[sf-lug] [as seen on noisebridge-discuss mailing list] deep packet inspection tracking

[jim]

additional tho'ts: 
* i imagine that if my comments below have some 
validity there will be those more expert than i 
who will dissect and criticise. in my view, this 
is great! i hope so. 
* network devices that are capable of deep packet 
inspection are already being made. it seems such 
devices should have much appeal for managing 
priorities of internal traffic within enterprise 
data centers. such devices certainly are in 
backbone centers now, seems to me. how should 
they be used, and how to audit their use, seems 
the issue. 


On Sun, 2010-05-02 at 08:58 -0700, jim wrote:
> """
> Should be of interest to any of you interested in net neutrality.
> 
> http://www.deeppacketinspection.ca
> via http://www.tvo.org/searchengine/
> """ 
> 
> JS: in summary (as i understand things), deep packet 
> inspection has to do with network devices that are 
> installed on the primary backbone centers and that 
> are designed to inspect, for all data traffic that 
> passes through them, not just the outer packet 
> information but each of the internal packets as well 
> as the payload information to determine the 
> application for which the payload is bound. 
>    the issue regarding net neutrality is whether 
> such devices can (i.e should) be configured to 
> throttle individual packets based on their payloads. 
>    if so, what would be the criteria? the primary 
> worry is prioritization based on fees: those entities 
> that pay for prioritization have the effect that 
> those that don't suffer slower pass-through. 
>    a point i haven't seen mentioned (yet) is that of 
> security: if backbone data centers have the ability 
> to throttle packet flow, this could inhibit the 
> effects of denial of services, possibly spam, and 
> destructive attempts such as those that could cripple 
> the nation's electrical grid or emergency services. 
> this seems a worthy consideration, but throws the 
> entire decision area into the murky realm of policy. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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