Tag Archives: Internet & Networking Technology

Jack Dorsey regrets his role in creating a centralized internet

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Twitter founder Jack Dorsey would like you to know he too misses the early days of the internet when protocols like IRC made the web seem like a place of boundless possibility. He also knows he’s partly to blame for the current state of things.

“The days of Usenet, IRC, the web… even email (with PGP)... were amazing,” Dorsey said on Saturday in a tweet spotted by Mashable. “Centralizing discovery and identity into corporations really damaged the internet. I realize I’m partially to blame, and regret it.”

Dorsey’s tweet is a remarkable admission by a tech executive who made billions creating a platform that centralized the way we consume news. Twitter may not be as big as Facebook and TikTok, but the effect it has had on the information economy is undeniable. Many of us turn to Twitter when we want to follow ongoing events in close to real-time as possible, but at times the company has struggled to combat misinformation, much to the harm of our public institutions. 

This isn’t Dorsey’s first time lamenting the current state of the internet. In December, he went on a rant about how Web3 had already been co-opted by investors. “You don’t own ‘Web3,’” he said at the time. “The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives.”

Eero’s newest mesh routers include a WiFi 6E model

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Eero is relatively late to WiFi 6E, but it's showing up in style — and making WiFi 6 more practical in the process. The Amazon brand has launched two new mesh routers led by the Eero Pro 6E (pictured below). The hardware takes advantage of the 6GHz band to offer up to a 1.3Gbps wireless connection for as many as 100 devices. Each unit has both 2.5Gbps and 1Gbps Ethernet jacks, and should cover up to 2,000 square feet each. Don't worry if you don't have the super-fast internet service to do it justice, though, as we've had some hands-on time with a more affordable option.

The equally new Eero 6+ (above) is 'just' a dual-band WiFi 6 model with two 1Gbps Ethernet ports, 1,500 square feet of coverage per router and a 75-device cap, but it now has access to a 160MHz radio channel that promises faster wireless data. Eero pitches this as the best choice for anyone with reasonably fast internet up to a gigabit.

We've briefly tried the 6+, and it works like much you'd expect if you're familiar with Eero. It has no trouble wringing the most out of a 500Mbps cable internet plan despite the modem and devices living on different floors of a modestly-sized house. The Amazon tie-ins both simplify setup (including reconnecting if you change the network name or password) and controlling the router with Alexa. You can ask the voice assistant to halt internet access for specific users, for instance. Just be aware that this doesn't have the tri-band wireless some rivals use to lighten the load on a busy network, so you may want to pass if you have multiple heavy users who can't afford slowdowns.

Eero Pro 6E WiFi mesh router
Eero Pro 6E
Eero

The pricing is in line with the performance. You can buy the Eero Pro 6E now in a $499 two-pack or $699 three-pack. A single unit is available to pre-order for $299. The Eero 6+ is decidedly easier to justify for most people, based on our experience. It's selling now at a $239 for a two-pack and $299 for a three-pack, with pre-orders open for a $139 one-device kit. And if you don't mind using 2020-era hardware, the earlier Eero 6 has dropped to $89 for one router, $139 for two and $199 for three.

Undersea Google internet cable will connect Togo to Europe

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The first branch of Google’s Equiano underwater internet cable — which will eventually run from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal — has landed in Lomé, Togo, the company announced Friday. The massive fiber optic cable will be Google’s first to run from Africa to Europe, and is expected to bring internet connectivity to millions of people across both continents. This will be especially impactful in Togo, where according to DataReportal an estimated 74 percent of people don’t have access to the internet. The cable is expected to deliver 20 times more internet capacity to the region.

Google began investing heavily in subsea cable internet nearly a decade ago, with its first co-owned cable project Unity (which stretches from Chikura, Japan to Redondo Beach, California) going into service in 2010. The company has invested in—either solely or as a part of a consortium — a total of 19 undersea cables. Its most recently completed project, Dunant, went into service in January 2021 and runs from Virginia Beach to the French Coast.

Alphabet far from the only tech giant to invest heavily in undersea cables, which have become more ubiquitous with the growth of the mobile internet. Google along with Meta, Microsoft and Amazon now dominate the world’s critical cable infrastructure, as the Wall Street Journalnotes. Last month, Meta announced plans to build at least two transatlantic undersea cables by 2027.

Undersea cables have one notable downside: The cables can tear and break, either due to natural disasters or human activity like fishing. Cable breaks are particularly common along the coasts of Africa, and can leave entire regions without connectivity for days. Last year a massive mudslide in South Africa caused two undersea cables to break, which led to service disruptions and slowdowns across the entire continent. But in the event of a break, a nearby undersea cable can be used as a backup.

Once in service, Equiano will provide additional insurance to a region that badly needs it. After Togo, Equiano’s next stop will be in Nigeria and Namibia, before heading to its final landing in Cape Town, South Africa. It is expected to be fully in service later this year.

Google’s domain name registrar is out of beta after seven years

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Seven long, long years ago, Google started offering users a way to buy a domain without having to deal with a host provider. Now, Google Domains is at last out of beta as a full-fledged product. 

Google says, to date, millions of people have used the service to manage a domain. It has added more features and tools to Domains over the years. Folks in 26 countries can now use the full version of the service.

Of course, Domains ties in with other Google services. Customers can, of course, use their domain in their email address. You can build a website or store with Google Sites and use it on a business profile on Maps and in Search. Google's DNS and security tools are available too. There's also the option to build a site or store for a domain purchased through Google via platforms like Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Bluehost.

To mark the occasion of Domains becoming a fully formed entity, Google's offering new and returning users a discount until April 15th. You can get 20 percent off a single domain registration or transfer-in of a domain from another registrar with the code DOMAINS20.

For a bunch of reasons, it feels like a lifetime has passed since 2015, so I wouldn't blame anyone for forgetting the existence of Google Domains. Still, it has finally emerged from incubation without being scuttled off to the long list of products Google has killed.

DuckDuckGo will demote Russian propaganda in search results

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The search engine DuckDuckGo will be down-ranking sites that spread Russian propaganda and disinformation. In a tweet, founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg wrote that the privacy-focused search engine would be releasing updates that would ensure Russian disinformation sites rank further down in search results. Earlier this month, DuckDuckGo announced it would pause its relationship with Russian-state owned search engine Yandex.

A number of platforms including the Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have also demoted posts from Russian state media. Google has been down-ranking search results from Russian state news agencies since 2017.

Known for being a “privacy-minded” search engine, DuckDuckGo does not track its users or sell data to third parties. The company primarily makes money from affiliate links and non-targeted, contextual ads. DuckDuckGo, which regularly donates to digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and non-profit newsroom The Markup, has also been embraced by conspiracy theorists and far-right groups in recent years. A number of studies highlighted in the New York Times found that Bing’s search algorithm, which powers DuckDuckGo, surfaces more sites that promote conspiracy theories than Google.

Many fans of DuckDuckGo criticized the search engine for its decision on Russia, likening it to “censorship”. It’s unclear whether DuckDuckGo will make a wider effort to down-rank disinformation. 

Weinberg did not detail in his tweet which Russian propaganda sites DuckDuckGo would target, or whether the search engine will target other types of disinformation, such as on climate change or COVID-19. 

DuckDuckGo provided Engadget with the following statement regarding this change:

The primary utility of a search engine is to provide access to accurate information. Disinformation sites that deliberately put out false information to intentionally mislead people directly cut against that utility. Current examples are Russian state-sponsored media sites like RT and Sputnik. It's also important to note that down-ranking is different from censorship. We are simply using the fact that that these sites are engaging in active disinformation campaigns as a ranking signal that the content they produce is of lower quality, just like there are signals for spammy sites and other lower-quality content. In addition to this approach, for newsworthy topics we're also continuing to highlight reputable news coverage and reliable “instant answers” at the top of our search results where they are seen and clicked the most. We're also in the process of thinking about other types of interventions.

Update, 3/11/22 2:45PM ET: This story has been updated with DuckDuckGo's statement on the move. We've also updated the headline and added additional context to this story based on DuckDuckGo's statement.

EU tells Google to delist Russian state media websites from search

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The European Commission has sent Google a request to remove Russian state media results for searches performed in countries within the EU. As The Washington Post reports, Google has uploaded a letter from EU officials to a database of government requests. In it, the officials explain how the commission's official order to ban the broadcast of RT and Sputnik in the European Union also applies to search engines and internet companies in general.

If you'll recall, the commission issued a ban on the state media outlets a few days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said back then that by doing so, the outlets "will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war." While it wasn't quite clear how the order applies to internet companies, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok promptly restricted access to RT and Sputnik across Europe. Google also announced its own restrictions, but only for the outlets' YouTube channels.

In the letter Google has uploaded, officials explained that search engines play a major role in disseminating content and that if the company doesn't delist the outlets, it would facilitate the public's access to them. Part of the letter reads:

"The activity of search engines plays a decisive role in the overall dissemination of content in that it renders the latter accessible to any internet user making a search on the basis of the content indication or related terms, including to internet users who otherwise would not have found the web page on which that content is published...Consequently, if search engines such as Google did not delist RT and Sputnik, they would facilitate the public's access to the content of RT and Sputnik, or contribute to such access. 

It follows from the foregoing that by virtue of the Regulation, providers of Internet search services must make sure that i) any link to the Internet sites of RT and Sputnik and ii) any content of RT and Sputnik, including short textual descriptions, visual elements and links to the corresponding websites do not appear in the search results delivered to users located in the EU."

Google didn't return The Post's request for comment, but the publication says a search conducted within the EU didn't bring up links for "Russia Today." RT links still showed up for us, however, when we conducted searches using Google Austria and France. 

The letter also said that the order applies to "posts made by individuals that reproduce the content of RT and Sputnik" — for example, screenshots of articles from those outlets — and that social networks must delete those posts if they get published. That could create a deluge of additional work for social media websites already struggling to moderate content posted by their users. According to The Post, though, the actual sanctions law doesn't define the order in the way that's written in the letter, so the officials' interpretation could be challenged in court. 

Lumen is the second major US internet provider to leave Russia

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Cogent isn't the only large American internet provider pulling out of Russia following that country's invasion of Ukraine. The Washington Postreports Lumen is "immediately" halting business in the country. The company is disconnecting over concerns of an "increased security risk" inside Russia, fears of government action and a desire to protect the integrity of the Internet at large.

The company claimed that its services are "extremely small and very limited" in Russia, and that it only has a handful of enterprise customers. However, analysts at Kentik noted that Lumen is a major source of international data within the country, and that those customers include state-owned telecoms like Rostelecom and TransTelekom. Russia should feel the impact, in other words.

This could hurt Russians' access to internet services hosted outside of the country, and might make them reliant on state propaganda. However, it comes as many US tech companies are limiting or pulling products, including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft. Lumen is joining a united front, then. Support is growing, too, as Amazon Web Services said it would stop accepting new customers from either Russia or Belarus.

This isn't going as far as Ukraine wanted. It called on ICANN to boot Russia from the internet. It's still a significant move, though, and it suggests many tech heavyweights aren't worried about the threat of Russian retaliation.

Internet backbone provider Cogent cuts off service to Russia

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Cogent Communications, an internet backbone provider that carries approximately 25 percent of all global web traffic, has begun cutting ties with Russian businesses in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The company told The Washington Post it was doing so to prevent the Kremlin from using its network to carry out cyberattacks and spread misinformation about the ongoing conflict.

“Our goal is not to hurt anyone. It’s just to not empower the Russian government to have another tool in their war chest,” Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer told the outlet, adding “it was a tough decision.” In a statement to ZDNet, the company said it was also complying with European Union sanctions against Russia Today and Sputnik. “Cogent is not otherwise restricting or blocking traffic originating from or destined for Russia. Cogent continues to provide services to Ukraine,” the company added.

The move is expected to disrupt and slow down internet connectivity. Some of Cogent’s Russian clients include state-owned telecom operator Rostelecom, one of the country’s largest internet providers, and wireless carriers Megafon and Veon. Cogent said it was working with some of those companies to provide them extensions.

Some experts worry the move will also prevent Russians from accessing information that doesn’t come from the Kremlin. “I would like to convey to people all over the world that if you turn off the Internet in Russia, then this means cutting off 140 million people from at least some truthful information,” Mikhail Klimarev, the executive director of Russia’s Internet Protection Society, told The Washington Post. “As long as the Internet exists, people can find out the truth. There will be no Internet — all people in Russia will only listen to propaganda.”

To that point, Russians already can’t access Facebook and Twitter after the country’s government moved to restrict those platforms. They may soon lose access to Wikipedia as well.

ICANN says it won’t kick Russia off the internet

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Even as governments and corporations around the globe squeeze the Russian economy through increasingly stringent financial sanctions for the country's invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine, some within the aggrieved nation have sought to punish Russia further, by kicking it off the internet entirely. 

On Monday, a pair of Ukrainian officials petitioned ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) as well as the Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), to revoke the domains ".ru", ".рф" and ".su." They also asked that root servers in Moscow and St. Petersburg be shut down — potentially knocking websites unde those domains offline. On Thursday, ICANN responded to the request with a hard pass citing that doing so is not within the scope of ICANN's mission and that it's not really feasible to do in the first place.

"As you know, the Internet is a decentralized system. No one actor has the ability to control it or shut it down," ICANN CEO Göran Marby, wrote in his response to ICANN representative for Ukraine, Andrii Nabok, and deputy prime minister and digital transformation minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, on Thursday. 

"Our mission does not extend to taking punitive actions, issuing sanctions, or restricting access against segments of the Internet — regardless of the provocations," he continued. "Essentially, ICANN has been built to ensure that the Internet works, not for its coordination role to be used to stop it from working."

FCC to probe domestic Russian-owned media and telecom companies

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The Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation this week into a large number of media, telecom and infrastructure companies that operate in the United States with ties to Russia, CNN reported. The probe, allegedly being conducted jointly with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, is aimed at firms considered a “national security risk,” and covers a wide array of business types including wireless providers, VoIP services and submarine cable operators.

The FCC’s review also arrives as many US cybersecurity experts warn of the increased danger of cyber attacks, especially on critical infrastructure. The US recently imposed a number of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and it’s possible Russia may retaliate through cyber warfare. Recent cyber campaigns suspected to have ties to the Russian government include the hacks of the Olympics, SolarWinds, Ukraine's government websites and coronavirus vaccine research in the US, UK and Canada. US cyber officials have also warned businesses, banks and state and local governments to be vigilant for ransomware.

A similar investigation against Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE launched by the FCC in 2019 over concerns their equipment allowed for Chinese surveillance of US activities. It’s unknown exactly how many similar companies with Russia ties will be covered by the probe. Russia also funds media companies in the US and other countries. UK prime minister Boris Johnson recently ordered a probe into the UK license for RT (Russia Today) a Kremlin-backed global news outlet with offices in the United States and across Europe. US company T&R Productions, which backs RT America, has received over $100 million from the Russian government, an Open Secrets investigation revealed.