Princeton University (02/18/09) Emery, Chris
Princeton University’s Measurement Lab project is investigating the inner workings of Internet traffic. The Measurement Lab features a global network of computers that computer scientists can use to explore how data travels across the Internet, with the goal of creating transparency in the debate over who should regulate Internet traffic. The project will provide tools to the general public, and may help Internet users understand why their connection to the Internet can be slower at certain times. “Many debates about the Internet and policy would benefit from more and better facts,” says Edward Felten, the director of Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy. “Measurement Lab provides that. It provides a facility for aggregating information and fostering a fact-based public debate about what’s going on and what government should do.” The Measurement Lab research network was launched with three servers in Google’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, and will soon expand to 36 servers in 12 locations worldwide. In addition to Princeton, Google, and the New America Foundation, a public policy think tank sponsoring the initiative, project participants include several universities and computer science research centers, and project organizers hope the network will expand further. The network will be used to test Internet connections for speed and functionality by sending data between Measurement Lab computers, which will be able to measure precisely when data leaves and arrives at a computer.
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