Google re-routes Kazakhstan Internet traffic

Google has re-routed all Internet traffic in Kazakhstan in response to a government attempt to “create borders on the Web”, writes The Telegraph.

The Web search giant said starting from Thursday, it would re-direct everyone who visited the google.kz domain to a new Kazakh language version of google.com hosted outside the former Soviet republic.

The move followed an edict from the Kazakh information ministry requiring all Web sites using Kazakhstan's 'kz' domain name to restrict traffic to servers located physically inside the country.

According to PC World, this means Google's Kazakhstan site would have to route all search queries through local servers, instead of handling the requests on servers across the globe, which would be faster, according to the company.

Google's senior VP Bill Coughran said in a blog post on Tuesday that the new regulation would help “create a fractured Internet,” that would also raise questions about network efficiency, along with user privacy and free expression.

The Register reports that Google stated: “Measures that force Internet companies to choose between taking actions that harm the open Web, or reducing the quality of their services, hurt users. We encourage governments and other stakeholders to work together to preserve an open Internet.”