Comment by izzydata
7 days ago
It sounds like it is time to create a new internet and not invite these people. I wonder how difficult it would be to create an entirely new internet infrastructure that doesn't rely on anything that currently exists and doesn't or can't connect to the existing network.
It'd seem that local mesh nets with some sort of satellite relay/backbone would facilitate this. That's just moving the goalposts to a certain extent, though. If a system like this came to be and they weren't happy about it, you'd have to figure out a covert way to get satellites up and keep them there.
If wifi meshnets were actually popular and not just some enthusiast thing that's mostly used for better free wifi you could reasonable route around network-side blocks. Most of the content might move through some kind of high-capacity backbone, but anything blocked on the backbone could still find its way through the mesh. At least in places with high enough population density that linking across cities and villages with just wifi or other low-cost methods is viable (Germany and surroundings come to mind as the obvious example)
Yeah, how hard can it be connecting every damn home on this planet with each other, again? Piece of cake! The internet was created in two days, so I’m sure we’ll be able to do it again. Especially without clear financial incentives.
Maybe pivoting to things like Tor makes more sense.
It already exists; Yggdrasil. It's a fully decentralized IPv6 mesh network. Most users do primarily use the internet for transport now, but it can work just as well over link-local (e.g. ethernet, P2P wireless). It's fast, end-to-end encrypted, and relatively simple to set up.
And that doesn't rely on or comply with the law? Enjoy your CSAM filled network. This has happened with TOR and Freenet, and Telegram (although they rely on law for their benefit but they don't comply themselves).
If you want to make a new internet and take all the trash that is on the current one with you to the new one, please do! It will make the current one much more tolerable for the rest of us.