MAE Europe and the Change in the Internet

In 2001 I visited several PTTs in Central and Eastern Europe and proposed what I termed MAE Europe. At that time all Internet traffic peered back in the US at MAE East and West and we all knew who was looking at all that traffic. By that time we also knew that it was necessary to have alternative peering just for traffic load balancing. I suggested in the paper:

This paper presents a review of the alternatives for Internet access in Central Europe and the evolution of the market, the regulation, and the technology. The change in peering, the reduction in transport costs, the reduction in transit costs have dramatically changed the overall supply side of the market for Internet services in Central Europe. This paper assess the current market and how these regulat ory and technological changes are accelerating the demand side as well and how such alternative paradigms for interconnection may impact other regional markets.

I held talks with Telcom Austria, Czech Telecom, France Telecom and TPSA, the Polish PTT. No one really understood the total implications. They all trusted the US to do the right thing.

Shortly thereafter I wrote a paper regarding Privacy and the Internet. Therein I stated:

Privacy is a complex issue and the Internet takes this issue and compounds it in many ways. In this paper we take the issue of privacy, examine it in terms of current laws, US and European, and then examine the impact of the Internet on the broadly defined issue of privacy. This paper evaluates the various definitions of privacy and at the same time examines how the Internet presents both a threat to these “rights” and an opportunity to expand these rights and to sustain them in a global economy and environment of living.

 In a recent Guardian piece they state:

The vast scale of online surveillance revealed by ........ is leading to the breakup of the internet as countries scramble to protect private or commercially sensitive emails and phone records from UK and US security services, according to experts and academics. They say moves by countries, such as Brazil and Germany, to encourage regional online traffic to be routed locally rather than through the US are likely to be the first steps in a fundamental shift in the way the internet works. The change could potentially hinder economic growth. "States may have few other options than to follow in Brazil's path," said Ian Brown, from the Oxford Internet Institute. "This would be expensive, and likely to reduce the rapid rate of innovation that has driven the development of the internet to date … But if states cannot trust that their citizens' personal data – as well as sensitive commercial and government information – will not otherwise be swept up in giant surveillance operations, this may be a price they are willing to pay."

It need not break up. The suggestion of more than a decade still stands as does the privacy stand. It is a shame that it has taken an even like this to bring these issues to the fore. Alternatives exist. Openness is key and movement from a US based system is essential.

Ironically it was at the same time I was Vice Chair of the Internet 2 Presidential Commission and our report, despite my efforts, did not deal with any of these issues. Ironically the Chair is currently the Chair at Google. Trying to get issues like this through early on were fruitless. Now there seems to be an audience for them, hopefully.