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Apple Is Blocking an App That Detects Net Neutrality Violations (vice.com)
dmoberhaus writes: Apple isn't allowing a new app developed by a university professor that detects when your internet is being throttled by ISPs from being listed on the app store. The company claimed the app contained "objectionable content" and "has no direct benefits to the user."
The reporter, who tested the app through the beta channel, writes: The app is designed to test download speeds from seven apps: YouTube, Amazon, NBCSports, Netflix, Skype, Spotify, and Vimeo. According to the app, my Verizon LTE service streamed YouTube to my iPhone at 6 Mbps, Amazon Prime video at 8 Mbps, and Netflix at 4 Mbps. It downloaded other data at speeds of up to 25 Mbps. UPDATE: Slashdot reader sl3xd has made us aware of an update to the story. "After this article was published, Apple told Dave Choffnes that his iPhone app, designed to detect net neutrality violations, will be allowed in the iTunes App Store," reports Motherboard. "According to Choffnes, Apple contacted him and explained that the company has to deal with many apps that don't do the things they claim to do. Apple asked Choffnes to provide a technical description of how his app is able to detect if wireless telecom providers throttle certain types of data, and 18 hours after he did, the app was approved." "The conversation was very pleasant, but did not provide any insight into the review process [that] led the app to be rejected in the first place," Choffnes told Motherboard in an email.
The reporter, who tested the app through the beta channel, writes: The app is designed to test download speeds from seven apps: YouTube, Amazon, NBCSports, Netflix, Skype, Spotify, and Vimeo. According to the app, my Verizon LTE service streamed YouTube to my iPhone at 6 Mbps, Amazon Prime video at 8 Mbps, and Netflix at 4 Mbps. It downloaded other data at speeds of up to 25 Mbps. UPDATE: Slashdot reader sl3xd has made us aware of an update to the story. "After this article was published, Apple told Dave Choffnes that his iPhone app, designed to detect net neutrality violations, will be allowed in the iTunes App Store," reports Motherboard. "According to Choffnes, Apple contacted him and explained that the company has to deal with many apps that don't do the things they claim to do. Apple asked Choffnes to provide a technical description of how his app is able to detect if wireless telecom providers throttle certain types of data, and 18 hours after he did, the app was approved." "The conversation was very pleasant, but did not provide any insight into the review process [that] led the app to be rejected in the first place," Choffnes told Motherboard in an email.
"seems to indicate ISP throttling, but can happen for many reasons."
And therein lies the chicken and egg problem. Unless you have the data about download rates and latency you can't even begin to find out WHY your speeds are slower to certain services. And to some extent that shouldn't be on the customer to even care about. The ISPs are advertising certain download speeds and with services from large providers that can afford adequate infrastructure to meet demand there really should be no excuses for regularly not meeting demand for those services. The ISPs and content providers are presumably already getting paid by their customers and the ISPs will know which services are popular so they should both have an incentive to work it out. If the market is healthy and working for people then there is no reason that ISPs and content providers can't invest time and money in making the overall service better.
Technically I agree though, unless the data is being centrally collected and analyzed to spot patterns and then used by consumer groups to ask the ISPs and content providers what the issue is then it could also just be a temporary issue that is more understandable.
Would be best if the FTC could do this kind of analysis systematically and see if ISPs are really providing the services and speeds they are advertising and apply some pressure to improve service up to those advertised standards. If it is a one time slow down due to a particularly popular cat video then that is one thing, but if customers are never getting advertised download speeds from some popular services then that means the ISPs and service providers need to up the peering bandwidth and provide for peering closer to the customers to reduce latency.
But as an individual (unlike just feeling like an app is slow) you could at least with some hard numbers, perhaps taken multiple times at different times of day, then go to your ISP and ask what the problem was accessing certain services and then yourself go to the FTC to file a complaint for false advertising and the BBB and the state consumer protection agency to get it all on record that companies aren't providing the advertised services.
Payload 1) 50MB from the university server
Payload 2) Same, but with metadata changed so the header will loudly mention strings like nflxvideo.net in plain sight
Since your post was remarkably pretentious, instead of choosing option A and assuming innocent ignorance of TFA, I'm going to skip ahead to option B and assume malice, you fucking bullshit-spreading shill.