Google's SPDY Could Be Incorporated Into Next-Gen HTTP

MojoKid writes "Google's efforts to improve Internet efficiency through the development of the SPDY (pronounced 'speedy') protocol got a major boost today when the chairman of the HTTP Working Group (HTTPbis), Mark Nottingham, called for it to be included in the HTTP 2.0 standard. SPDY is a protocol that's already used to a certain degree online; formal incorporation into the next-generation standard would improve its chances of being generally adopted. SPDY's goal is to reduce web page load times through the use of header compression, packet prioritization, and multiplexing (combining multiple requests into a single connection). By default, a web browser opens an individual connection for each and every page request, which can lead to tremendous inefficiencies."

Comments

Real issue is...

[blahplusplus]

... embedded links that activate scripts/contact other adservers, etc. There is so much junk embedded in modern web-pages that most users have no clue how bad their client is being raped of accumulating identifiable information.

Re:It's a secret plot by apple

[scdeimos]

Hate to rain on your parade, but didn't you realize that Apple will wait three years then have a media conference introducing iSPDY as their own invention?

The IMPORTANT bit about SPDY

[YA_Python_dev]

I realize you guys are just kidding, but there's a very important and overlooked part of the SPDY protocol. Hopefully TPTB won't understand its implications before it's too late to stop SPDY adoption.

You see, the way I read the spec and the way it's currently implemented, SPDY requires every single connection to be encrypted. It's not optional.

Imagine that, a world where MITM attacks suddenly become much much harder, where your ISP doesn't inject ads in your search results, where your mobile provider cannot "help" you screwing up your HTTP connections with a transparent proxy, where the British government cannot censor a Wikipedia page, where even the small sites can be encrypted because web hosts save bandwidth money by offering this option to everyone.

Imagine a world where net neutrality becomes much harder to break because all big protocols are encrypted all (or at least most) of the time and the deep packet inspection shit that's used much more widely than people think just doesn't work anymore.

SSH, Freenet, Skype BitTorrent and other P2P protocols are already there. This is the chance to do it for HTTP.

Disclaimer: I speak only for myself and not anyone else. IANARE.