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

互联网的最大优势之一是它在很大程度上方便了世界任何地方的用户访问其任何资源。然而，出现了限制特定用户访问特定目的地的各种力量，导致网络的“巴尔干化”。主要调查员探讨理解这种巴尔干化的方法，他们将在审查“区域歧视”的背景下进行这一努力，某些Web服务拒绝或降低来自特定地理区域的用户的访问的程度。该项目旨在开发技术，可以（1）阐明大规模网站的封锁做法，（2）描述这种巴尔干化对用户和网站的影响，（3）确定可以减少封锁不利影响的替代方法。准确区分网络歧视/控制的存在与观察网站响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，测量结果可以基于所使用的Vantage点的属性而不同。第二，网站可能会阻止自动测量，即使普通用户可以访问网站。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，受影响区域的重复自动测量可能会导致新的阻塞。最后，歧视可能表现在高语义级别（例如，不能完成购买），不能从网络级分析中容易地辨别。此外，仅仅准确的测量不足以理解网站响应差异的重要性。例如，网站可以根据语言和版权法规在地区上有所不同。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。项目执行人将着手制定科学上严格的衡量和分析方法，以查明和了解互联网用户受到的差别待遇，并利用区域歧视领域作为工作重点。结合跨网络层的测量，他们将描述用于这种阻止的方法，并调查潜在的原因和对用户和网站的影响。PI还将探索其他解决方案，以减少区域封锁的破坏性影响，同时仍然保护服务免受滥用。互联网对全世界人民的生活产生了巨大而普遍的影响。从全球和单一的互联网到由商业、国家和特定地区的网络安全问题塑造的多种区域或国家互联网的流行，几乎没有系统的探索。通过这项工作，PI的目标是制定方法，系统地阐明网络差异的存在和这种巴尔干化所产生的阻塞，允许描述其普遍性，并通过提供透明度加强对互联网在实践中如何运作的整体理解。

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.