The American hegemony on the Internet --- the carriers and other infrastructure that made using U.S. superhighways such a pleasure --- is slowly but surely diminishing. Where it once held about 70 per cent of traffic, now that number might be 25 per cent.
Part of it has to do with the development in other countries of networks to accommodate demand. But another part involves the U.S. itself and the post-9.11 Patriot Act that repelled Canadian and European traffic because of the personal information that was gathered when it coursed through the U.S.
The implications are outlined in a New York Times piece today and they pose a particular challenge for U.S. surveillance agencies that over the years had effectively intercepted information with the assistance of communications firms.
