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Oxford Internet Institute Creates Internet "Tube" Map

Posted by samzenpus on from the follow-the-lines dept.

First time accepted submitter Jahta (1141213) writes "The Oxford Internet Institute has created a schematic of the world's international fiber-optic links in the style of the famous London Tube map. The schematic also highlights nodes where censorship and surveillance are known to be in operation. The map uses data sourced from cablemap.info. Each node has been assigned to a country, and all nodes located in the same country have been collapsed into a single node. The resulting network has been then abstracted."

36 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Submarine cable map by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's missing a few cables -- the Submarine Cable Map has more
    (and with the proper names as well)

    1. Re:Submarine cable map by ModelX · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's also imagining direct connections in south-east Asia that actually route via Hong Kong and Singapore. Haven't they run traceroute? This tube map seems to be an artistic project compared to the submarine cable map.

    2. Re:Submarine cable map by AdamHaun · · Score: 1

      That map is so much better and more informative than the tube map that I don't know why the latter exists at all. I know it's supposed to be a simplification, but if you condense that many cables into one route you end up with a map of countries that border the sea, not network routes. For example, there's nothing on the tube map to indicate that the UK is only one or two hops from Japan, or that the Seychelles are at the end of a line, even though it's clearly visible in both your map and the tube map's questionably accurate source material.

      --
      Visit the
  2. Mandatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We already knew the Internet is a series of tubes.

    1. Re:Mandatory by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Sort of like intestines, right? But it requires guts to say it in public.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Mandatory by rujasu · · Score: 1

      Yeah. If they had made a schematic of a truck, that would have been all wrong.

  3. Re:Fighting Censorship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    the map is a bit of a troll. according to it brasil is the center
    of the universe.

  4. Surveillance + Imprisonment != Censorship? by NoKaOi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The US has the "surveillance" symbol and the "imprisonment" symbol. Shouldn't that equate to censorship? "We're gonna watch everything you do, and we're gonna imprison you if we don't like what you're doing by calling it 'terrorism' or a 'national security threat,' but no, we're not censoring you, you can say whatever you want!"

    1. Re:Surveillance + Imprisonment != Censorship? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Goodness no! Remember, citizens of the free world, it works like this:

      Godless commie chinese and those fanatic heathen arabs we buy oil from? "Censorship" and "Surveillance".

      The Good Guys? "Content Filtering" and "Lawful Intercept Capabilities".

      I'm glad we cleared up that misconception.

    2. Re:Surveillance + Imprisonment != Censorship? by necro81 · · Score: 2

      Try living in mainland China for a few years, or one of several countries in the Middle East, or The Sovi...er, I mean Russia, and then come back to the USA and talk about the relative levels of censorship.

    3. Re:Surveillance + Imprisonment != Censorship? by Mozai · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm reminded of an old joke from Poland:
      "Oh, we have freedom of speech just like in America! Freedom after speech, not as much."

      Times have changed.

  5. It's not a truck... by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    It's a series of tubes!

  6. "censorship" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Don't see a little "censorship" logo on GBR, despite IWF, court orders requiring denial of access to whole file sharing web sites (not just infringing files), a torrent of laws restricting the sort of speech permitted on the Internet (and anywhere else), etc.

    And GBR is the only European country with known Internet surveillance - orly?

    This map really isn't very good.

  7. The map is Biased by phayes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The data used to create it is from Reporteurs sans Frontières. France's DGSE performs the same mass surveillance of the internet & telephone data as the US & UK but nobody talks about it because:
    A: It's legal here for the government to snoop on anyone they want. Foreign nationals, French citizens, whatever...
    B: The government has a level of control over the press not present in the US/UK and discourages reporters here from talking about it.

    RSF knows that this is the case but somehow France is conveniently left off the list of surveillance states? Suuurrree...

    On a side note:
    I have moved much of my home browsing over to a tablet. Beta is now being foist upon me even when logged in and the /?nobeta=1 URL trick no longer functions. Way to go slashdot, I've been a regular for close to 2 decades but now only visit when sitting down in front of a PC/Mac. Still losing readership? I'm an example.

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    1. Re:The map is Biased by geekmux · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The data used to create it is from Reporteurs sans Frontières. France's DGSE performs the same mass surveillance of the internet & telephone data as the US & UK but nobody talks about it because: A: It's legal here for the government to snoop on anyone they want. Foreign nationals, French citizens, whatever... B: The government has a level of control over the press not present in the US/UK and discourages reporters here from talking about it.

      RSF knows that this is the case but somehow France is conveniently left off the list of surveillance states? Suuurrree...

      On a side note: I have moved much of my home browsing over to a tablet. Beta is now being foist upon me even when logged in and the /?nobeta=1 URL trick no longer functions. Way to go slashdot, I've been a regular for close to 2 decades but now only visit when sitting down in front of a PC/Mac. Still losing readership? I'm an example.

      Uh, while I appreciate your insight and information here as to why the map is biased, the bias is far more obvious than that.

      Just ask anyone who doesn't live near underground public transportation (the other 95% of the planet) staring at this kitschy London Tube theme, wondering how the hell we've devolved from a world map overnight.

      A mechanic may work under a hood all day long, but you certainly don't see them explaining geography using a timing belt, radiator, and three engine mounts.

    2. Re:The map is Biased by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Whatever point you're making is pretty much lost amongst the sarcasm. You start off talking about bias, then you seem to be claiming that topological graph representations only make sense if you use similar maps every day, then you make some completely non-sequiteur comment about mechanics that I guess is supposed to be a metaphor, but for what?

    3. Re:The map is Biased by phayes · · Score: 1

      Had the map been labeled in chinese or spanish or some other language on a non-english website, you might actually have a comprehensible point. Given that it is labeled in english where the tube map is a recognizable cultural reference point for a significant part of of the population, all that comes across is your distaste of london or the london tube map.

      I've never lived in England yet even growing up in the US I recognized the tube map style as distinctive. Your metaphors may be clear to you, but not to others so labeling them as ignorant when it is you that is being obscure is just ego stroking.

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    4. Re:The map is Biased by geekmux · · Score: 1

      Had the map been labeled in chinese or spanish or some other language on a non-english website, you might actually have a comprehensible point. Given that it is labeled in english where the tube map is a recognizable cultural reference point for a significant part of of the population, all that comes across is your distaste of london or the london tube map.

      I've never lived in England yet even growing up in the US I recognized the tube map style as distinctive. Your metaphors may be clear to you, but not to others so labeling them as ignorant when it is you that is being obscure is just ego stroking.

      The world is flat, and the other 95% of the planet who can access that data have little use for it because of it's abnormal representation. It's distinctive alright, as distinctive of any other artwork that I'm not expecting much function out of other than to hang there on the wall. Maps are designed to have purpose and generally like math are meant to be understood as a universal design. You know, kind of how we all settled on what the continents look like on world maps.

      Perhaps we should ask Disney to publish a supplemental using their "distinctive" theme park map? Better yet, let's ask McDonalds. At least a LOT of people on the planet would recognize that menu as cartography.

    5. Re:The map is Biased by deadweight · · Score: 1

      OTOH it made instant sense to me. It looks exactly like the Metro map in DC, which I guess they copied from London. Been awhile since I rode the tube.

    6. Re:The map is Biased by phayes · · Score: 1

      This map had purpose: to try and shame the countries with a free press that perform mass surveillance, but in particular the US & UK.
      The map had a form similar to that of the London tube & DC subway.

      That the data used to create the map is based on incomplete and false data is more important to most than that you think the form is inaccurate.

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    7. Re:The map is Biased by geekmux · · Score: 1

      This map had purpose: to try and shame the countries with a free press that perform mass surveillance, but in particular the US & UK. The map had a form similar to that of the London tube & DC subway.

      That the data used to create the map is based on incomplete and false data is more important to most than that you think the form is inaccurate.

      Yes, I do agree with you on that point, but it's not really that important to me. I don't stress over exercises in futility, and attempting to even remotely guess at the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the world's most powerful governments is exactly that, regardless of leaks.

      You would have better luck trying to estimate the hundreds of trillions of corporate dollars hidden in tax havens.

      The map format was yet another exercise in futility for those attempting to find a purpose with this by creating global impact and awareness. We may disagree on this, but a traditional format would have made a hell of a lot more sense here with a global dataset.

  8. seems they did not know what they are doing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    as a example why is turkey not on the censor list ... seems that the people that made the map never tried to watch porn in turkey

  9. Censorship and surveillance missing by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 2

    Many european countries practice both censorship and surveillance.

    1. Re:Censorship and surveillance missing by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      I presume censorship means direct government censorship at the connection, rather than punishment after the fact (For example in the UK, not all ISPs are filtered, even by cleanfeed; in much of Europe promoting fascism is illegal but not blocked). Surveillance - while I would not be surprised if all countries were spying on the traffic - has only been proven to a reasonable standard in a few countries. I think they're using information from Reporters Without Borders.

  10. Stylised & very simplified by Teun · · Score: 4, Informative
    I saw a comment on the importance of the Hongkong and Singapore exchanges for Asian communications, in a similar vein the AMS-IX is totally missing, one of the world's largest Internet exchanges and peering points.

    But it's still an interesting map on a very interesting website!

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  11. Re:How do you gauge censorship ? by Sique · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It isn't. It's called censorship if someone else is hiding information from you or denying access. If you don't use Mozilla because you don't like the head honcho for what reason ever, it's called free choice.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  12. US has imprisonment badge - BS by towermac · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You can't go to jail in the US just for illegal use of the internet. You can for looking at kiddie porn, or threatening somebody, but those things were illegal before we had an internet. You can freely read about Marxism, Nazism, Al-Qaeda musings... with no fear. If they caught you being part of Al-Qaeda through the internet, they would have caught you before, through the telephone, post, or surveillance. Ed Snowden has shown us that lately the NSA goes too far in surveillance, but that's not the same thing (yet), as a Cuba and the like.

    Nobody is in jail here for reading or posting political views.

    The imprisonment badge on the US is BS, and was the whole purpose of making this political statement of a silly map.

    1. Re:US has imprisonment badge - BS by orzetto · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You can't go to jail in the US just for illegal use of the internet.

      Yes you can, google up Justin River Carter. He made a hyperbolic, sarcastic comment on Facebook, and he's looking at up to 10 years in jail. Another case is Cameron D'Ambrosio's. The magic word is terrorism: if anyone is scared by what you say or says they are, you are fornicated.

      You can for looking at kiddie porn, or threatening somebody, but those things were illegal before we had an internet.

      Same you can say about any country with the imprisonment mark. It was illegal to mock Mohammed in Pakistan before the Internet, and now too. The imprisonment icon means, "you can go to jail after unwarranted, sweeping wiretapping of your Internet connection".

      --
      Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
    2. Re:US has imprisonment badge - BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Nobody is in jail here for reading or posting political views.

      Yup, no political prisoners in the US at all.

    3. Re:US has imprisonment badge - BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Almost all of those are due to various crimes such as murder. If they are truly innocent then this is more of a matter of government corruption than political prisoners. They are not jailed for their political views. They might be jailed because they were framed by some over zealous prosecutors trying to make a name for themselves. I think this is quite a bit different than governments that make it clear that dissension is not allowed. The map is BS,

    4. Re:US has imprisonment badge - BS by towermac · · Score: 2

      Yes, I read about Carter. It appears to be a gross overreaction by the Texas authorities. Although technically, he did threaten to shoot kindergartners and other violence. He's had a restraining order against him before.

      A Canadian reported him. He was not caught by surveillance. Your example is bogus.

    5. Re:US has imprisonment badge - BS by budgenator · · Score: 1

      So do we award Canada a surveilence icon because one of it's nanny-state supporting residence narced out Justin Carter to a whackaloon county prosecuter in Texas?

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  13. Ted Stevens would be so happy by Virtucon · · Score: 1, Funny

    Good Old Ted Stevens was proven right once and for all! It is a bunch of tubes!!!

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  14. Re:Uhg by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    I was tempted to put a disclaimer to pretty much this effect, but felt that I wasn't really saying anythng about the analogy.

    I do agree with you. Networking people use a lot of plumbing related metaphors.

  15. Re:Uhg by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 1

    Personally it's always been the "series" part that didn't sit well with me. There's nothing "series" about the way they are connected!

  16. Re:How do you gauge censorship ? by Kremmy · · Score: 1

    I just wish they had made this decision regarding JavaScript the moment the contributions came to light. I kinda get the impression this guy was one of the few people in the organization qualified to step up, especially given that one of the things I heard being an issue was that he was procured internally. Unfortunately, as people are finding out more and more, being disrespectful and hateful of people actually does have real life real world consequences. This situation was one of those consequences. Paula Deen's situation was one of those consequences. Duck Hunter Guy's situation was one of those consequences.

    It's really amusing to me how readily this is lost on people.