Net neutrality & spam issues in Internet Governance

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Network Neutrality & Spam
Internet Governance & Standards Development Workshop, Accra
Edwin A. Opare
edwin.opare@isoc.gh
www.isoc.gh

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Network Neutrality

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Network Neutrality - explained
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What if you woke
up one day and… could NOT access
b
e
c
a
u
s
e
your ISP or Government
says so ?!!
NN is all aboutTraffic
Management
End
Start
Bandwidth

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Network Neutrality
• The Internet‟s success lies in its design, which is
based on the principle of network neutrality.
• From the outset, the flow of all the content on the
Internet, whether coming from start-ups or big
companies, was treated without discrimination.
• New companies and innovators did not need
permission or market power to innovate on the
Internet.
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Network Neutrality - defined
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
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The principle that Internet service providers and
governments should treat all data on the
Internet equally, not discriminating or charging
differentially by
user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached
equipment, and modes of communication.

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Network Neutrality – The current situation
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Network Neutrality – The current situation
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Less bandwidth HIGH bandwidth
Increasing Bandwidth Demand
Bandwidth
needs before
birth of..
Bandwidth
needs after
birth of..
Bandwidth = How much stuff can pass
through the pipe (or wire) at a time

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Network Neutrality – IIB in Ghana
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Network Neutrality – simplified definition
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The principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally

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Network Neutrality: The Issues
• Emerging consensus
that there is a need for
appropriate traffic
management.
• The main question is
how to interpret the
adjective „appropriate‟.
• 3 other areas of debate
besides Technical
Issues
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•Economic
•Legal
•Human right
The 3 other Issues

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Network Neutrality: Economic Issues
• Many significant network
operators – including both
telecoms and ISPs – have
changed their business
models
• Some operators currently
provide VoIP, IPTV & other
services in addition to their
traditional services
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• ISP vs OTT Service
providers
• Proposals for Multi-tier
Internet policy to ensure
QoS
• E.g. Google & Orange deal
• ETNO WCIT-12
proposals (“sender pays
principle” )
• Proposals for business tier
• E.g. Google vs. Verizon

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Network Neutrality: Legal Issues
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• FCC vs. Comcast, 2007
• Canadian ISP, Telus blocks
access to pro-union blogs &
other websites during labor
disputes, 2005
• Do ISPs have the right to
block traffic to certain
content or materials?
• E.g BitTorrent
• Is the National Information
Technology Agency allowed
to block Youtube during
office hours

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Network Neutrality: Human right Issues
• Access to information
• Freedom of expression
• Health
• Education
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Network Neutrality – The risks
• Tiered Internet
• Suffocated competition
• Stifled innovation
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Network Neutrality: Arguments For & Against
• Control of data (ISP
Gatekeeping)
• Digital rights and freedoms
• Competition and innovation
• Preserving Internet standards
• End-to-end principle
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• ISPs need ability to control access
to manage bandwidth needed to
assure QoS
• Internet has succeeded because of
absence of regulation
• Reduces incentive for investment
in broadband infrastructure and
deployment
Arguments For Arguments Against

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Net Neutrality: Proponents
Proponents Examples
Major Corporate Players Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, Vonage, eBay, Microsoft
Tech Groups and Thought
Leaders
Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, Prof Nii Narku Quaynor, Bill
Moyers, Craig Newmark, Harvard Berkman Center, Prof
Lawrence Lessig, Robert W. McChesney, Tech Net, Eric Schmidt
Political Parties Democrats(President Obama)
Selected Newspapers New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury
Press
Unions and Major
Associations
American Civil Liberties Union, American Library
Association, Christian Coalition of America, Consumers Union,
Environmental Defense Institute, Feminist Majority, Free Press,
Gun Owners of America
Celebrities Moby, REM, Alyssa Milano
Websites www.savetheinternet.com
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Net Neutrality: Proponents
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“ I want to be clear what we mean
by Net neutrality:
What we mean is if you have one
data type like video, you don't
discriminate against one person's
video in favor of another. But it's
okay to discriminate across
different types, so you could
prioritize voice over video, and
there is general agreement
with Verizon and Google on that
issue. “
August 4, 2010; Google CEO, Eric Schmidt

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Net Neutrality: Proponents
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November 14,2007; Senator Barack Obama

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Net Neutrality: Opponents
Opponents Examples
Major Corporate Players 3M, AT&T, Verizon, Telus, Comcast, Time-Warner, Shaw,
Eastlink
Tech Groups and
Thought Leaders
NetCompetition.org, Latinos in Information Sciences and
Technology,
Political Parties Republicans(Senator McCain)
Selected Newspapers Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times
Unions and Major
Associations
Communications Workers of America, American
Conservative Union, National Association of
Manufacturers
Websites http://handsoff.org
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Net Neutrality: Opponents
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“They
[Google, Yahoo, Vonage]
don't have any fiber out
there. They don't have any
wires... They use my lines for
free -- and that's BS.“… "For
a Google or a Yahoo or a
Vonage or anybody to
expect to use these pipes for
free is nuts!''
November 7 2005; AT&T chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr.

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Spam

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Spam - defined
Spam is usually defined as unsolicited e-mail, which is
sent to a wide number of Internet users.
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Spam – What do people use it for?
• Commercial promotion
• e-marketing
• Social activism
• Political campaigning
• Distribution of pornographic materials.
• Distribution of malware
• Fraudulent activities
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According to the statistics from 2009, 81% of e-mail traffic is spam.

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Spam – effects
Besides the fact that spam is annoying, it also causes
considerable economic loss, both in terms of
bandwidth used and time lost on checking/deleting it.
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Spam - Combating spam
• Technical means
• Legal means
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Combating spam – Technical means
• Locally – spam filters
• Internationally through organizations such as
spamhaus.org
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Combating spam – The Spamhaus way
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Combating spam – The Spamhaus way
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Combating spam – Legal means
• Introduce anti-spam laws.
• E.g. US Can-Spam Law , December 2003
• EU anti-spam law, July 2003
• Whiles both laws are good they lack the provision for
cross-border spam prevention
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Legal means - US Can-Spam Law
examined
• Involves a delicate balance between allowing e-mail-
based promotion and preventing spam.
• Law prescribes severe penalties for distributing spam,
including prison terms of up to five years
• Law also tolerate or might even encourage spam
activity: spam is allowed until the receiver of spam
messages says ‘stop’ (by using an opt-out clause).
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Spam - Effective combat approach
• Requires international response
• Australia, Korea, and the UK sign MoU
• OECD established Task Force on spam and prepared an
anti-spam toolkit.
• The ITU organized the Thematic Meeting on Countering
Spam (2004)
• EU establishes Network of Anti-Spam Enforcement Agencies
• Leading internet companies that host email accounts
establish the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance (ASTA) , 2003
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Spam - Effective combat approach
So what is Africa doing to combat spam?
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Spam - The issues
• Different definitions across governments
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Spam - Spam & Authentication
• Key structural enabler of spam
• Sending e-mail messages with a fake sender‟s address.
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), IETF
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Spam - The need for global action
• Most spam originates from outside a given country. It
is a global problem requiring a global solution
• Developed countries prefer the strengthening of
national legislations coupled with bilateral or regional
anti-spam campaigns
• Developing countries prefer shaping a global
response to the spam problem
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