Standard Research Grant: Deep Packet Inspection and the Governance of the Internet

该研究调查了用于监控和控制互联网通信的新技术的治理和部署。深度数据包检测（DPI）是一种允许网络运营商真实的扫描互联网通信并自动决定是否阻止、减慢、加速或以其他方式操纵流量流的技术。它最初是为了让网络运营商能够检测和拦截病毒和其他恶意软件而开发的，现在它被应用于更广泛的互联网治理问题，例如管理带宽，检测文件共享，阻止不需要的内容，或利用有关用户的信息来生成有针对性的广告。新闻部的使用具有改善因特网的运作和管理以及以限制或管制因特网的方式加以利用的双重潜力，因此在政治上受到了激烈的争议。通过系统地调查围绕DPI的使用和部署的政治互动，该研究将测试和改进有关技术和社会机构共同生产的理论。该项目为分析技术能力与公共政策制定过程之间的相互作用开发了一个新的概念框架。它将新闻部的部署分解为五个不同的应用程序或用例，试图发现出现的治理制度是否因机构设置和使用类型而异。每个用例为不同国家的两个详细案例研究提供了基础。执行案例研究的方法利用了科学，技术和社会研究中的行动者网络理论和政治学中以行动者为中心的制度主义之间的互补性。为了更好地理解部署模式，研究还将编译并提供测量实验室提供的可用网络性能数据。

The research investigates the governance and deployment of a new technology for monitoring and controlling Internet communications. Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a technology that allows network operators to scan Internet communications in real time and make automated decisions about whether to block, slow down, speed up or otherwise manipulate traffic streams. Developed initially to enable network operators to detect and intercept viruses and other malware, it is now being applied to a broader range of Internet governance problems, such as managing bandwidth, detecting file sharing, blocking unwanted content, or exploiting information about users to generate targeted advertising. With the dual potential to improve the operation and governance of the Internet and to be used in ways which restrict or regulate it, DPI use is being actively contested politically. By systematically investigating the political interactions around the use and deployment of DPI, the research will test and improve theories about the co-production of technology and social institutions. The project develops a new conceptual framework for analyzing the interaction of technological capabilities and the process of public policy development. It breaks down the deployment of DPI into five distinct applications or use cases in an attempt to discover whether the governance regime that emerges varies across both institutional settings and types of use. Each use case provides the basis for two detailed case studies in different countries. The method of executing the case studies leverages complementarities between actor-network theory in Science, Technology and Society studies and actor-centered institutionalism in political science. To better understand the deployment patterns, the research will also compile and make usable network performance data made available by the Measurement Lab.