Internet Traffic Begins To 'Bypass' The U.S.

Internet Traffic Begins To 'Bypass' The U.S.

www.nytimes.com

Invented by American computer scientists during the 1970s, the Internet has been embraced around the globe. During the network’s first three decades, most Internet traffic flowed through the United States. In many cases, data sent between two locations within a given country also passed through the United States.

Engineers who help run the Internet said that it would have been impossible for the United States to maintain its hegemony over the long run because of the very nature of the Internet; it has no central point of control.

And now, the balance of power is shifting. Data is increasingly flowing around the United States, which may have intelligence — and conceivably military — consequences.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Hmm, interesting...

Although this doesn't please TPTB, it does create a more level playing field in terms of equality, and lessens their plans to censor and limit data in the future IMO.

Opinions, thoughts?

“Since passage of the Patriot Act, many companies based outside of the United States have been reluctant to store client information in the U.S.,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. “There is an ongoing concern that U.S. intelligence agencies will gather this information without legal process. There is particular sensitivity about access to financial information as well as communications and Internet traffic that goes through U.S. switches.”

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is what happens when people have a choice in the matter.

I guess their next move is to eliminate that choice.

Meh, the internet is a global tool. If the US military wanted to maintain control over it, they should have kept it under their ownership from the start... as soon as it became open to privatization, they knew they were handing it to the world.

This isn't new though. When communicating with Britain, EU, etc. my communications jump from here to Toronto, to Quebec, to a hub on the East coast of Canada, then it proceeds overseas. It often doesn't touch the US in the first place.

Only when communicating to the US, South America, Asia, Middle East, Australia, and Africa does my communications pass through the US.

Canada to Canada communications used to pass through the US, but as of last year (not sure what was built) communications are now increasingly direct, no monitoring done anymore by Washington. (Maybe they just came to an agreement with Canada to monitor it here in Canada.)


Anyhow. The internet works along the same principals, and often the same checkpoints, as phone communications.
Phone communications were a Canadian-British invention.

Maybe, Canada and Britain should start wiretapping all US phone calls... I mean, we did invent the telephone system.

Of course, thats ridiculous, and I made that statement for a reason... because it is just as ridiculous to assume the US has a right to control the internet.

Originally posted by johnsky
Maybe, Canada and Britain should start wiretapping all US phone calls... I mean, we did invent the telephone system.

Of course, thats ridiculous, and I made that statement for a reason... because it is just as ridiculous to assume the US has a right to control the internet.

Apples and oranges, there, friend -- 'control' is not equivalent to 'access'.

And if you think your first statement is 'ridiculous', look further into the UKUSA agreement (reference). One county's 'international intelligence' is another county's 'domestic wiretapping'.