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A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

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Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#3
Surprisingly little previous discussion:

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22686075 - March 2020 (4 comments)

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace – Electronic Frontier Foundation - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16328943 - Feb 2018 (3 comments)

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9240106 - March 2015 (20 comments)

Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#6
post #5

It's a sad reminder of the optimism for the power of the internet we had in the 90's. This sort of reality only becomes true if we all use cryptographic measures all the time perhaps.

If cryptography would work for this it would simply be outlawed.

Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#7
Yeah, this ran headlong into the fact that we live in a society.

"An internet declares that the laws of his own or any other country no longer apply to him. Cyberspace then proceeds to reinvent laws and government from first principles. No technology is discussed."

Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#8
When an esoteric community becomes exoteric radicalism (such as this declaration of independence) begins a watering down process that inevitably leads to loss. Skilled intruders know how to leverage sentiments so that they can get a foot in, and then control the group for political or economical gain.

Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#9
post #5

It's a sad reminder of the optimism for the power of the internet we had in the 90's. This sort of reality only becomes true if we all use cryptographic measures all the time perhaps.

I remember those days. There was a lot of optimism and a feeling of being powerful, especially things like watching the early days of Anonymous vs Scientology. The internet was supposed to be the great enabler of the masses, and instead assholes like Zuckerberg co-opted it to line their own pockets by selling us wholesale to advertisers.

In any case, I also remember reading TFDeclaration a year or two after it came out, and I feel the same way about it now as I did then: it kinda makes me cringe. Declare independence all you want, but to paraphrase the Warden of Shawshank Prison: Your ass belongs to somebody.

Re: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996)

#10
post #5

It's a sad reminder of the optimism for the power of the internet we had in the 90's. This sort of reality only becomes true if we all use cryptographic measures all the time perhaps.

I was never a cyber anarchist—I always thought the Internet should be more like the open road of the 1950s than the Wild West of the 1850s. More Democratic libertarian than anarchist. I never imagined it would devolve into basically the feudalism of the 1350s, with dueling warlords not answerable to either the serfs or to any government.
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