EAGER: Collaborative Research: Exploring Internet Balkanization Through the Lens of Regional Discrimination

互联网最大的优势之一是它在一定程度上方便了世界任何地方的用户访问它的任何资源。然而，出现了各种力量，限制特定用户访问特定目的地，导致网络的“巴尔干化”。首席调查员探索理解这种巴尔干化的方法，他们将在审查“地区歧视”的背景下进行这一努力，即某些网络服务在多大程度上拒绝或降低对来自特定地理区域的用户的访问。该项目寻求开发能够(1)阐明大规模网站屏蔽做法的技术，(2)描述这种巴尔干化对用户和网站的影响，以及(3)确定可减少屏蔽负面影响的替代方法。准确区分网络歧视/控制的存在与观察网站反应差异的良性原因构成了一个具有挑战性的技术问题。首先，根据所使用的有利位置的属性，测量结果可能会有所不同。其次，即使普通用户可以访问网站，网站也可能会阻止自动测量。这些错误包括由于不寻常的Web访问行为而导致的阻止，例如不常见的用户代理或每分钟过多的Web请求。第三，来自受影响区域的重复自动测量可能会导致新的阻塞。最后，歧视可能表现在较高的语义级别(例如，无法最终确定购买)，从网络级别的分析中很难辨别出来。此外，仅靠准确的测量还不足以理解网站回复差异的重要性。例如，根据语言和版权法规，网站可能会在不同的地区有所不同。歧视性屏蔽也可能发生，因为网站缺乏足够细粒度的控制来管理屏蔽。例如，使用内容交付网络(CDN)和托管服务提供的安全保护可能会导致无意中的歧视。投资促进机构将利用区域歧视领域的工作重点，制定科学严谨的计量和分析方法，以检测和了解互联网用户的差别待遇。结合网络各层的测量，他们将确定用于此类屏蔽的方法，并调查潜在原因和对用户和网站的影响。PIS还将探索其他解决方案，以减少区域封锁的破坏性影响，同时仍保护服务不被滥用。互联网对全世界人民的生活产生了巨大而普遍的影响。由于商业、国家和地区特定的网络安全问题的影响，从全球单一互联网转向多种区域或国家互联网的盛行，几乎没有看到有条理的探索。通过这项工作，私人投资机构的目标是开发方法，系统地说明这种巴尔干化产生的网络差异和阻塞的存在，使其能够描述其普遍性，并通过提供透明度来加强对互联网在实践中如何运作的总体理解。

One of the Internet's greatest strengths is the degree to which it facilitates access to any of its resources from users anywhere in the world. Various forces, however, have arisen that restrict particular users from accessing particular destinations, resulting in a "balkanization" of the network. The principal investigators (PIs) explore methodologies for understanding such balkanization, an effort they will undertake in the context of examining "regional discrimination," i.e., the degree to which certain web services deny or degrade access to users from particular geographic regions. The project seeks to develop techniques that can (1) illuminate the blocking practices of websites at scale, (2) characterize the implications of such balkanization for both users and websites, and (3) identify alternative approaches that can reduce the adverse effects of blocking. Accurately distinguishing between the presence of network discrimination/control versus benign reasons for observing differences in website responses poses a challenging technical problem. First, measurement results can differ based on the properties of the vantage points used. Second, websites may block automated measurement even though regular users can access the websites. These errors include blocking due to unusual web access behavior, e.g., uncommon user agents or excessive web requests per minute. Third, repeated automated measurement from an affected region can potentially induce new blocking. Finally, discrimination may manifest at high semantic levels (e.g., the inability to finalize a purchase) not readily discernible from network-level analysis. In addition, accurate measurement alone does not suffice for understanding the significance of differences in website responses. Websites can differ in regions based on language and copyright regulations, for example. Discriminatory blocking can also occur because websites lack sufficiently fine-grained controls to govern blocking. For example, using the security protection provided by content delivery networks (CDNs) and hosting services can result in inadvertent discrimination. The PIs will undertake the development of scientifically rigorous measurement and analysis methodologies for detecting and understanding differential treatment of Internet users, using the domain of regional discrimination to focus the work. Combining measurements across network layers they will characterize the methods used for such blocking and investigate potential reasons and implications for both users and websites. The PIs will also explore alternative solutions to reduce the damaging effects of regional blocking while still protecting the services from abuse. The Internet has a huge and pervasive impact on the lives of people all over the world. The prevalence of moving away from a global and singular Internet to a multiplicity of regional or national internets, shaped by commerce, the state, and region-specific network security concerns, has seen little methodical exploration. With this work the PIs aim to develop approaches for systematically illuminating the presence of network differences and blocking arising from such balkanization, allowing characterization of its prevalence, and by providing transparency strengthen the overall understanding of how the Internet works in practice.