Work

The myth of the decentralised internet

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: In popular culture, and in policy discussions, the internet is often conceived of as a decentralised technology, which cannot be controlled.Drawing from research into internet infrastructure, focusing on the Border Gateway Protocol, I show that the internet has never been, and never can be, decentralised.I argue that the internet is better viewed as being distributed, both in terms of technologies and governance arrangements.The shift in perspective, from decentralised to distributed, is essential to understand the past and present internet, and to imagine possible future internets which preserve and support the public good.

Source: Internet Policy Review

DOI: 10.14763/2016.3.425

Author: Ashwin J. Mathew

Institution: University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Science Foundation, University of California Berkeley

Award: Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST)