Ontology-Based Information Flow Control of Network-Level Internet Communication

Abstract

Information flow control on the Internet is a desirable feature when it comes to content such as neo-Nazi propaganda, child pornography, or material showing extreme violence or crimes. In order to provide for a flexible control of information flow on the Internet, we present the pattern system InFO (short for: Information Flow Ontology). InFO provides a common support for different enforcing systems such as routers, proxies, or name servers by abstracting from existing as well as possible future regulation types. Thus, unlike existing solutions, InFO provides information flow control on the Internet-layer, transport-layer, as well as application-layer. In addition, InFO allows for linking the technical implementation of a flow control policy with a human-readable representation including its legal background (law) and organizational motivation (code of conduct). Besides a detailed description of the pattern system, we also provide various examples demonstrating the practical applicability of InFO. InFO has been implemented for name servers, routers, as well as application-level proxy servers. Its source code is available to the public.