“For years, the net neutrality debate has been at an impasse: either the internet is open or preferences are allowed.

But the Stanford engineers – Professor Nick McKeown, Associate Professor Sachin Katti and electrical engineering PhD Yiannis Yiakoumis ­– say their new technology, called Network Cookies, makes it possible to have preferential delivery and an open internet. Network Cookies allow users to choose which home or mobile traffic should get favored delivery, while putting network operators and content providers on a level playing field in catering to such user-signaled preferences.”

Source: news.stanford.edu

It is nice to see that people are working for true net neutrality, amidst all the limits that were put up lately. Most corporations tend to tip the balance from neutrality to centrally selected preferences. Even Google favors certain sites while not approving others.

The interesting question is: how will governments and law enforcement agencies react to this? Does everybody want the same thing? And how will the attitude of the different parties affect the outcome of this matter? Will this technology, or similar initiatives, be successful and result in a more transparent and more privacy aware internet? Losing control over our secrets will probably lead to more transparency, so initiatives like this one might have chance.