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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’

#81
post #46
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Hopefully with Dems in control we will see these companies punished for their bad behavior. Or at least laws passed that make the publication of research more open. The science should be funded and free. The applications of the science are where the money is to be made. These companies are unnecessary dinosaurs from a bygone era. It's time for them to fail and die off naturally. But it will probably take legislation…

> These companies are unnecessary dinosaurs from a bygone era.

I personally believe this is wishful thinking (similarly when I read about how companies have "outdated business models"). Publishers sell prestigue and attention, and this can't easily be replicated, nor is it unnecessary. The increase in research papers makes them even more valueable in my eyes.

This is despite me wanting to see many changes to publishing and science distribution.

edit: removed part that I deemed unecessarily hostile.

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

#82

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.

So I've not had a look at this software before.

I had a look at their website: https://hsd-dev.org/guides/win-install.html

It doesn't say that you require docker. Docker is one of the options.

You could either build it from source using NodeJS or use node JS's package manager NPM to install it.

Docker is a containerisation platform that requires virtualisation support:

https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-windows/install/

The system requirements are as follows:

* Windows 10 64-bit * Hyper-V and Containers Windows features enabled

So of course this method is not going to run on Windows 7 and it clearly has stated so.

Plus it's not a web browser. It's a blockchain DNS.

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

#83
post #38

I’m supportive of free distribution of scientific knowledge, BUT HN has a significant bias against believing in the power of legal systems. No matter how good the technology, it can eventually be censored if the law is strong enough. In the past, it was hard to separate “useful” internet activity from “illegitimate” because things were changing quickly. Today, a government might say its simply illegal to use end to e…

> No matter how good the technology, it can eventually be censored if the law is strong enough.

I won't repeat sibling commenters here giving examples of where this is not true (US encryption mainly). I'm wondering if you have any examples of where it is true. What has been censored effectively?

As far as I've been aware, legal censorship has never worked. "Cultural censorship" (a.k.a. "taboo") can be quite effective, but I'm not aware of any examples where the law has been in any way effective at all in this area.

> you can see with Parler’s experience (ignoring political affiliation) that once a large group of people are organized against you, it’s simply in feasible to rebuild decades of infrastructure in isolation.

There's two issues with this. Firstly, you're conflating "a large group of people", with "the law": these are not the same thing. Far from it.

Secondly, Parler is not exactly a shining example of technical competency. I wouldn't hold them up as "the example" of technology -vs- legal censorship purely because there are much stronger/actually competent representatives of the technological side out there that would fair far better than Parler.

It's also notable that many of the learned "techie" individuals who might rally to defend some other technology were it under siege from powerful state & corporate censorship, in this case actually rallied against Parler. So Parler were up against far more than just the forces of legal censorship.

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

#84
post #12

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…

I am coming to support the notion that ISPs and Internet Backbone providers should be treated as first class utilities like electrical companies and not be able to deny access except for things like non-payment. Otherwise we do run the risk of a physically balkanized internet.

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

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNS is like a phonebook for the internet We are going to have to come up with a new metaphor soon. I haven't seen a phonebook in ages. Honestly I would be more likely to tell my kid "Phonebooks were like DNS for telephone numbers."

The word you are looking for is 'directory'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_directory

"Telephone directory" is a term that pretty much no one uses for phonebook.

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

#86
post #57
post #38

I’m supportive of free distribution of scientific knowledge, BUT HN has a significant bias against believing in the power of legal systems. No matter how good the technology, it can eventually be censored if the law is strong enough. In the past, it was hard to separate “useful” internet activity from “illegitimate” because things were changing quickly. Today, a government might say its simply illegal to use end to e…

Encription was banned in the US but it didn't work out so well. Parler build itself on Amazon which was the big mistake the next company won't follow. It's a wakeup call to anyone using the cloud that one day it might decide you are not welcome.

Unless you're talking about ham radio, encryption has never been banned in the US

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

#89
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The DNS is like a phonebook for the internet We are going to have to come up with a new metaphor soon. I haven't seen a phonebook in ages. Honestly I would be more likely to tell my kid "Phonebooks were like DNS for telephone numbers."

The word you are looking for is 'directory'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_directory

> A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phone book

"Phone[ ]book" is the 12th word on the page you linked, and described there as a synonym to "directory". There's no need to be that pedantic.

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