Internet Node NL to USA

The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) will open a branch in the United States. The majority of the members has agreed. This past week there was unrest because part of the member companies is afraid that the U.S. secret service NSA now gets easy access to the Dutch data over the internet.The AMS-IX is the largest internet hub in the Netherlands and one of the largest in the world. A large part of Internet traffic with foreign countries and the Dutch traffic between ISPs is through this node. More than 600 companies and organizations, including all Dutch internet providers, are members of the association AMS-IX and use the node.

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AMS-IX management would like to expand to the U.S. because it's commercially interesting. Experts think an organization with a U.S. office automatically falls under the Patriot Act. With this law in hand, the NSA can collect information, transmitted over the Internet, using the Hub in The Netherlands. For this reason a number of affiliated companies oppose the plan.However, the opposition was unsuccessful: 123 members voted for the plan. There were 102 votes against and 14 abstentions.

The department is looking for a structure that will protect customers and members of the AMS-IX as much as possible, most specifically against interception activities by public authorities in the U.S., according to a statement from the AMS-IX.