LINX - A membership Community

LINX(The London Internet Exchange)

A Membership Community

Malcolm Hutty<malcolm@linx.net>Head of Public Affairs

April 2013

Agenda

1. Some quick statistics

2. LINX Mission and ethos

3. Good of the Internet

4. History

5. LINX Public Affairs today

6. Major policy topics

7. International work

8. Conclusion

IXP statistics

• What are the important statistics (for an IXP)?• The answer (in this order):

1. Routes2. Members3. Connected capacity and traffic4. Ports

Some LINX statistics

• Routes:–~80% of global routing table–288 members connected to the LINX route servers

• Members:–~470 members (see LINX MoU for membership definition)

• Traffic:–>1.6 Tb/sec peak public peering traffic–>6Tb/sec connected capacity for public peering –Total traffic >3 Tb/sec (including LINX private peering)

• Ports–>1000 member ports, including one member 100G port!

LINX membership reach

* Membership as at January 2013

LINX Mission

• To facilitate Internet interconnection, especially through public peering

• To represent the interests of our members in matters of public policy

As a neutral, mutually owned membership

association

A membership association

• Owned and operated for the members• Mutuality• Driving prices downwards…• Open membership• Only technical rules–Not a regulatory body

• Neutrality• Elected Board –Drawn from the membership–No government representation

• One member one vote

LINX member meetings

Good of the Internet

• Technical projects–e.g. hosting DNS root name servers

• Commercial and social–e.g. promoting peering through member meets

• Training: LINX Accredited Internet Technician• Public Affairs–Government engagement –Public policy

A little history…

Some historical events• 1994: Born in Telehouse as a not-for-profit mutual

• 1995: UK govt proposes mandatory key escrow; –LINX organises opposition and Bill is withdrawn

• 1996: LINX helps found Internet Watch Foundation

• 1999: LINX employs a full-time ‘Regulation Officer’

• 2005: Public Affairs becomes part of “Core Mission”

LINX Public Affairs today

Keeping members informed

Representing members’ interests

Public Affairs: major topics

• Internet intermediary liability–Networks (“mere conduits”) and hosting

• Law enforcement–Data retention, access–Rule of law, due process, fundamental rights

• Critical infrastructure & security–DDoS protection, physical security etc

Public Affairs in EU

• Active through EuroISPA• The most important domestic regulation is derived from

EU law• Promoting good policy at EU level directly supports the

interests of both our members based in the UK and those from throughout the EU

Public Affairs globally

• Pre-cursors of policy:–Global principles of Internet governance

• International bodies– ITU, WCIT-12–OECD, Council of Europe etc

• Primarily active through the Internet Society

Participation and policy-making

• Member driven policy

• Formal and informal member consultations

• Member participation is vital–Ensures we are working for our members–Proves legitimacy and authority

Questions and contact details

• Website:• https://www.linx.net

• News blog• https://publicaffairs.linx.net/

• Contact:–sales@linx.net– joinhelp@linx.net –publicaffairs@linx.net–+44 1733 20 77 00