PRIVACY IN CYBERSPACE


Open Code

Changing Architecture

One of the authors of the original seminal work on Internet end-to-end architecture has raised questions about the continuing validity of the end-to-end assumption in the face of new uses, interests, and stakeholders in the Internet. Some of the changes in the Internet that might suggest moving away from end-to-end design include:

  • Less sophisticated users
  • The need for trust in an untrustworthy world
  • More demanding Internet applications (e.g., streaming audio and video)
  • Enhanced services provided by Internet Providers
  • Increasing third-party involvement in Internet Transactions (e.g., government actors (taxation), corporations (network use policy enforcement)

The authors also describe a number of scenarios where the original end-to-end assumption might fail:

  • Users communicate but don’t totally trust each other
  • Users communicate but desire anonymity
  • End parties do not trust their own software and hardware
  • The ends vs. the middle: third parties assert their right to be included in certain sorts of transactions
  • One party tries to force interaction on another
  • Multiway communication

The authors propose a number of solutions to the new requirements and problems of the Internet, some of which involve: reducing the end-to-end nature of the Internet, moving the end-to-end design to higher levels (e.g., application rather than hardware layer), adding functions to compensate for some of the weaknesses of the original design.

Related Readings

Optional Readings

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