Uta Meier-Hahn

Comparisons rarely work. They never fit properly; they almost always lead away from the topic. And the audience‘s attention is lost in unimportant details. Therefore, writers do themselves few favours when they use comparisons as stylistic tools. I once read that in a book about speech writing (Franz, 2015). But there is one exception: the remote comparison. The further away the object of comparison, the better. The remote comparison is intended to show how absurd a situation is. The market at the core of the Internet is like a movie without a title.

Internet interconnection has often been described as an unregulated field. However, local public regulation is starting to emerge – be it through disclosure regulations, mandatory peering or licensing terms. Due to the networked nature of the internet, local rules may acquire a global scope.

The Internet today consists of more than 49,000 networks. Network interconnection is the Internet’s central feature. Yet, there is little qualitative research on the junctions between networks – about why networks interconnect where they do, or about how network engineers create, maintain or shut down relationships with other networks. Given our current dependence on the Internet, this lack of exploration comes as a surprise.

One of the Internet’s key features is that it keeps networking functions separate from the applications and services that use these functions. However, network operators and especially Internet service providers appear to be becoming more content aware. Networking is becoming more intertwined with content. This might have implications for tomorrow’s Internet.

In order to manufacture Internet connectivity, network operators around the globe make a joint effort. As of today, they have interconnected more than 55,000 Autonomous Systems. By the measure of existence, the Internet gives evidence of a remarkable degree of decentral coordination between networkers. But this evidence is vague.

One of the most noble narratives about the Internet is that it is built on trust. This article sets out to check if that saying still holds true.

There are many resources available to learn about Internet peering. But when it comes to de-peering, networkers are mostly left with their gut feeling.

For the majority of people in developed countries, the Internet is invisible most of the time. A socket in the wall, a cell site atop a building, a WiFi password written on a restaurant menu – only rarely are we reminded of the fact that Internet connectivity is not just there like a natural resource. It has become ambient. But for some people there is another side to it.