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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’

#221
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democrats are politicians with listed policies, not faeries that grant wishes because you happen to be more aligned with them. Elimination of copyright isn't on their to-do list.

Who said anything about elimination of copyright? Who said I was more aligned with 'them' ? Most scientific research is funded with grants and by universities with billion dollar endowments. They are not struggling. You should not make money on the deaths of others because you think it's more important to charge for the knowledge that can save them. I'm in medical. Some of these papers are life saving. Please don't d…

"Data wants to be free and should be" has been the rallying cry of software pirates since I've been in high school. It might have struck a nerve in a group of people who make money off of the sale of software.

I'm not discounting how valuable open research is to society as a whole. I'm not even arguing that, as a moral right, the research should be freely available! I'm just not seeing a technical path there that doesn't retroactively unassign publishing rights to all past papers. And I don't see how a change in political administration makes it any easier to convince rich people to give up money.

I'm not even convinced the government should take action here - CS work is done on arxiv, so it's not even as if Elsevier provides a useful service in distribution. Why are authors continuing to publish in Nature when they could put a PDF up anywhere? that's what we need to address.

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

#222
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…

On the other hand, if you want to talk about the power of the law, you can look at the war on drugs. Billions have been spent fighting drug cartels in Mexico, tens (hundreds?) of thousands have been killed... And they unfortunately still manage regularly ship cocaine and meth to the US. For some people, the potential financial gain makes it worth the risk to dodge the legal system. Knowledge is maybe not as addictive…

My cynical view is that these laws are working as intended.

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

#223
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?

What is wrong with that explanation?

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

#224
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this [1] is the xkcd strip we're talking about, and don't see how Randall Munroe isn't advocating for free speech, nor how it is a left vs right issue. He's simply saying "free speech means the government cannot arrest you for what you say", nothing more, nothing less. He furthermore argues that the right to free speech doesn't mean everyone else can't criticize you, have your shows/books/whatever canceled, shout…

You are confusing the 1st Amendment with 'free speech'. Free speech is a value that is broadly applicable to society, far larger in scope than prohibition from the government.

I have no idea why you're being downvoted because you're completely right. The petty legalism around the issue does nothing to further the conversation. The 1st amendment is about the US government censoring people. It doesn't own the concept of free speech as a whole in the same way the constitution doesn't own the idea of God given rights, or democracy, or republic, or numerous other concepts mentioned.

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

#225
post #218

There are some comments here that note that sci-hub or Aaron's action on JSTOR data is/was illegal. Just leaving this thought out here -- if laws are considered unjust, it is ok, even noble, to break them. That is how one got rid of apartheid, how colonies became independent and LGBT marriages came to be legally recognized. If not for lawbreakers we would still be living in a world that approves of Turing's treatment…

Restricting access to scientific material just to make money is holding us all back and I wouldn't consider people who leak such material criminals.

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

#226
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this [1] is the xkcd strip we're talking about, and don't see how Randall Munroe isn't advocating for free speech, nor how it is a left vs right issue. He's simply saying "free speech means the government cannot arrest you for what you say", nothing more, nothing less. He furthermore argues that the right to free speech doesn't mean everyone else can't criticize you, have your shows/books/whatever canceled, shout…

You are confusing the 1st Amendment with 'free speech'. Free speech is a value that is broadly applicable to society, far larger in scope than prohibition from the government.

A comic response to the original comic: https://sealedabstract.com/rants/re-xkcd-1357-free-speech/in...

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

#227

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."

It's for the best. A phonebook is a single list compiled by one organization. DNS is more like asking a librarian for information on a subject, and the librarian handing back a reference book. The librarian may or may not know anything about the subject, but they know where to go to find the information. Just like DNS: - Which librarian you ask can result in being pointed to a different reference book. - If the libra…

> A phonebook is a single list compiled by one organization.

There are mutiple phonebooks worldwide, each compiled by different organizations. There is just not one phonebook, similar to how there is not just one DNS-server.

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

#228
post #218

There are some comments here that note that sci-hub or Aaron's action on JSTOR data is/was illegal. Just leaving this thought out here -- if laws are considered unjust, it is ok, even noble, to break them. That is how one got rid of apartheid, how colonies became independent and LGBT marriages came to be legally recognized. If not for lawbreakers we would still be living in a world that approves of Turing's treatment…

And the opposite is how Nazi Germany rose and continued.

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

#229
post #10

Didn't last long? > sci-hub.hns/ could not be resolved by HNS.to. Please try another Handshake resolver..

It resolves for me! Try installing a handshake resolver directly like hsd [1] for full chain or hnsd [2] for SPV. [1] https://GitHub.com/handshake-org/hsd [2] https://GitHub.com/handshake-org/hnsd

http://sci-hub.hns/ resolves for me too, but I get a 503 - Service Unavailable.

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

#230
post #80
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wonder if the author of xkcd is ever going to apologize for his comic on free speech.

Can you please elaborate on what about that comic warrants an apology? I assume it is this comic[0] you are on about.

[0]: https://xkcd.com/1357/

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