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Akamai as Censor
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Saturday, April 05 @ 08:37:20 EST Free Expression
Akamai Technologies provides caching and redundancy for web sites dealing with heavy request volume. "Akamaized" sites, in theory, should be able to stand up to any volume of traffic and withstand most denial-of-service floods. In other words, Akamai provides exactly the kind of service Al-Jazeera has needed for its English-language site, which has been under heavy stress since the start of the war in Iraq and has seen repeated episodes of extended unavailability.

Akamai, however, has cancelled its contract with Al-Jazeera, and is refusing to provide an explanation. Al-Jazeera, for its part, claims that Akamai caved to the "political pressure" against helping out a site that has been the target of intense anger in the U.S.

Regardless of whose explanation you believe, the episode underscores Akamai's power as an Internet gatekeeper. Akamai's approval may mean the difference between "existing" and "not existing" as far as the Net-going public is concerned.

I personally think it becomes appropriate to worry whether such power is being exercised arbitrarily; at the very least, Akamai owes the world a fuller statement of its reasons for ending its relationship with Al-Jazeera.

 
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Re: Akamai as Censor (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Sunday, April 06 @ 11:22:10 EDT
I fail to see why Akamai "owes the world" anything. It is a private company, and has the right to reject customers "arbitrarily". One would hope that its decision was not based on racist aversions (which would be illegal), but rather on business reasons. These might include a fear of being associated with al-Jazeera and upsetting customers, or an anticipation of high costs of service due to expected cracking attempts, or even simply a desire not to offend employees who were outraged by Jazeera's uncritical coverage of al-Qaeda - recall that Akamai's co-founder was killed in the 9-11 attacks.

As long as there is some non-prohibited base for Akamai's decision, I do not see why Akamai should be required, on either legal or moral grounds, to explain itself. Suffice that the reason exists, it need not be publicized.

A claim that might be raised is one of anti-trust, declaring Akamai a monopolist provider of vital services that should be required to provide them to everyone at reasonable rates. I am not an anti-trust expert, but it seems to me that, since anyone can do what Akamai does, it cannot be deemed a monopolist - no entry barriers. Also, I am not sure the anti-trust laws are intended to protect foreign companies. Any anti-trust experts care to offer a more detailed opinion?


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Re: Akamai as Censor (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 22 @ 21:15:38 EDT
This incident gives us a strong reason why peer-to-peer systems that are free from any centralized control are here to stay.


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