Scott Mace speaketh the truth:
The edge of the Internet gets fuzzier: Gartner is predicting deep packet inspection in the next generation of firewalls. Exactly. So all those of you (like David Isenberg) who say that the edge of the Net is where the contents of the packet get looked at, be prepared to either redefine your edge or be resigned to making the firewalls the edge. My opinion: like it or not, the edge is creeping closer to the node originating the service or providing the client. That will force service providers out of the business of providing service, and force the hosting companies and their customers to figure out how to deal with an otherwise decentralized Net.