4 ms·

You should look into the history of the post office. It didn't revolutionize much. There have been competing businesses throughout history and a few of them wer

You should look into the history of the post office. It didn't revolutionize much. There have been competing businesses throughout history and a few of them were shut down by the government after out competing USPS.

hammock 15y ago
Is it a stretch to imagine that once the government has all their surveillance and control set up on the Internet (actually a lot of it is already in place), they will attempt to shut down competing models in a similar fashion?
- krenoten 15y ago
  Let's see how they regulate mesh networking
  - adrianN 15y ago
    There are two simple ways. First you could require a licence to run any kind of wireless network with a range above 20m or so and second, as it is already the case in Germany, hold the operator responsible for any kind of illegal behaviour that is done through his connection ("Störerhaftung" http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6rerhaftung http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6rerhaftung). The chilling effect of that law is a big reason why people here don't run open networks or Tor exit nodes.
    - loup-vaillant 15y ago
      I bet you could get around that by becoming an ISP. Make sure your network offers public IPs that you don't use (possible if your own ISP offers you an IPv6 range), and you're all set. In France, doing that would require that you log the connections (who connects when with which IP) for a year, but the "who" part can be a mere MAC address. You also have to declare yourself as an ISP. If you happen to share your own IP, then it's different. In France as well, you can be considered responsible.
      - adrianN 15y ago
        But as an ISP you don't get around legislation that forces ISPs to filter the net.
        loup-vaillant 15y ago
        Luckily, such legislation isn't yet enforced in France, and, I guess, most of Europe (though it will come with LOOPSI, ACTA…). It is rather difficult to hold an ISPs accountable for its users, unlike content providers. The first is akin to snail mail, while the second it akin to journals. No one ever sued FedEx for mailing Anthrax or hate pamphlets. But the one who sent those? You bet he's accountable! I agree with you, by the way. Just pointing out that a legislation that forces ISPs to filter the net is a Major Screw-up that should flag its country as an active Enemy of the Internet. I have hope (though I wouldn't count on it) that they won't put a Great Firewall of China.
r00fus 15y ago
Do you realize that UPS and FedEx often use USPS for some of the less profitable "last mile" destinations? I posit that without the USPS, near-universal delivery (at rather uniform prices) from private providers would likely not exist.

hammock 15y ago

Is it a stretch to imagine that once the government has all their surveillance and control set up on the Internet (actually a lot of it is already in place), they will attempt to shut down competing models in a similar fashion?

krenoten 15y ago
Let's see how they regulate mesh networking
- adrianN 15y ago
  There are two simple ways. First you could require a licence to run any kind of wireless network with a range above 20m or so and second, as it is already the case in Germany, hold the operator responsible for any kind of illegal behaviour that is done through his connection ("Störerhaftung" http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6rerhaftung http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B6rerhaftung). The chilling effect of that law is a big reason why people here don't run open networks or Tor exit nodes.
  - loup-vaillant 15y ago
    I bet you could get around that by becoming an ISP. Make sure your network offers public IPs that you don't use (possible if your own ISP offers you an IPv6 range), and you're all set. In France, doing that would require that you log the connections (who connects when with which IP) for a year, but the "who" part can be a mere MAC address. You also have to declare yourself as an ISP. If you happen to share your own IP, then it's different. In France as well, you can be considered responsible.
    - adrianN 15y ago
      But as an ISP you don't get around legislation that forces ISPs to filter the net.
      - loup-vaillant 15y ago
        Luckily, such legislation isn't yet enforced in France, and, I guess, most of Europe (though it will come with LOOPSI, ACTA…). It is rather difficult to hold an ISPs accountable for its users, unlike content providers. The first is akin to snail mail, while the second it akin to journals. No one ever sued FedEx for mailing Anthrax or hate pamphlets. But the one who sent those? You bet he's accountable! I agree with you, by the way. Just pointing out that a legislation that forces ISPs to filter the net is a Major Screw-up that should flag its country as an active Enemy of the Internet. I have hope (though I wouldn't count on it) that they won't put a Great Firewall of China.

r00fus 15y ago

Do you realize that UPS and FedEx often use USPS for some of the less profitable "last mile" destinations? I posit that without the USPS, near-universal delivery (at rather uniform prices) from private providers would likely not exist.