Free Data From Space Forever vs. GuerrillaNets

[grarpamp]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2014 at 12:26 PM, Ted Smith <tedks at riseup.net> wrote:
> It's "censorship-free" in the sense that a nation-state can't
> effectively block their citizens from using Lantern.
>
> So, it's a censorship-free centralized distribution system, as opposed
> to a censorship-proof decentralized publishing system like Freenet.
>
> And it's centralized, so as soon as the central authority (the
> satellites) are compromised, the whole system is owned.
>
> IMO this is a neat first step -- it's not the whole way, but it's
> getting there. Now we just need Freenet or similar on decentralized
> microsats.

The only thing you'll ever get from space is whatever whoever
owns the satnet wants you to see. The idea that people are just
going to be able to bounce their own unregulated networks
off transponders for free as in freedom is ridiculous unless
you own your cube and all means of its control. Hint: not
going to happen, let alone at any reasonable price point.

If its that freedom you want today, go spend $100 and wire/wifi
your residence to two of your neighbors and run CJDNS, etc on top
of it. Repeat until you cover the globe in an individually segment
owned meshnet, anonymized and encrypted on top for censorship
resistance. Use whichever layer you want therein, the clear or
anon one.

It is the strict individual ownership and private peering of individual sized
components of the network that keeps you free from all realistic
physical/legal controls. And self-reinforcing deployment of encryption
and anonymity that gives you freedom to share whatever data and
thoughts you want with others and others with you... beyond just what
you and your two neighbors might like chatting about.

The greater percent of any network you cede to groupthink, groupbuy,
and groupcontrol the less freedom you have. Launching and running
shit in space involves a lot of freedom robbing group*.

Homework: Do the math on number of residences / land parcels
in your country. See how $100 in wire/wifi and router ports from each
of them compares to the cost for each to truly own their own sat and
sat link. Figure in launches, electricity, replacement, adversary
HERF/laser attacks on the sats, millions of individual sat nodes
colliding with stuff, network redundancy achieved, stability and
speed of local wire in the ground, etc. Even at $500 to $1000 worth
of onetime or amortized costs I'd bet wire/wifi guerrilla nets still win.