7 ms·

Power and the Internet

67 points by lispython 14y ago

B-Con 14y ago
> Unless we start deliberately debating the future we want to live in, and information technology in enabling that world, we will end up with an Internet that benefits existing power structures and not society in general. This is very true. The default state of the Internet is not to empower everyone. The default state is to further the power of those who already have it, with emphasis on anyone with power over the Internet. The Internet is young, large powers are slow to adapt, and the Internet community doesn't have the best foresight, so the popular consensus has been that the Internet is by default the world's power balancer. We've seen some attempts to control the Internet, but only a few have been successful. While some people use that as evidence the Internet "wants to be free", that's just the beginning. Nothing prevents more powers from trying more often and with better tactics. And they will. Letting the Internet be a universal power balancer is going to require active work and engagement. It won't stay in the current form for forever.
pasbesoin 14y ago
We have these incredibly useful tools and data. And powerful, entrenched interests increasingly seek to cripple them, making their access and use solely dependent upon their interests and permission. Voilà, the three-handled hammer, that you cannot use without the invisible hand of corporation or government to enable your strokes. I'm not a total libertarian, for example in that I see a clear need for e.g. data privacy that includes regulation that prevents corporations -- and government -- from turning my every activity into personally identifiable analytics datapoints. And I don't want to be vaporized or poisoned as the result of someone else's perhaps misguided cost/benefit analysis. But giving that status quo ultimate control in ever-increasing perpetuity (e.g. Mickey Mouse copyright)? No. Institutions have lifespans, just like individuals. And evolutionary needs. As for "the Internet". We who don't want to be wholly commoditized, need to create and maintain our own physical layers, and attendant security -- our definition of security -- on same. It's not about "something for nothing". TANSTAAFL. It's about preventing "nothing for something" and systems that approach this in a counter-productive fashion.
Executor 14y ago
How can we support such action?
- jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
  We must begin to prepare now for deploying mesh networks. Mesh networks cannot be effectively policed and can provide free access to networks. No more 3 strikes laws since you can connect anywhere wirelessly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networks
  - greenyoda 14y ago
    Mesh networks aren't immune from power-grabs. For example, Congress could pass a law allocating all available radio spectrum to corporations, thus making it illegal for private citizens to transmit on those frequencies. They could pass draconian laws making people criminally liable for any illegal content that passed through their nodes.

67 points by lispython 14y ago

B-Con 14y ago

> Unless we start deliberately debating the future we want to live in, and information technology in enabling that world, we will end up with an Internet that benefits existing power structures and not society in general. This is very true. The default state of the Internet is not to empower everyone. The default state is to further the power of those who already have it, with emphasis on anyone with power over the Internet. The Internet is young, large powers are slow to adapt, and the Internet community doesn't have the best foresight, so the popular consensus has been that the Internet is by default the world's power balancer. We've seen some attempts to control the Internet, but only a few have been successful. While some people use that as evidence the Internet "wants to be free", that's just the beginning. Nothing prevents more powers from trying more often and with better tactics. And they will. Letting the Internet be a universal power balancer is going to require active work and engagement. It won't stay in the current form for forever.

pasbesoin 14y ago

We have these incredibly useful tools and data. And powerful, entrenched interests increasingly seek to cripple them, making their access and use solely dependent upon their interests and permission. Voilà, the three-handled hammer, that you cannot use without the invisible hand of corporation or government to enable your strokes. I'm not a total libertarian, for example in that I see a clear need for e.g. data privacy that includes regulation that prevents corporations -- and government -- from turning my every activity into personally identifiable analytics datapoints. And I don't want to be vaporized or poisoned as the result of someone else's perhaps misguided cost/benefit analysis. But giving that status quo ultimate control in ever-increasing perpetuity (e.g. Mickey Mouse copyright)? No. Institutions have lifespans, just like individuals. And evolutionary needs. As for "the Internet". We who don't want to be wholly commoditized, need to create and maintain our own physical layers, and attendant security -- our definition of security -- on same. It's not about "something for nothing". TANSTAAFL. It's about preventing "nothing for something" and systems that approach this in a counter-productive fashion.

Executor 14y ago

How can we support such action?

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
We must begin to prepare now for deploying mesh networks. Mesh networks cannot be effectively policed and can provide free access to networks. No more 3 strikes laws since you can connect anywhere wirelessly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networks
- greenyoda 14y ago
  Mesh networks aren't immune from power-grabs. For example, Congress could pass a law allocating all available radio spectrum to corporations, thus making it illegal for private citizens to transmit on those frequencies. They could pass draconian laws making people criminally liable for any illegal content that passed through their nodes.