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Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

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Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#11

Post by rasengan »

oefrha wrote: post #5

> “The DNS is like a phonebook for the internet. The addresses in the phonebook are the server IP addresses. DNS was created to give IP addresses human-readable names so with our platform, you’re finding the IP address through Handshake, not through a certificate authority ,” Namebase CEO Tieshun Roquerre told CoinDesk. (Emphasis mine.) Did this Namebase CEO just state on record that he doesn’t know how DNS works?

I think what he meant was that the domain resolution can be validated using the blockchain as opposed to needing a centralized/single actor certificate authority.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#12

Post by marvin »

BrawnLongHaul wrote: post #2

Thanks for sharing. I had heard of Handshake before but forgot about it. After the events of the past few days by so-called "big tech", I will be looking into this more seriously.

We're inching closer to realizing the "reductio ad absurdum" of censorship.

Someone actually got censored, and took "well, if you don't like how the DNS does things, you can just make your own!" as a literal challenge.

Wonder if this will eventually lead to further fragmentation. Hopefully encryption will keep it out of the lowest levels of infrastructure, I'd hate to see separate fiber lines put down to share controversial communications.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#13

Post by stevespang »

Just tried to download and install handshake. Requires docker. Just tried to download and install docker on windows 7, failed install, requires more stuff.

Opinion: This will never become a realization until these people realize the average Joe is not going to jump through all these hoops just to get an alternative browser up and running. It should be simple and seamless. Less than 1% will bother with all this.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#14

Post by MattGaiser »

stevespang wrote: post #13

Just tried to download and install handshake. Requires docker. Just tried to download and install docker on windows 7, failed install, requires more stuff. Opinion: This will never become a realization until these people realize the average Joe is not going to jump through all these hoops just to get an alternative browser up and running. It should be simple and seamless. Less than 1% will bother with all this.

Docker does not work on non-professional versions of Windows. Was very annoying as a student.

EDIT: Seems that progress has lead to this no longer being true.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#15

Post by pdevr »

Essentially, isn't this just another domain registrar (Namebase.io) providing a few TLDs, following a much more complicated process, the advantage being a much more solid DNS entry substitute? If you run a high-traffic site, won't you still be at the mercy of hosting providers, CDN providers, etc.?

Related question: Is there a true uncensorable (sic) protocol for hosting a website?

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#16

Post by troymc »

dmingod666 wrote: post #3

Beyond those institutions that have a financial interest in this. What would be the motivation for someone like twitter to ban scihub?

Twitter says they did it "due to a violation of Twitter policies, in particular the Counterfeiting Policy."

The precipitating event was a lawsuit in India and the subsequent reactions.

This article gives more details: https://reclaimthenet.org/twitter-bans-sci-hub/

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#17

Post by alienlid »

llcoolv wrote: post #6

It is worth noting that this is exactly what Aaron Swartz was bullied to his tragic death 8 years and a day ago. May he rest in peace. And kudos to Alexandra. P.S. Corrected the date, seems like I still live in 2020. Thank you, lazyant.

Tweet thread on his death that was illuminating for me https://mobile.twitter.com/hides_minimally/status/1348704670...

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#18

Post by eli »

marvin wrote: post #12
BrawnLongHaul wrote: post #2

Thanks for sharing. I had heard of Handshake before but forgot about it. After the events of the past few days by so-called "big tech", I will be looking into this more seriously.

We're inching closer to realizing the "reductio ad absurdum" of censorship. Someone actually got censored, and took "well, if you don't like how the DNS does things, you can just make your own!" as a literal challenge. Wonder if this will eventually lead to further fragmentation. Hopefully encryption will keep it out of the lowest levels of infrastructure, I'd hate to see separate fiber lines put down to share contro…

"alternative" DNS is hardly a new idea, it's just kinda hard to get it to stick.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#19

Post by acdha »

dmingod666 wrote: post #3

Beyond those institutions that have a financial interest in this. What would be the motivation for someone like twitter to ban scihub?

Elsevier and Wiley have a lot of lawyers who are likely arguing that leaving it up is condoning copyright infringement. There’s a long history of threats for anything related to targets of these lawsuits, and other companies taking something offline quickly to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Re: Sci-Hub Is Now on the ‘Uncensorable Web’

#20

Post by dlor »

rasengan wrote: post #11
oefrha wrote: post #5

> “The DNS is like a phonebook for the internet. The addresses in the phonebook are the server IP addresses. DNS was created to give IP addresses human-readable names so with our platform, you’re finding the IP address through Handshake, not through a certificate authority ,” Namebase CEO Tieshun Roquerre told CoinDesk. (Emphasis mine.) Did this Namebase CEO just state on record that he doesn’t know how DNS works?

I think what he meant was that the domain resolution can be validated using the blockchain as opposed to needing a centralized/single actor certificate authority.

I think the point is that certificates are built on top of DNS, not the other way around. Domain resolution does not require certificate authorities.
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