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Study: Internet Blocking Could Derail Innocent Sites20 February 2003MASSCHUSETTS – As reported by the CNET News: "The study from Harvard University's Berkman Center highlights how modern Web standards have permitted thousands of domain names to share one Internet address. It concludes that instead of precisely targeting only objectionable sites, attempts to restrict Internet addresses with pornographic, political or gambling-related content inevitably make legitimate sites unreachable too. "`The numbers are staggeringly high,' said Ben Edelman, a student fellow at the Berkman Center and author of the report. `According to my results, two-thirds of sites are hosted on Web servers with 50 or more domain names.' "The research comes as state and national governments weigh methods to restrict Web sites that may be legal in other jurisdictions but not theirs. "…The original version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) required each Web site to have its own Internet address, which maps domain names like News.com to numeric values such as 206.16.0.136. In response to a perceived shortage of addresses, HTTP 1.1 in 1999 permitted each Internet address to host an arbitrary number of Web domains. "However, current Internet technology allows Internet service providers or backbone providers to block only by IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, not domain names or URL. "Edelman's study says the practice of Web sites sharing IP addresses is so commonplace that blocking raises free-speech problems. "…Stewart Baker, an attorney at Steptoe and Johnson who represents the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association, said the study's findings were surprising…" |