Internet traffic bypasses the U.S.

American dominance over the Internet is on the wane. While most Internet traffic has traditionally moved through the United States, a shift is taking place and data is increasingly flowing around us. The New York Times reports that this change, not only has an economic impact on the U.S. and the IT industry, it may have intelligence and military consequences as well. Industry executives and government officials said Internet traffic passing through the switching equipment of U.S.-based companies has provided a distinct advantage for American intelligence agencies.

But the passage of the Patriot Act, and a desire by countries to control their own communications channels, has helped speed the shift in Canadian and European traffic away from the U.S. Andrew M. Odlyzko, a professor at the University of Minnesota who tracks the growth of the global Internet, told the newspaper, "We discovered the Internet, but we couldn't keep it a secret." While the United States carried 70 percent of the world's Internet traffic a decade ago, he estimated that now the portion has fallen to about 25 percent.

For more on the Internet:
- see the New York Times article