Google has released a new tool which lets users find out whether their
bandwidth is being purposely throttled by their ISP.
The new
Google
Measurement Lab allows people to monitor their network traffic, and detect
whether an internet service provider (ISP) is deliberately slowing certain types
of traffic, specifically from torrent services.
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Google has partnered with the
New
America Foundation and the
PlanetLab
Consortium, and hopes that the site and its accompanying set of measurement
tools will allow the group to identify any ISP deliberately throttling web
traffic.
"By running these tools, users will get information about their connection
and provide researchers with valuable aggregate data," wrote Google internet
evangelist Vint Cerf and engineer Stephen Stuart in a
blog
post.
"No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices,
everyone can agree that internet users deserve to be well-informed about what
they're getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of
sound policy."
The service could stoke the debate over net neutrality that has arisen over
the past year. Some ISPs have argued that managing so-called 'bandwidth hogs' is
necessary to keep speeds up for all users.
Internet users deserve to be well-informed when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy
Vint Cerf and Stephen Stuart Google
Opponents of the practice, including Google, have suggested that it sets the
stage for large companies to purchase "preferred" access for their services,
putting smaller companies at a disadvantage.
After pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast eventually
agreed to replace the system with a
new
policy that caps the total amount of data a user can receive each month.
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