Post on 22-Dec-2015
transcript
The Technical is Political____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Access to an openInformation environment
Overview
• Models of communication
• The stakes of architecture• Political and economic
• Pressures on end-to-end
• State of play at the physical layer
• Outline of issues at the logical and content layers
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Network Architecture
• Models of Communications• Broadcast: one-way, controlled
infrastructure, intelligent network, simple endpoints. Information flow controlled primarily at the center
• Telephone: switched, intelligent core, simple endpoints. Information flow end-to-end, but only within parameters tightly controlled by core
• Internet: Intelligent endpoints, simple network. Content and logic end-to-end
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Communicative Functions in a Communications Channel
Stimuli
Collection
Relevancefiltration
Accreditaton
Noise/Signal Conversion Intelligence Production
Conceptualmapping
Processingmeaning
Articulation
Message Production
Medium choice(form)
Coding for mediumand channel
Transmission
Reception medium
Transmission medium (form)
Transmission channel(physical layer)
Reception
Recipient’s noise/signal conversion
Intelligence reproduction/ decoding
Reply(if any)
Channel choice
Accreditation
Filtration
Perceived by sender as reply through the channel (dialogue)
Perceived by senderas stimulus (serialmonologues)
Comprehension/ assimilation
Communicative Functions in a Broadcast Model
Broadcasters
End users
Distribution ChannelOwners
Funding providers
Collection
Relevancefiltration
Accreditaton
Noise/Signal Conversion
Intelligence Production
Conceptualmapping
Processingmeaning
ArticulationTransmission
Transmission medium (form)
Transmission channel(physical layer)
Accreditation
Filtration
Medium choice
Channel choice
Coding for mediumand channel
Message Production
Regulators
Reception medium
Reception
Recipient’s noise/signal conversion
Comprehension/ assimilation
Intelligence reproduction/ decoding
Reply(if any)
Communicative Functions in a Telephony Model
End users(recipients)
Collection
Relevancefiltration
Accreditaton
Noise/Signal Conversion Intelligence Production
Conceptualmapping
Processingmeaning
Accreditation
Filtration
Medium choice
Channel choice
Coding for mediumand channel
Message Production
Reception medium
Reception
Recipient’s noise/signal conversion
Comprehension/ assimilation
Intelligence reproduction/ decoding Reply
Transmission channel(physical layer)
Transmission
Transmission medium (form)
Articulation
End-Users(senders)
Carriers
Communicative Functions in an Internet Model
End users(recipients)
Collection
Relevancefiltration
Accreditaton
Noise/Signal Conversion
Intelligence Production
Conceptualmapping
Processingmeaning
Accreditation Filtration
Medium choice
Channel choice
Coding for mediumand channel
Message Production
Reception medium
ReceptionRecipient’s noise/signal conversion Comprehension
/ assimilationIntelligence reproduction/ decoding
Reply
Transmission channel(physical layer; open logical layer)
Transmission
Transmission medium (form)
Articulation
End-Users(senders)
Carriers& ISPs
Reply
Reply
Reply
Broadcast vs. Internet Models: Aggregated Effects
Program Producers
Broadcasters
End Users
NetworkServiceProviders
End Users
The Stakes
• Democracy• Jonas of IDT: “Sure I want to be the
biggest telecom company in the world, but it's just a commodity. I want to be able to form opinion. By controlling the pipe, you can eventually get control of the content”
• Everyone a pamphleteer or printing press
• Power of media & advertisers• Diversity of views and voices
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The Stakes
• Democracy
• Autonomy• Cisco’s QoS control policy routers“you could restrict the incoming push
broadcasts as well as subscribers’ outgoing access to the push site to discourage its use. At the same time, you could promote your own or partner’s services with full speed features to encourage adoption of your services”
• Who defines the window through which one trains one’s eyes on the prize; whose prize?
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The Stakes
• Democracy
• Autonomy
• Innovation• Lessig, Baldwin, Reed
• E.g., voice/video over IP implemented through desktop software
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The Stakes
• Democracy
• Autonomy
• Innovation
• Efficiency• Where pipeline-type conditions prevail,
standard market power issues arise• Deferring consumption optimization
decisions to the point of consumption• Flexibility of using a car, not a train
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End-to-End
• Technical argument: Saltzer, Clark & Reed
• Lessig: core design characteristic of innovation on the Net• Telephone infrastructure—common
carriage and business-user treatment of ISPs allowed grafting end-to-end architecture over physical infrastructure
• How central is end-to-end to the political values?
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Pressures on End to End
• Lack of trustworthiness in peers• Spam, viruses• Advantages in moving security and
filtering into the network (e.g. firewalls)
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Pressures on End to End
• Lack of trustworthiness in peers
• Quality of service• Video streaming• Real time voice• Solutions can present themselves as
ways for the network to differentiate and separate out different content
• Policy routers; mirroring
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Pressures on End to End
• Lack of trustworthiness in peers
• Quality of service
• ISP service differentiation• Caching
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Pressures on End to End
• Lack of trustworthiness in peers
• Quality of service
• ISP service differentiation
• Third party interests• Employers• ISPs who see themselves as having
independent interests• Government officials
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Pressures on End to End
• Lack of trustworthiness in peers• Quality of service• ISP service differentiation• Third party interests
• Less sophisticated users• Intelligent end points require
knowledgeable users• Poorly trained users may need network-
implemented functionality
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Tradeoffs
FREEDOM V. CONTROL Played out in two domains
POLITICAL ECONOMICfirst party v. third party Innovation v. manageabilityvoluntary v. involuntary Innovation/growth v. allocationuniversality v. balkanization Network externalities/socialnoncommercial v. commercial value v. private returnsautonomy v. order to investmentpopular/pluralist/discourse-centered democracy v. elitist democracy or republicanism
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Who will choose?
• ISPs?
• Physical infrastructure owners?
• Government?
• Markets?
• Technologists in standard setting bodies?
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State of Play____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Physical Layer
Logical Layer
Content Layer
Physical Layer
CableDSLSat.
Lic.wrls
“High Speed”—asymmetric 200 kbps downstream
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Dec-99 Jun-00 Dec-00 JuneMMI
ADSL
Other Wire
Cable
Fiber
Satellite & FixedWireless
Source: FCC Third 706 Report February 2002
“Advanced Services”at least 200 kbps both ways
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Dec-99 Jun-00 Dec-00 JuneMMI
ADSL
Other Wire
Cable
Fiber
Satellite & FixedWireless
Source: FCC Third 706 Report February 2002
“High Speed” to Homes & Small Business
0500
100015002000250030003500400045005000
Dec-99 Jun-00 Dec-00 JuneMMI
ADSL
Other Wire
Cable
Fiber
Satellite & FixedWireless
Source: FCC Third 706 Report February 2002
“Advanced Services” to Homes & Small Business
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Dec-99 Jun-00 Dec-00 JuneMMI
ADSL
Other Wire
Cable
Fiber
Satellite & FixedWireless
Source: FCC Third 706 Report February 2002
“Advanced Services” (to bigger institutions?)
0100200300400500600700800900
1000
Dec-99 Jun-00 Dec-00 JuneMMI
ADSL
Other Wire
Cable
Fiber
Satellite & FixedWireless
Source: FCC Third 706 Report February 2002
High Speed Lines to Homes & SOHO by Type of Provider
RBOC
Other ILEC
non-ILEC
Cable
State of Play
• Historically: Natural Monopoly• Monopoly more efficient• License/franchise plus price & service
regulation to prevent abuse
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State of Play
• Historically: Natural Monopoly
• 1990s: Multiple wires to the home• Contingency
• Convergence requires upgrade of previous monopoly legacy infrastructures already in most homes
• Second-best• as regulation fails to alleviate monopoly
problems, competition becomes preferred second-best
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State of Play
• Historically: Natural Monopoly
• 1990s: Multiple wires to the home
• 1996 Act and early implementation• Aggressive regulation to required
sharing of bottleneck inputs to create intra-modal competition in telcos
• But forbearance from cable• Early local efforts re: cable
overturned by courts• AOL-Time Warner Merger conditions
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State of Play
• Historically: Natural Monopoly
• 1990s: Multiple wires to the home
• 1996 Act and early implementation
• Last year
• General drift towards reliance solely on intermodal competition, with substantial retreat from access/unbundling for intramodal competition
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Physical Layer
CableDSL
Sat.
Lic.wrls
Declaratory Ruling
Appropriate Framework NPRM
Incumbent LEC NPRM & UNE Review
US Telecom Assn(DC Cir.)
Do two pipelines a competitive market make?
Open Wireless Networks
State of Play____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Physical Layer
Logical Layer
Content Layer
Logical Layer
TCP/IPHigher level protocols: e.g. naming & addressing
Operating systems: MS LinuxApplications Apache, Perl
Logical Layer
TCP/IPHigher level protocols: e.g. naming & addressing
Operating systems: MS Linux
Applications Apache, PerlTrusted systems required?
Trusted systems required?
Content Layer
Censorship: filtering, Monitoring, blocking
Censorship resistantsystems: Freenet etc.
Micky bound:Intellectual
property
Property-resistantsystems:
Kazaa etc.
Free sharing: peer production
creative commons
Wrap up
• The stakes of adhering to an Internet model of communications are both political and economic
• Sustaining that architecture requires openness at all layers of the communications environment
• Government censors and property-based incumbents seek to close the the communications environment
• Will they succeed?
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