Google Invests USD 1 Million on censorship and throttling detection

Looks like Google’s going on the defensive. I just read on ARS Technica that they have given Georgia Tech researchers USD 1 Million just to detect government censorship, internet throttling and other transparency issues. This money has to last Georgia Tech two years, and they will be given an additional $ 500,000 and an extension for a year if Google thinks it’s necessary. What this project hopes to deliver is a full suite of tools that can be accessed by anyone for free. These tools will help internet to find out if they’re getting their money’s worth from their ISPs and whether their network is being tampered with.

Free tampering detection tools - Google’s gift to the public..

Apparently, one of the team’s principal investigators, Wenke Lee intends for this project to create a “transparency ecosystem” on the internet. These tools could be quite beneficial to just about anyone using the internet, as any kind of tampering by ISPs or even the government will be detectable. One citable example is the ongoing issue in Egypt, where the government slowly started shutting down internet services, filtering search results and blocking specific traffic. The team of experts working on this project will also be building tools for tablets and smartphones as well in due course of time.

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