TPRC 2024: The 52nd Research Conference on Communications, Information and Inter

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Abstract:
By modelling the key economic features of data infrastructures and cloud services, we have shown how investments in information and data services affect labor markets, sectoral growth and related outcomes at the national level. We assess how regulatory choices shape the outcomes and describe the advantages and disadvantages of common decisions by governments as well as domestic and foreign businesses. We use a dynamic model that can be adjusted to analyze changes in, for example, energy prices, labor costs, taxation, investment boosts or declines. These have been applied to show the specific effects on data infrastructure businesses as well as banking, e-commerce and telecommunications in five countries: Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Turkey. Our results show not only the labor market effects but also demonstrate what tradeoffs are being made and how much they cost, the extent of the fragility of data infrastructures, and we measure the gaps that currently exist between well-served nations and less developed economies and how those gaps are likely to be exacerbated unless they are ameliorated by better policies, greater investment and stimulated demand.

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Abstract:
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique cryptographic assets that represent digital media ownership. They have soared in popularity and trading prices. However, there exists a large gap in the literature regarding NFTs, especially regarding the stakeholders and online communities that have formed around NFT projects. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is one of the most influential NFT projects. Through an observational study of online BAYC communities across social media platforms and semi-structured interviews with four participants who owned BAYC NFTs, we explored the experiences of NFT collectors within the online NFT community. Positive community experiences, i.e., personal expression and identity, mutual support among BAYC holders, and exclusive access to online and offline events, were expressed. Encountered challenges included scams and “cash grab” NFT projects, as well as trolling. The results of this study point to the welcoming, positive nature of the NFT community, which is a possible cause of the initial rise in popularity of NFTs. Demotivators, on the other hand, countered the established trustworthiness of NFT technology among its consumers. To address these issues, we proposed governance recommendations in terms of rulemaking and community policing.

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Abstract:
Although Internet routing security best practices have recently seen auspicious increases in uptake, ISPs have limited incentives to deploy them. They are operationally complex and expensive to implement and provide little competitive advantage. The practices with significant uptake protect only against origin hijacks, leaving unresolved the more general threat of path hijacks. We propose a new approach to improved routing security that achieves four design goals: improved incentive alignment to implement best practices; protection against path hijacks; expanded scope of such protection to customers of those engaged in the practices; and reliance on existing capabilities rather than needing complex new software in every participating router. Our proposal leverages an existing coherent core of interconnected ISPs to create a zone of trust, a topological region that protects not only all networks in the region, but all directly attached customers of those networks. Customers benefit from choosing ISPs committed to the practices, and ISPs thus benefit from committing to the practices. We discuss the concept of a zone of trust as a new, more pragmatic approach to security, that improves security in a region of the Internet, as opposed to striving for a global improvement. We argue that the aspiration for global improvement is unrealistic, since the global Internet includes malicious actors. We compare our approach to other schemes, and discuss how a related proposal, ASPA, could be used to increase the scope of protection our scheme achieves. We hope this proposal inspires discussion of how the industry can make practical, measurable progress against the threat of route hijacks in the short term by leveraging institutionalized cooperation rooted in transparency and accountability.