3 ms·

We don't need new regulations. We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. It's interesting how the web started off feeling so very uto

We don't need new regulations. We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. It's interesting how the web started off feeling so very utopian. A naive and benevolent world that was built upon trust - and therefore easily taken over when big corps and gov. moved in. We are now galloping towards some kind of dystopia, where one day we'll be nostalgically watching Black Mirror repeats! Then you have the Darknet, built on distrust and perceived as somewhat malevolent. It may seems dystopian at first, but as the community becomes broader it may actually evolve into the utopia we hoped the web would be - simply because large entities cannot wrest control of it.

ModernMech 8y ago
> We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. Interesting use of the passive voice there. Who exactly is going to take the web out of the hands of gov. and big corps? Technologists?
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  Technologists have been not only exceptionally ineffective at preventing this dystopia, they've been instrumental in creating it.
- iliketosleep 8y ago
  If a critical mass of individuals migrate to a network which replicates the key functionality of the web but is designed with privacy and decentralization at the core, I believe it would be safe to say that it's not in the hands of gov, big corps, or any individual.
  - jeremyboom8 8y ago
    Like Holo.host?
- profalseidol 8y ago
  Likely those who use GPL and other copy-left licenses.
confounded 8y ago
> We don't need new regulations. We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. Anything socially powerful is going to get governments and large corporations all over it, under our current system. You can build a second ‘net/web, but if it got as big as the current one the same thing would happen. I’m not exactly a big fan of regulating the Internet either, but I’m fine with regulating the governments and corporations with their claws in it. Getting regulations right will require significant democratic effort from technogists (beyond just voting), but increasingly it seems like the only way to do it. The good news is that the mainstream view is gradually coming around to ours (data collection/advertising can present real challenges for freedom, user control over software and devices, ownership and incentives, users should expect E2EE messaging, etc.). Now is probably the best time in recent history for useful democratic regulation of the Internet (or rather, what you can do to people with it).
mch82 8y ago
We are the government (at least in the United States)
- jstanley 8y ago
  In theory, maybe. In practice, not so much.

ModernMech 8y ago

> We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. Interesting use of the passive voice there. Who exactly is going to take the web out of the hands of gov. and big corps? Technologists?

pmoriarty 8y ago
Technologists have been not only exceptionally ineffective at preventing this dystopia, they've been instrumental in creating it.
iliketosleep 8y ago
If a critical mass of individuals migrate to a network which replicates the key functionality of the web but is designed with privacy and decentralization at the core, I believe it would be safe to say that it's not in the hands of gov, big corps, or any individual.
- jeremyboom8 8y ago
  Like Holo.host?
profalseidol 8y ago
Likely those who use GPL and other copy-left licenses.

confounded 8y ago

> We don't need new regulations. We need the web to be taken out of the hands of gov. and big corps. Anything socially powerful is going to get governments and large corporations all over it, under our current system. You can build a second ‘net/web, but if it got as big as the current one the same thing would happen. I’m not exactly a big fan of regulating the Internet either, but I’m fine with regulating the governments and corporations with their claws in it. Getting regulations right will require significant democratic effort from technogists (beyond just voting), but increasingly it seems like the only way to do it. The good news is that the mainstream view is gradually coming around to ours (data collection/advertising can present real challenges for freedom, user control over software and devices, ownership and incentives, users should expect E2EE messaging, etc.). Now is probably the best time in recent history for useful democratic regulation of the Internet (or rather, what you can do to people with it).

mch82 8y ago

We are the government (at least in the United States)

jstanley 8y ago
In theory, maybe. In practice, not so much.