Mapping Net Neutrality worldwide

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [Kartografie der Netzneutralität | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.18_Kartografie_der_Netzneutralitaet?pk_campaign=twun&pk_kwd=20121008]

When questioned about Net Neutrality the European Commission previously
claimed that only little data existed to show that net neutrality
violations had occurred. A new project: netneutralitymap.org shows net
neutrality violations worldwide based on tests for shaping. It documents
the need for net neutrality legislation.

Although Net Neutrality is currently discussed throughout Europe, very
little actual data is used for campaigning. A new project tries to
change this by mapping data from Measurement Lab’s global “Glasnost”
tests. The map uses the same metric previously used by the researchers
of Measurement Lab to detect violations of Net Neutrality along one year
and display them on a map. The map clearly shows: violations of Net
Neutrality are commonplace throughout Europe.

Especially the Bittorrent protocol is frequently shaped. While data from
small countries are sparse – data from larger countries confirm that net
neutrality violations are indeed common.

The map was created by activists around the Austrian EDRi member VIBE.at
and “Initiative fuer Netzfreiheit” which recently started a campaign to
promote Net Neutrality in Austria. “I did not perceive Net Neutrality
violations as a problem until I first looked at the map we created” says
Michael Bauer of VIBE.at. “It is striking how common shaping is in
today’s internet”.

The European Commission previously claimed a lack of data on Net
Neutrality violations as the main reason for not punishing them.
Measurement lab had this data since 2009. With this new way of
presenting the data it is clear that the lack of data is not a reason
for delaying net neutrality regulation any longer.

The Net Neutrality map
http://netneutralitymap.org

Austrian campaign on Net Neutrality (only in German)
http://unsernetz.at

Measurement Lab – open platform for researchers to deploy Internet
measurement tools
http://measurementlab.net

Initiative fur Netzfreiheit (only in German)
http://netzfreiheit.org

(contribution by Michael Bauer – EDRi-member VIBE!AT – Austria)