[132042] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Tromboning: Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (R.A. Hettinga)
Sat Aug 30 17:49:44 2008
From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>
To: cypherpunks@al-qaeda.net,
gold-silver-crypto@rayservers.com,
Cryptography <cryptography@metzdowd.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:32:15 -0400
"Tromboning". That's a word I've been looking for.
Tromboning is what happens when I send packets between the Cable & =20
Wireless DSL line and the Caribbean Cable cablemodem on the other side =20=
of the living room in Seafeathers Bay -- via New York (and =20
Washington), and/or Miami (and Washington), and/or Atlanta (and =20
Washington), not to mention Washington.
Too bad little countries like Anguilla don't permit third-party =20
peering between competing internet service providers. After all, that =20=
kind of latency is just... unacceptable. ;-)
A geodesic internetwork sees um, latency, as damage, &c.
Evidently not just anyone can stick two links together using one box =20
and three ethernet cards, or whatever, or the Internet Gets Broken.
Geeze, to paraphrase Grace Slick, I wish I knew BGP.
(Though, like Grace was at the time, I'm too burned-out a dog these =20
days to learn those new tricks. Easier to doze off on the veranda =20
watching the weather go by.)
Cheers,
RAH
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=
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/business/30pipes.html?_r=3D1&oref=3Dslo=
gin&partner=3Drssuserland&emc=3Drss&pagewanted=3Dprint=20
>
New York Times
August 30, 2008
Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO =97 The era of the American Internet is ending.
Invented by American computer scientists during the 1970s, the =20
Internet has been embraced around the globe. During the network=92s =20
first three decades, most Internet traffic flowed through the United =20
States. In many cases, data sent between two locations within a given =20=
country also passed through the United States.
Engineers who help run the Internet said that it would have been =20
impossible for the United States to maintain its hegemony over the =20
long run because of the very nature of the Internet; it has no central =20=
point of control.
And now, the balance of power is shifting. Data is increasingly =20
flowing around the United States, which may have intelligence =97 and =20=
conceivably military =97 consequences.
American intelligence officials have warned about this shift. =93Because =
=20
of the nature of global telecommunications, we are playing with a =20
tremendous home-field advantage, and we need to exploit that edge,=94 =20=
Michael V. Hayden, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, =20
testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2006. =93We also need =
=20
to protect that edge, and we need to protect those who provide it to =20
us.=94
Indeed, Internet industry executives and government officials have =20
acknowledged that Internet traffic passing through the switching =20
equipment of companies based in the United States has proved a =20
distinct advantage for American intelligence agencies. In December =20
2005, The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency =20
had established a program with the cooperation of American =20
telecommunications firms that included the interception of foreign =20
Internet communications.
Some Internet technologists and privacy advocates say those actions =20
and other government policies may be hastening the shift in Canadian =20
and European traffic away from the United States.
=93Since passage of the Patriot Act, many companies based outside of the =
=20
United States have been reluctant to store client information in the =20
U.S.,=94 said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic =20
Privacy Information Center in Washington. =93There is an ongoing concern =
=20
that U.S. intelligence agencies will gather this information without =20
legal process. There is particular sensitivity about access to =20
financial information as well as communications and Internet traffic =20
that goes through U.S. switches.=94
But economics also plays a role. Almost all nations see data networks =20=
as essential to economic development. =93It=92s no different than any =20=
other infrastructure that a country needs,=94 said K C Claffy, a =20
research scientist at the Cooperative Association for Internet Data =20
Analysis in San Diego.
=93You wouldn=92t want someone owning your roads either.=94
Indeed, more countries are becoming aware of how their dependence on =20
other countries for their Internet traffic makes them vulnerable. =20
Because of tariffs, pricing anomalies and even corporate cultures, =20
Internet providers will often not exchange data with their local =20
competitors. They prefer instead to send and receive traffic with =20
larger international Internet service providers.
This leads to odd routing arrangements, referred to as tromboning, in =20=
which traffic between two cites in one country will flow through other =20=
nations. In January, when a cable was cut in the Mediterranean, =20
Egyptian Internet traffic was nearly paralyzed because it was not =20
being shared by local I.S.P.=92s but instead was routed through European =
=20
operators.
The issue was driven home this month when hackers attacked and =20
immobilized several Georgian government Web sites during the country=92s =
=20
fighting with Russia. Most of Georgia=92s access to the global network =20=
flowed through Russia and Turkey. A third route through an undersea =20
cable linking Georgia to Bulgaria is scheduled for completion in =20
September.
Ms. Claffy said that the shift away from the United States was not =20
limited to developing countries. The Japanese =93are on a rampage to =20
build out across India and China so they have alternative routes and =20
so they don=92t have to route through the U.S.=94
Andrew M. Odlyzko, a professor at the University of Minnesota who =20
tracks the growth of the global Internet, added, =93We discovered the =20=
Internet, but we couldn=92t keep it a secret.=94 While the United States =
=20
carried 70 percent of the world=92s Internet traffic a decade ago, he =20=
estimates that portion has fallen to about 25 percent.
Internet technologists say that the global data network that was once =20=
a competitive advantage for the United States is now increasingly =20
outside the control of American companies. They decided not to invest =20=
in lower-cost optical fiber lines, which have rapidly become a =20
commodity business.
That lack of investment mirrors a pattern that has taken place =20
elsewhere in the high-technology industry, from semiconductors to =20
personal computers.
The risk, Internet technologists say, is that upstarts like China and =20=
India are making larger investments in next-generation Internet =20
technology that is likely to be crucial in determining the future of =20
the network, with investment, innovation and profits going first to =20
overseas companies.
=93Whether it=92s a good or a bad thing depends on where you stand,=94 =
said =20
Vint Cerf, a computer scientist who is Google=92s Internet evangelist =20=
and who, with Robert Kahn, devised the original Internet routing =20
protocols in the early 1970s. =93Suppose the Internet was entirely =20
confined to the U.S., which it once was? That wasn=92t helpful.=94
International networks that carry data into and out of the United =20
States are still being expanded at a sharp rate, but the Internet =20
infrastructure in many other regions of the world is growing even more =20=
quickly.
While there has been some concern over a looming Internet traffic jam =20=
because of the rise in Internet use worldwide, the congestion is =20
generally not on the Internet=92s main trunk lines, but on neighborhood =20=
switches, routers and the wires into a house.
As Internet traffic moves offshore, it may complicate the task of =20
American intelligence gathering agencies, but would not make Internet =20=
surveillance impossible.
=93We=92re probably in one of those situations where things get a little =
=20
bit harder,=94 said John Arquilla, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate =
=20
School in Monterey, Calif., who said the United States had invested =20
far too little in collecting intelligence via the Internet. =93We=92ve =20=
given terrorists a free ride in cyberspace,=94 he said.
Others say the eclipse of the United States as the central point in =20
cyberspace is one of many indicators that the world is becoming a more =20=
level playing field both economically and politically.
=93This is one of many dimensions on which we=92ll have to adjust to a =20=
reduction in American ability to dictate terms of core interests of =20
ours,=94 said Yochai Benkler, co-director of the Berkman Center for =20
Internet and Society at Harvard. =93We are, by comparison, militarily =20=
weaker, economically poorer and technologically less unique than we =20
were then. We are still a very big player, but not in control.=94
China, for instance, surpassed the United States in the number of =20
Internet users in June. Over all, Asia now has 578.5 million, or 39.5 =20=
percent, of the world=92s Internet users, although only 15.3 percent of =20=
the Asian population is connected to the Internet, according to =20
Internet World Stats, a market research organization.
By contrast, there were about 237 million Internet users in North =20
America and the growth has nearly peaked; penetration of the Internet =20=
in the region has reached about 71 percent.
The increasing role of new competitors has shown up in data collected =20=
annually by Renesys, a firm in Manchester, N.H., that monitors the =20
connections between Internet providers. The Renesys rankings of =20
Internet connections, an indirect measure of growth, show that the big =20=
winners in the last three years have been the Italian Internet =20
provider Tiscali, China Telecom and the Japanese telecommunications =20
operator KDDI.
Firms that have slipped in the rankings have all been American: =20
Verizon, Savvis, AT&T, Qwest, Cogent and AboveNet.
=93The U.S. telecommunications firms haven=92t invested,=94 said Earl =20=
Zmijewski, vice president and general manager for Internet data =20
services at Renesys. =93The rest of the world has caught up. I don=92t =
see =20
the AT&T=92s and Sprints making the investments because they see =20
Internet service as a commodity.=94
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