Decentralize the Internet?

[techlists at phpcoderusa.com]

On 2018-09-02 09:05, Matt Birkholz wrote:

> I hear tell there is talk of decentralizing the Internet, maybe even 
> breaking up the NSA/Google/Facebook duopoly fnord.  I am skeptical.

I've been reading that some are upset and say that Google, Facebook, etc
are using their technology to censor and some are calling for Google,
Facebook, etc to be regulated as utilities so free speech can be
reinstated.  For the record I think all should have equal access to
share their ideas no matter how adverse and no one should use technology
to silence.   

> It was a journalist, and I had not heard anything like it from a 
> credible source (except maybe the Free Software Foundation, but 
> they're way fringe).  MOST suspect: the efforts were credited to the 
> same Vile Offspring that just yesterday replaced the verb "search" 
> with a new verb: "Google(tm)". 
> 
> As a monk I am proud of my people's tradition of running away, so I am 
> naturally interested in decentralizing the ever-lov'n blank out of the 
> Internet.  The more "dark" corners there are, the safer I will feel. 
> 
> Back before government-mandated-everything Americans banded together 
> in fraternal organizations that provided health/life insurance for 
> families, not desks.  They also provided nosy brothers whom you were 
> rarely tempted to cheat.  Again, as a monk, these kinds of 
> institutions seem natural, a necessary evil, like cooking.  And they 
> seem a proper size for the autonomous entities of a decentralized 
> Internet. 
> 
> I'm talking about a LOCAL organization of real people, e.g. the 
> Escanaba Lions Club[1], NOT a pit of lobbyists like The Humane 
> Society of the United States (not to be confused with the many 
> hard-working local humane societies, despite The Humane Society's[sic] 
> best efforts). 
> 
> I have time to spend fanning the sputtering flames of demokrasy in 
> Amerika before I go, so I'm thinking about offering free technical 
> support to clubs that use a standard, KISS setup to offer their 
> membership federated services *just* like GMail, Skype, One Drive, 
> and Facebook. 
> 
> These would be icing for an existing cake of common interests, local 
> concerns, maybe even group health insurance.  And if there is a club 
> house, it would be able to offer any member living within maybe 20 
> miles a volunteer who will climb up on their roof with a pringle can 
> and get them cheap, high-speed Internet without the whole last-mile 
> cluster-mumble. 
> 
> And discuss... 
> 
> [1] - If you have not seen _Escanaba in da Moonlight_[2], you messed up 
> somewhere. 
> 
> [2] - I was shocked (*not*) to see that _Escanaba in da Moonlight_ and 
> _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ are "Frequently bought together" on 
> Amazon. 
> 
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