Ends and ways: The algorithmic politics of network neutrality

McKelvey locates DPI at the intersection of competing algorithmic understandings of the Internet, specifically those algorithms that are in service of end-to-end principles (packets are transmitted from point to point on a best effort basis, without the Internet’s infrastructure understanding their content) and those guaranteeing Quality of Service (the Internet’s infrastructure can identify and prioritize particular packets based on actual or inferred content) provisions. Algorithms operate as a combination of logic and control, and possess a politics because “they distribute and finalize network resources to transmit packets” (57).

DPI accelerated the evolution of Quality of Service algorithms, letting ISPs create tiered service offerings that accelerate or delay application traffic. Such offerings are possible because DPI affords privilege to the core of the network. Such privilege puts network neutrality—a position privileging ends—against the interests of ISPs that are often proponents of managed services. Rather than advocating for the dominance of either network algorithm, McKelvey suggests that the real question is how to integrate the two and develop a robust Internet. This said, he argues that if network neutrality advocates fail to acknowledge their approach’s normative facets and that its political character derives from the potential to (re)structure democratic openness, they will lose out to the economic interests favoring core-centric, quality-of-service dominated algorithmic politics.

Bibliographic information:

McKelvey, Fenwick. (2010). Ends and ways: The algorithmic politics of network neutrality. Global Media Journal – Canadian Edition, 3(1). 51-73.

If you’re interested in downloading Christopher Parsons’ full annotated bibliography about deep packet inspection, click here.

 

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About Christopher Parsons

Christopher is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria. He is currently attending to a particular set of technologies that facilitate digitally mediated surveillance, including Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), behavioral advertising, and mobile devices. He thinks through how these technologies influence citizens in their decision to openly express themselves or engage in self-censoring behavior on a regular basis. He blogs at Technology, Thoughts, and Trinkets and is @caparsons on Twitter.
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