “net neutrality”, and became the largest bloc in the world to affirm this open internet principle. This was part of a law on communications…Angela Daly, Research Fellow in Media and Communications Law, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/237992014-02-28T12:26:42Z2014-02-28T12:26:42ZWhat use are apps when your web infrastructure is underwater?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42688/original/wts9bs24-1393521227.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even the tallest infrastructure creeks under flood pressure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3240054">Derek Harper</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>According to <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr13/2013_UK_CMR.pdf">Ofcom</a>, 80% of adults in the UK had access to the internet in 2013 and each spent about 35 hours online each month. And half of all adults in the UK access the web using their mobile phones, spending an average of five hours online per month. </p>
<p>The average UK household has three internet enabled devices and more than 17% of homes are connected to the internet via superfast broadband services. For many people, the internet is the first port of call for virtually everything.</p>
<p>Businesses have responded in turn and now see having a website and online services as a top priority. And we are often urged to seek information online before attempting to contact customer support over the phone. Some might say we have become too reliant on the internet. More reliant than our infrastructure justifies.</p>
<p>This winter has seen unprecedented high winds and flooding resulting in widespread and in some cases, long-lasting power outages in the UK, particularly in the west of England. Whole villages have been inundated and families have been forced to evacuate their homes.</p>
<p>Time and time again, companies have advised their customers to go online to check their websites for the latest information. Some organisations have even created <a href="http://news.filehippo.com/2014/02/flood-hack-helps-uk-flood-victims/">apps</a> specifically designed to assist flood victims; others have established Facebook self-help groups. There’s a fundamental problem here.</p>
<p>There are two primary ways in which we gain access to the web, via a landline and using a mobile connection. A landline connects our homes to the local telephone exchange. For those customers with superfast broadband connections, the majority of these pass through a piece of street furniture called a primary connection point, recognisable as a green metal cabinet. That cabinet needs electrical power, as does the local telephone exchange.</p>
<p>Within our homes the landline connects to a wireless router and also, for a lot of homes, a cordless telephone, both of which need electrical power to work. So, when the lights go out, your router and cordless phones are useless.</p>
<p>Very few people have the means to power these devices without mains electricity. The local telephone exchange does have electrical backup which includes emergency diesel generators but the green street cabinets providing superfast broadband only have batteries that keep them going for about four hours.</p>
<p>Therefore the only thing that is going to work in your home is a traditional analogue telephone plugged directly into your landline. Have you still got one? If your laptop’s battery is charged and you kept an old modem and dial-up internet account then you could connect for a couple of hours but you’ll be back in the 1990s in terms of speed.</p>
<p>What about a mobile connection using a smart phone or broadband dongle? Surely these can get you online. That depends on how severe the power outage is and how good the local infrastructure is. Your mobile connection relies on establishing radio transmission with the nearest mobile base station. These can be identified by their aerial masts and are normally visible at the side of roads or on top of buildings. </p>
<p>They vary in size and many are well above the ground keeping them away from floods. However, while they all have battery back-up, generally these are only designed to cope with short duration power cuts. As we have witnessed this year, long duration power outages will result in the base stations shutting down. That is bad news for your mobile phone signal, which is likely to be lost.</p>
<p>Of course, street furniture and other key pieces of infrastructure could themselves be submerged under water or have been damaged, which will prolong any web outage. </p>
<p>Since Christmas 2013, BT’s infrastructure arm <a href="http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/01/uk-storm-damage-gives-bt-openreach-engineers-busy-start-2014.html">Openreach has published several MBORCs</a> (matters beyond our reasonable control) declarations. These in effect state that conditions are so extreme that the company is not able to restore service within normal expectations. Major disruption to the environment does inevitably stop the engineers themselves from physically getting to or gaining access to sites to carry out repairs. As is the case for so many other vital services, it is difficult to tell when the internet will be restored. It’s even harder for residents in Somerset to find this out.</p>
<p>Organisations that rely on the web as their primary means of delivering customer services need to become far more aware of the fragility of our infrastructure and crucially the dependency of the web on having a supply of electricity to make it work. At times of crisis, the customers in most need are often the ones with no access.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nigel Linge has received funding from the EPSRC, EU.</span></em></p>According to Ofcom, 80% of adults in the UK had access to the internet in 2013 and each spent about 35 hours online each month. And half of all adults in the UK access the web using their mobile phones…Nigel Linge, Professor, Computer Networking and Telecommunications, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/217032014-01-20T15:03:48Z2014-01-20T15:03:48ZEurope can learn from US on how not to do net neutrality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39426/original/mptj3v2d-1390224169.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">But open to all on the same terms?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">balleyne</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are entering a time of great uncertainty for internet freedom following two recent events. Both occurred in the US but have repercussions for Europe, where the debate on the future of net neutrality is warming up. But while events across the Atlantic could be seen as a win for private interests, Europe might be a tougher nut to crack.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://chrismarsden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/glass-half-full-winning-and-losing-in.html">District of Columbia Court of Appeals has overturned</a> much of the Federal Communications Commission <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/openinternet#rules">network neutrality regulations</a>. In what has been seen as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/verizon-ruling-is-a-major-blow-to-equal-internet-access-22068">major blow for net neutrality</a>, it decided that internet access provider Verizon could charge customers for faster internet speeds. Then, the President of the United States decided to tighten the rules governing secret surveillance of electronic communications in the wake of the NSA scandal.</p>
<p>The latter decision is highly contentious, with many advocates for privacy <a href="http://theconversation.com/obama-speech-reformed-nsa-may-look-much-the-same-21984">claiming it does very little to restrict government surveillance of US citizens</a> and nothing for foreigners – such as Europeans. That sets a precedent for the British government to make <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/17/barack-obama-surveillance-pledge-gulf-with-uk">even more minor procedural changes</a>, and for the respective agencies in US and UK to continue to swap the metadata that each has gathered on each other’s citizens. This amounts to government control of the internet, secured by gathering records of our metadata from private companies. </p>
<p>The net neutrality ruling in the US sets a precedent for private censorship by the same internet access providers, which are authorised, or at least not opposed in their actions, by the same governments. European lawmakers should take note of some of the prickly issues that have arisen in the course of these events.</p>
<h2>Less than virtuous circle</h2>
<p>The net neutrality ruling shows that it is extremely difficult to separate out individual items in communications policy. The National Security Agency and other <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/27/network_providers_accused_of_enabling_nsa_snooping/">security services need the legal and extra-legal cooperation of internet access providers</a> to continue monitoring citizens and the internet access providers need regulatory backing when they seek to speed up or slow down traffic on the internet for their own commercial benefit.</p>
<p>In both cases, the user’s right to privacy when they browse the internet is trampled underfoot. A particularly egregious case shows that Europe is not immune to such controversies. In 2007, BT and behavioural advertising company PHORM intercepted the traffic of 30,000 users without any attempt to secure their consent. The government had been involved in the deployment of the <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oq_Zp5UBjjAC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=marsden+phorm+neutrality&source=bl&ots=ealLSPwFMA&sig=f9gbb_yLqHpjzdHA87XLwRK6xl4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ynLaUqrJGvGM7AaB04DQCA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=marsden%20phorm%20neutrality&f=false">technology used</a> but crucially, it was later dragged to the steps of the European Court of Justice and privacy laws were later amended to stop such an event happening again.</p>
<p>Europe should also note that technological progress is very difficult to regulate in the public interest when private market forces are pushing hard to censor content in the interests of <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/regulating-code">making a profit</a>. In the UK, BT and Vodafone want to charge content companies to carry video, claiming they will be able roll out fixed and mobile high speed internet more quickly if they are granted the ability to put a toll lane on the internet.</p>
<h2>Broken promises</h2>
<p>Recent events also show that electoral promises are hard to keep in the US when Congress does not support legislation. Just as Obama failed to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as he had explicitly promised to do in his first presidential campaign, so the failure on <a href="http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2369">net neutrality breaks his main technology policy promise from 2007</a>.</p>
<p>This was a policy first developed by his friend Lawrence Lessig, his junior professorial colleague at Chicago when they both taught constitutional law in the early 1990s, and Lessig’s brilliant protege Tim Wu, who first coined the term <a href="http://www.timwu.org/network_neutrality.html">net neutrality</a>. Lessig <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/8/9/who-gets-priority-on-the-web/a-deregulation-debacle-for-the-internet">warned in 2010</a> that Obama was cooling on net neutrality because of political opposition from telecoms lobbyists and their sponsored congressmen.</p>
<p>The messages come from European policymakers are equally mixed. Ed Vaizey, the UK minister in charge of internet policy, has declared himself in favour of net neutrality but also in favour of higher speed toll lanes, which is contradictory. Similarly, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes began her term by <a href="http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/108784/Net-neutrality-in-Europe/#vars!panel=1075935!">declaring her love for net neutrality</a> and has subsequently failed to do much to enforce it.</p>
<p>But Europe is not the United States and the litigation and congressional deadlock that has characterised the net neutrality debate does not apply. A pan-European proposal for enforcing net neutrality was set in motion by national legislation in the Netherlands and Slovenia and may become law <a href="http://chrismarsden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/european-commission-proposal-may-stifle.html">this year</a>, though a new Commission and Parliament may delay or even derail the process.</p>
<p>The United States has failed to enforce net neutrality properly because it has tried to deregulate carriers with an à la carte approach. It has kept one eye on neutrality while simultaneously removing the requirement for internet provider monopolies to open access to competitors. In Europe, monopolies still have strict regulation to allow competitors and there is no obvious reason why net neutrality would be successfully challenged by the courts as exceeding European legal powers.</p>
<p>Just as extra-legal internet snooping is disapproved of in mainland Europe, so private censorship by the same internet companies is unpopular, and telecoms lobbying may not prevent the imposition of a real net neutrality law. That would then lead to 28 countries trying to implement it. Ed Vaizey may soon have the chance to correct his contradiction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Marsden has received funding from the European Commission FP7 Internet Science Network DPA 288021.
Note for academics: the network of networks using the Internet Protocol is ‘THE’ Internet, whereas The Conversation follows the general journalistic practice of referring to the internet. The academic usage distinguishes between the Internet and intranets and this article is about whether there continues to be one Internet or several ‘internets’.</span></em></p>We are entering a time of great uncertainty for internet freedom following two recent events. Both occurred in the US but have repercussions for Europe, where the debate on the future of net neutrality…Chris Marsden, Professor of Internet Law, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220682014-01-16T00:15:52Z2014-01-16T00:15:52ZVerizon ruling is a major blow to equal internet access<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39147/original/mxj7gpft-1389805520.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some are more equal than others when it comes to internet access.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">acroll</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>These are wild times for the management and governance of the internet, as is clear from the <a href="http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/3AF8B4D938CDEEA685257C6000532062/$file/11-1355-1474943.pdf">ruling</a> that came out of the US this week. In a victory for the private sector, the Federal Communications Commission was thwarted in its attempts to force network provider Verizon from treating all customers equally.</p>
<p>The decision provoked a storm about equitable access to online services, known as network neutrality. Although there is talk of an appeal against the Verizon ruling, this is an issue that will have significant implications for every one of us and it’s unlikely to go away.</p>
<p>Network neutrality is not simply a technical issue – it’s about social, economic, cultural and political preferences and consequently, it’s important to be aware of what changes are proposed and how they could affect the way we use online services.</p>
<h2>What are we fighting for?</h2>
<p>When data flows across the internet, it is broken up into smaller “packets” which travel through the fastest possible route to any given destination. Upon arrival, these packets are reassembled so that the file, email or video is accessible on our own computer or device.</p>
<p>Network neutrality typically refers to the transport of these data packets without prejudice. In a neutral network, all packets are transferred at the same speed without preference being given to some packets over others. No one can pay more to have their data privileged while others are left with a slow, second rate connection. </p>
<p>The Verizon ruling essentially does away with this principle and has therefore raised concerns about a market emerging for internet access. An internet movie streaming service could, for example pay a network provider to privilege its data so that it can provide a more reliable streaming service.</p>
<p>And because the internet has become such an important tool in areas such as education and development, the emergence of a two-lane highway has implications that go well beyond simple marketplace calculations about who foots the bill. Network neutrality sounds egalitarian and democratic but there are complicating factors that make it a much more difficult issue than many on either side of the debate would like to admit.</p>
<h2>The US is different</h2>
<p>In the US, where internet infrastructure is lagging behind many other developed nations, the reliance on the private sector to build networks and improve speed and access means that marketplace calculations about internet access take on added significance.</p>
<p>Companies such as Verizon argue they simply can’t make the profits they need to justify the amount they spend on infrastructure without restructuring their commercial opportunities, which begins with doing away with network neutrality.</p>
<p>These network providers think the likes of Google, eBay and Amazon are cashing in on their platforms without having to invest. The dot com start-up economy is based on brains, creativity and innovation, not capital investment, and that is an <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/Internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175801854&queryText=we%20have%20to%20make%20sure%20that%20they%20don%27%20sit%20on%20our%20network%20and%20chew%20up%20bandwidth%20.">irritation</a> for Verizon.</p>
<p>There are two obvious alternative models when it comes to paying for the pipe. Either the individual end user pays (some say we already do) or the companies that offer online services do.</p>
<p>Verizon would like hugely profitable companies such as Google and Facebook to pay for running their businesses across the internet. While there is some sense in that, the fear is that it would seriously stifle the extraordinary innovation we’re witnessing right now in the sector.</p>
<p>Google and Facebook, if pressed, would pay. But what about the next Google or Facebook that is yet to emerge from the garage or the college dorm? Tim Berners Lee, the UK scientist who invented the World Wide Web has repeatedly said that if he had charged for using the web in the first place, there simply <a href="http://www.thewritingcode.com/pages/transcripts/berners-lee.html">would be no web</a>.</p>
<h2>Streaming sends us to the brink</h2>
<p>Although the debate about privileging data on the internet goes back to the first years of privatisation and commercialisation in the mid 1990s, the rapid escalation in streaming media content has exacerbated the problem.</p>
<p>Streaming media packets need to arrive in time and in sequence. If an email takes a little longer to be reassembled and appear in our inbox, there is no impact on the quality of the experience for us. The same cannot be said for watching video online or listening to an audio file. If those packets don’t come in order and in time, we get poor playback quality and we generally blame that on our provider.</p>
<p>This is Verizon’s point. Telcos argue they need to be able to manage the network or privilege certain packets over others in order to stop our media content from stalling. That’s a step that many would concede as reasonable or even desirable and indeed, it already happens in some contexts.</p>
<p>Others, however, see this as the thin edge of a very big and irreversible wedge. The next step could be for network providers to privilege data that engages with services and applications they own or favour – and that would be the end of choice online. Why allow Skype traffic through when you provide a similar service? Why allow users to watch BBC iPlayer when a deal with Channel 4 would yield more profit?</p>
<p>In an ideal world (and in some lucky countries like South Korea and Estonia) the government also invests in or stimulates investment in internet infrastructure to ease this pressure on private telcos. Though judging from the way the ambitious Australian National Broadband Network has been stopped in its tracks by a change in federal power, that’s not a perfect solution either. </p>
<p>It’s important to remember that there is nothing determined about the internet. It doesn’t have to be neutral, it doesn’t have to be dominated by commercial concerns and it doesn’t have to be as insecure as it currently is. These are not technologically determined features of the internet, they’re choices that we make all the time. Or at least, they’re choices that are being made on our behalf. It’s a mistake to underestimate the role of politics in the internet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Carr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These are wild times for the management and governance of the internet, as is clear from the ruling that came out of the US this week. In a victory for the private sector, the Federal Communications Commission…Madeline Carr, Lecturer in International Politics and the Cyber Dimension , Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213992014-01-14T13:59:10Z2014-01-14T13:59:10ZThe politics of getting online in countries that don’t exist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39043/original/r6gbcr4j-1389697820.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nargono-Karabakh. They've got landmarks but no domain name.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blackwych</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What is the quickest route to international recognition? Aspiring states may try to ally themselves with a great power, lobby national governments, or even try to enlist the support of celebrities, which worked very well in the case of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/15/george-clooney-obama-sudan-crisis_n_1349905.html">South Sudan</a>. But whatever strategy they choose, the internet has become one of the key arenas in their struggle for recognition.</p>
<p>Separatist movements would historically gain recognition as states if they had managed to gain effective control over the territory to which they laid claim. But this is not how the current international system works.</p>
<h2>Web presence</h2>
<p>The creation of new states is very rare indeed but self-proclaimed states are more common. Abkhazia (Georgia), Nagorno Karabakh (Azerbaijan), Northern Cyprus (Cyprus), Somaliland (Somalia) and Transnistria (Moldova) have all managed to gain control over territory, often through warfare, and have established governments, parliaments, courts, health and education systems, and other characteristics we usually associate with states. Yet in spite of these successes, most have failed to gain widespread international recognition. Recognition is fundamentally a political decision and these territories therefore try to convince the international public, and their leaders, that they deserve it, and that recognition would serve strategic interests.</p>
<p>Much of this struggle is now being played out online. A big trend is for the de facto governments to create websites from which they espouse the virtue of their territories. On these sites, they tend to claim two things: that they already function as stable, effective entities and that they are democratic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38883/original/v5tc6ww4-1389532683.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Transnistrian ministry of foreign affairs website.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.mfa-pmr.org/en">Transnistria’s foreign ministry</a>, for example, presents the entity as independent and democratic and proceeds to list its many attributes of statehood, including “its own constitution, controlled territory, legislation, market economy, developed financial and tax systems, modern communications infrastructure, army, militia, security service, national flag, coat-of-arms, and anthem”.</p>
<p><a href="http://somalilandgov.com/">Somaliland’s government</a>, which presents itself as “democratic and visionary”, similarly lists Somaliland’s attributes of statehood as a key argument for its recognition and the government points out that there is growing global support for its independence.</p>
<h2>Counter attack</h2>
<p>Their arguments are vehemently opposed by the states to which these territories legally still belong. Countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan also make frequent use of the internet to counter these messages, and instead describe these entities as illegal breakaway territories founded on ethnic cleansing, controlled by unscrupulous leaders, and dominated by organised crime.</p>
<p>The strategies used by the unrecognised territories can therefore be described as “competitive democratization” or “competitive state-building”. They are trying to convince the world that they are more democratic and more stable than their parent states. Since most of these entities emerged from violent conflicts, they are also keen to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.</p>
<p>The foreign ministry of Nagorno Karabakh for example argues that recognition would promote “stability and long-lasting peace in the region”. In essence, these states are arguing they are the good guys and deserve recognition. That recognition is presented as a pragmatic solution that will lead to more peaceful outcomes.</p>
<h2>Another purpose</h2>
<p>So far, this quest for recognition – whether online or offline – has not been successful. Although the Somaliland government maintains on its website that recognition is its “number one priority”, these websites also serve a different purpose.</p>
<p>Territories hoping for independence present themselves as already functioning states in the hope that they can gain access to the international system and that other states will trade with them, investors will spend their money there and tourists will visit. This would all make survival easier, and more pleasant, even without international recognition.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39038/original/p8p287j4-1389696252.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nagorno Karabakh. Not on all maps.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Somaliland government website argues that the territory has “one of the most thriving economics in Africa” and the Transnistrian counterpart also highlights the many economic opportunities it can offer and a detailed powerpoint presentation for potential investors. Over in Nagorno Karabakh, several websites try to sell the entity to investors with posts such as <a href="http://www.nkrusa.org/business_economy/ten_reasons.shtml">10 Reasons to Invest</a> and aim to raise money from the Armenian diaspora.</p>
<h2>Domain name game</h2>
<p>Fighting for independence digitally is an innovative approach in what is, for many, a longstanding struggle. But these digital strategies are hampered by a significant problem. A lack of legal recognition offline prevents their progress towards what might be seen as the most important step for online progress – getting a top level domain name. Where the UK uses .co.uk or France uses .fr, there is as yet no equivalent for these entities. Nagorno Karabakh usually borrows Armenia’s, Somaliland uses .com and Transnistria uses .org.</p>
<p>Then there are other, more subtle barriers. Drop-down menus that ask you which country you are in on sites such as Skype and Amazon to do not include these territories and they do not feature on Google maps or similar sources. They are, in many ways, places that don’t exist and although the <em>de facto</em> authorities try to counter this with their own websites, their resources are limited and certainly no match for internet giants like Google and Amazonn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina Caspersen receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p>What is the quickest route to international recognition? Aspiring states may try to ally themselves with a great power, lobby national governments, or even try to enlist the support of celebrities, which…Nina Caspersen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.