Network Neutrality: A Research Guide

The conclusion in a research handbook should emphasise the complexity of the problem than trying to claim a one-size-fits-all solution. I have categorised net neutrality into positive and negative (content discrimination) net neutrality indicating the latter as potentially harmful. Blocking content without informing customers appropriately is wrong: if it says ‘Internet service’, it should offer an open Internet (alongside walled gardens if that is expressly advertised as such). The issue of uncontrolled Internet flows versus engineered solutions is central to the question of a ‘free’ versus regulated Internet. A consumer- and citizen-orientated intervention depends on passing regulations to prevent unregulated nontransparent controls exerted over traffic via DPI equipment, whether imposed by ISPs for financial advantage or by governments eager to use this new technology to filter, censor and enforce copyright against their citizens. Unraveling the previous ISP limited liability regime risks removing the efficiency of that approach in permitting the free flow of information for economic and social advantage. These conclusions support a light-touch regulatory regime involving reporting requirements and co-regulation with, as far as is possible, market-based solutions. Solutions may be international as well as local, and international coordination of best practice and knowledge will enable national regulators to keep up with the technology ‘arms race’

European Law and Regulation of Mobile Net Neutrality

Mobile is a rapidly growing and potentially major element of the future Internet, and its environment cannot be sensibly considered in isolation from fixed networks [2]. A note on terminology: Europe uses the term Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) while the United States uses 'wireless' Internet Service Providers (ISPs) [3]. 'Wireless' is somewhat more open in the United States. In Europe, mobile has always made special pleading for forms of self-regulation, as we will see. The article introduces mobile broadband, then considers net neutrality in the fixed environment including the new laws passed in November 2009 in the European Parliament, before considering the mobile net neutrality debate, the degree of price control regulation exerted on European mobiles and the MNOs' vigorous rear-guard anti-regulation defence. Finally, I look at the effects of this regulatory asymmetry and whether MNO calls for mobile to be treated differently from other ISPs can be justified. I conclude by examining what the effect of price and content control on mobile is likely to be for incentives for fixed ISPs and produce a result that I describe as the 'fixed' strategy

Network Neutrality: History, Regulation and Future

Aquest article se centra en el repte global de la política de neutralitat a la Xarxa: podran els governs garantir un accés més gran a Internet encara més ràpid, mentre donen suport a les expectatives dels usuaris i els proveïdors de continguts que la censura i la filtració dels seus continguts es mantinguin a un mínim democràticament i econòmicament necessari? O l'accés obert a Internet es relegarà a un carril comparativament lent, amb carrils ràpids reservats per a serveis de vídeo, telefonia i altres serveis afavorits afiliats als proveïdors de serveis d'accés a Internet? La reglamentació de les comunicacions de telefonia, radiodifusió i Internet (inclòs el comerç electrònic) depèn de les solucions a aquestes preguntes, agrupades en el principi, convertit en eslògan, de "neutralitat a la Xarxa".Este artículo se centra en el reto global de la política de neutralidad en la red: ¿Podrán los gobiernos garantizar un mayor acceso a Internet aún más rápido, mientras apoyan a las expectativas de los usuarios y los proveedores de contenidos de que la censura y la filtración de sus contenidos se mantengan a un mínimo democrática y económicamente necesario? O ¿el acceso a Internet abierto se relegará a un carril comparativamente lento, con carriles rápidos reservados para servicios de vídeo, telefonía y otros servicios favorecidos afiliados a los proveedores de servicios de acceso a Internet? La reglamentación de las comunicaciones de telefonía, radiodifusión e Internet (incluido el comercio electrónico) depende de las soluciones a estas preguntas, agrupadas en el principio, convertido en slogan, de neutralidad en la red.This article focuses on the global policy challenge of network neutrality. Will governments be able to ensure increasing access to an ever faster Internet while supporting user and content provider expectations that censorship and filtering of their content is kept to a democratically and economically necessary minimum? Or will open Internet access be relegated to a comparatively slow lane, with fast lanes reserved for ISPs' affiliated video,  telephony  and other preferred services? Communications regulation of telephony, broadcasting and the Internet (including consumer electronic commerce) depends on the solutions found to these questions, grouped in the sloganised principle of ‘network neutrality'

Comparative case studies in implementing net neutrality: a critical analysis of zero rating

This article critically examines the relatively few examples of regulatory implementation of network neutrality enforcement at national level. It draws on co-regulatory and self-regulatory theories of implementation and capture, and interdisciplinary studies into the real-world effect of regulatory threats to traffic management practices (TMP). Most academic and policy literature on net neutrality regulation has focussed on legislative proposals and economic or technological principles, rather than specific examples of comparative national implementation. This is in part due to the relatively few case studies of effective implementation of legislation. The article presents the results of fieldwork in South America, North America and Europe over an extended period (2003-2015). The countries studied are: Brazil, India, Chile, Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Canada, United States, European Union. Empirical interviews were conducted in-field with regulators, government officials, ISPs, content providers, academic experts, NGOs and other stakeholders from Chile, Brazil, United States, India, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Slovenia, Norway. It also explores the opaque practices of co-regulatory forums where governments or regulators have decided on partial private rather than public diplomacy with ISPs, notably in the US, Norway and UK. The article notes the limited political and administrative commitment to effective regulation thus far, and draws on that critical analysis to propose reasons for failure to implement effective regulation. Finally, it compares results of implementations and proposes a framework for a regulatory toolkit. The specific issue considered are the tolerance of zero rating practices, notably as deployed by mobile ISPs

Net Neutrality

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Chris Marsden maneuvers through the hype articulated by Netwrok Neutrality advocates and opponents. He offers a clear-headed analysis of the high stakes in this debate about the Internet's future, and fearlessly refutes the misinformation and misconceptions that about' Professor Rob Freiden, Penn State University Net Neutrality is a very heated and contested policy principle regarding access for content providers to the Internet end-user, and potential discrimination in that access where the end-user's ISP (or another ISP) blocks that access in part or whole. The suggestion has been that the problem can be resolved by either introducing greater competition, or closely policing conditions for vertically integrated service, such as VOIP. However, that is not the whole story, and ISPs as a whole have incentives to discriminate between content for matters such as network management of spam, to secure and maintain customer experience at current levels, and for economic benefit from new Quality of Service standards. This includes offering a ‘priority lane' on the network for premium content types such as video and voice service. The author considers market developments and policy responses in Europe and the United States, draws conclusions and proposes regulatory recommendations

A primary care Symptoms Clinic for patients with medically unexplained symptoms : pilot randomised trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Nonlinear dynamics of pattern recognition and optimization

We associate learning in living systems with the shaping of the velocity vector field of a dynamical system in response to external, generally random, stimuli. We consider various approaches to implement a system that is able to adapt the whole vector field, rather than just parts of it - a drawback of the most common current learning systems: artificial neural networks. This leads us to propose the mathematical concept of self-shaping dynamical systems. To begin, there is an empty phase space with no attractors, and thus a zero velocity vector field. Upon receiving the random stimulus, the vector field deforms and eventually becomes smooth and deterministic, despite the random nature of the applied force, while the phase space develops various geometrical objects. We consider the simplest of these - gradient self-shaping systems, whose vector field is the gradient of some energy function, which under certain conditions develops into the multi-dimensional probability density distribution of the input. We explain how self-shaping systems are relevant to artificial neural networks. Firstly, we show that they can potentially perform pattern recognition tasks typically implemented by Hopfield neural networks, but without any supervision and on-line, and without developing spurious minima in the phase space. Secondly, they can reconstruct the probability density distribution of input signals, like probabilistic neural networks, but without the need for new training patterns to have to enter the network as new hardware units. We therefore regard self-shaping systems as a generalisation of the neural network concept, achieved by abandoning the "rigid units - flexible couplings'' paradigm and making the vector field fully flexible and amenable to external force. It is not clear how such systems could be implemented in hardware, and so this new concept presents an engineering challenge. It could also become an alternative paradigm for the modelling of both living and learning systems. Mathematically it is interesting to find how a self shaping system could develop non-trivial objects in the phase space such as periodic orbits or chaotic attractors. We investigate how a delayed vector field could form such objects. We show that this method produces chaos in a class systems which have very simple dynamics in the non-delayed case. We also demonstrate the coexistence of bounded and unbounded solutions dependent on the initial conditions and the value of the delay. Finally, we speculate about how such a method could be used in global optimization