Hacking the Master Switch? The Role of Infrastructure in Google’s Network Neutrality Strategy in the 2000s by John Harris Stevenson A thesis submitteD in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Information University of Toronto © Copyright by John Harris Stevenson 2017 Hacking the Master Switch? The Role of Infrastructure in Google’s Network Neutrality Strategy in the 2000s John Harris Stevenson Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Information University of Toronto 2017 Abstract During most of the decade of the 2000s, global Internet company Google Inc. was one of the most prominent public champions of the notion of network neutrality, the network design principle conceived by Tim Wu that all Internet traffic should be treated equally by network operators. However, in 2010, following a series of joint policy statements on network neutrality with telecommunications giant Verizon, Google fell nearly silent on the issue, despite Wu arguing that a neutral Internet was vital to Google’s survival. During this period, Google engaged in a massive expansion of its services and technical infrastructure. My research examines the influence of Google’s systems and service offerings on the company’s approach to network neutrality policy making. Drawing on documentary evidence and network analysis data, I identify Google’s global proprietary networks and server locations worldwide, including over 1500 Google edge caching servers located at Internet service providers. ii I argue that the affordances provided by its systems allowed Google to mitigate potential retail and transit ISP gatekeeping. Drawing on the work of Latour and Callon in Actor– network theory, I posit the existence of at least one actor-network formed among Google and ISPs, centred on an interest in the utility of Google’s edge caching servers and the success of the Android operating system. I suggest that this actor-network was a manifestation of the transformation of Google from a content provider as conceived by Wu into a new kind of Internet governance policy and network actor: the platform hybrid. Drawing on the work of Ciborra, I suggest a number of processes of technological and organisational change that were central to this transformation, allowing Google to at least partially “hack” Wu’s master switch. In conclusion, I describe the characteristics of Google as a platform hybrid and its implications for network neutrality policy making and Internet governance. iii AcknowleDgments Undertaking this work has been a profoundly transformative experience, and it would not have been possible without the guidance and support that I received from many good people. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Andrew Clement for his continuous support of my PhD studies. He was both very patient and genuinly enthusiastic about my research, and his immense knowledge was exceedingly valuable. I have learned a great deal from Andrew about the work of a public intellectual. I am thankful for the members of my committee, Prof. David Phillips and Prof. Leslie Regan Shade, who have challenged and supported me over the past five years as I moved from a collection of questions to a completed study. Leslie has been, for more years than I dare count, as wise and supportive a mentor and friend as I could hope for. I wish to thank the members of the iSchool community who provided guidance and support over the years, particularly Prof. Lynne Howarth, a role model as an engaged researcher and teacher, and the iSchool staff, especially Ms. Laura Jantek. I am very appreciative of Mr. Matt Calder and Dr. Aemen Lodhi who shared with me data that proved to be invaluable to my research. It would not have been possible to complete my research as a part-time student without the truly exceptional support and understanding of two of my professional colleagues, Mr. Teras Gavin and Ms. Valerie Morin. iv I will be forever thankful to my mentor at Dalhousie University, the late Prof. Robert Merritt, who started me on this journey more than twenty years ago. Lastly, without the support and understanding of my family and friends, this work would have been simply impossible. My friends and colleagues Caroline Côté, Mark MacLeod, Christy Conte, Shelley Robinson, Iain Cook, and Monica Auer intervened at crucial times. My mother Mary, my father David, and my aunt Edith all supported my graduate work for very many years, in very many ways. My wife, Natasha Gauthier, helped me immeasurably through a mix of encouragement and loving impatience that made completion of this work an absolute necessity. Finally, the intellectual passion of my son Joshua inspired me to keep going, along with a legitimate fear that he might complete a PhD before I did. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .......................................................................................................................x List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xii 1 Google and network neutrality: A contested Internet .....................................................1 1.1 The day Google became “evil” ................................................................................1 1.2 Wu’s network neutrality and Google .......................................................................3 1.3 An alternative Internet? ............................................................................................5 1.4 Research goal and questions ....................................................................................9 1.5 Overview of argument ...........................................................................................10 1.5.1 Chapter Two: Approaches to Internet infrastructure, network neutrality, and Google studies .....................................................................................10 1.5.2 Chapter Three: Researching the burgeoning network giant ......................12 1.5.3 Chapter Four: Extending search .................................................................13 1.5.4 Chapter Five: The policy-active hyper giant .............................................14 1.5.5 Chapter Six: The platform hybrid ..............................................................15 1.5.6 Chapter Seven: Google, beyond good and evil ..........................................16 1.6 Location in contemporary research and policy debates .........................................17 1.7 Chapter summary ...................................................................................................18 2 Approaches to Internet infrastructure, network neutrality, and Google studies ...........19 2.1 Relevant theoretical and methodological approaches ............................................19 2.1.1 Foundational work: Internet governance ...................................................19 2.1.2 (Infra)structure follows strategy, and vice versa ........................................23 2.1.3 Star to Sandvig: Infrastructure studies .......................................................25 2.1.4 Theory of affordances ................................................................................27 2.1.5 Actor–network theory ................................................................................28 2.1.6 Ciborra: Hosting, drift, hacking, and the platform organisation ................31 vi 2.1.7 The political economy of Google and critical Google studies ...................40 2.2 Understanding network neutrality ..........................................................................45 2.2.1 Common carriage .......................................................................................46 2.2.2 The end-to-end principle and Internet traffic management .......................48 2.2.3 Net neutrality controversies in North America ..........................................50 2.3 Chapter summary ...................................................................................................51 3 Researching the burgeoning network giant ...................................................................52 3.1 Research Design .....................................................................................................54 3.1.1 Case study: Ciborra and Actor–network theory .........................................54 3.1.2 Infrastructure studies ..................................................................................55 3.1.3 Propositions ...............................................................................................56 3.2 Research process ....................................................................................................61 3.2.1 Textual analysis .........................................................................................62 3.2.2 Discovering infrastructure .........................................................................66 3.3 Mapping Google: Process and impact ...................................................................80 3.3.1 Software .....................................................................................................81