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FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

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Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#101

Post by pjc50 »

candiodari wrote: post #98
janice1999 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like the US recently saw protestors snatched off the streets in unmarked vans by unidentified forces [1]... or protestors designated terrorists by officials [2]... or widespread deployment of military surveillance on peaceful protestors... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/portland-protests.html [2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/28/copy-city-at...

It's not like anyone minds that when it is actually serious: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68840881 In fact there's protests happening all over that seek to PROTECT the people who do this. And it's not like this is the first time THIS WEEK this happened. Also they're still holding several European academics to get the terrorist who killed several hundred people attacking the Bataclan in Paris and Brussel…

> there's protests happening all over that seek to PROTECT the people who do this

The protests are about protecting Gazan civilians, not Iranian security forces, which are different sets of people existing independently of one another. But of course you know that.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#102

Post by aleph_minus_one »

temporarely wrote: post #99
nikolajan wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the obvious question is: can you shed any light or provide context on why the service was shut down? And if not, it seems unrealistic to expect people to adopt / trust your alternative.

The timeline is possibly informative.

> The timeline is possibly informative.

Where is a link to the timeline?

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#103

Post by temporarely »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #102
temporarely wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The timeline is possibly informative.

> The timeline is possibly informative. Where is a link to the timeline?

"Then, one day in February 2020, as COVID-19 swept the globe, access to FireChat was completely cut off without explanation."

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#104

Post by liotier »

tekla wrote: post #48
redandblack wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A antifa relative does not carry their phone with them when they meet, nor do they carry it in their person when attending a rally - they have a friend/lawyer name/number written in a paper with them, just in case some one has to be contacted. At rallies, masked, sun glasses, baseball hat and a couple of shirts

What a waste of time and effort focusing on the dumb thing.

I agree that fascists are dumb.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#106

Post by blacklion »

krb5 wrote: post #50

Hi there, I am on developement team of Newnode, a successor of FireChat founded by two of the same people ( https://www.newnode.com/ ). We now provide both, a VPN and a Messenger, with purpose to help people evade censorship and enable device-to-device connectivity. You can find the source code at https://github.com/clostra/newnode

It requires phone number for registration. Site explain this as it is unique and hard to obtain en masse.

But it is not so. Phone numbers are controlled effectively by governments if needed, they are re-used, and they cheap-dirt in some countries (like, I could get SIM card in Serbia or Laos for about 1 Euro on the street).

About re-use: When I get new number in Serbia Is tarted to get a lot of SMSes and later WhatsApp messages about my debts, from very aggressive people. It was not scam, but this number only 3 months before that was used by some local guy who got into big troubles with loan sharks. They were Ok when I explained that I'm expat with SIM card bought in the newspaper stand, but I needed to explain it something like 50 times!

Sorry, but phone number is BAD ID and SMS is TERRIBLE 2FA / confirmation media.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#107

Post by llamaimperative »

temporarely wrote: post #103
aleph_minus_one wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The timeline is possibly informative. Where is a link to the timeline?

"Then, one day in February 2020, as COVID-19 swept the globe, access to FireChat was completely cut off without explanation."

That is… not very informative at all.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#108

Post by outime »

codetrotter wrote: post #71
krb5 wrote: post #50

Hi there, I am on developement team of Newnode, a successor of FireChat founded by two of the same people ( https://www.newnode.com/ ). We now provide both, a VPN and a Messenger, with purpose to help people evade censorship and enable device-to-device connectivity. You can find the source code at https://github.com/clostra/newnode

I downloaded your app just now from App Store. When I get to the phone number step, it briefly shows a captcha screen but then transitions to the phone number screen. When I enter my phone number. Country code +47. I don’t get any sms at all. When I switch to the sms app to see if an sms arrived (it didn’t), and I switch back to your app, the counter on the screen that is counting down to allow resending code resets…

Same exact experience, uninstalled it.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#109

Post by temporarely »

candiodari wrote: post #96
throwaway81523 wrote: post #43

> Then, one day in February 2020, as COVID-19 swept the globe, access to FireChat was completely cut off without explanation. If it could be shut off from one place like that, it doesn't sound very "decentralized". Anyway, are there significant obstacles to re-implementation? Someone above mentioned an alternative that uses LoRa. That's nice but it sounds like the attraction of Firechat was that it used ordinary phon…

Once you realize that the ability to update code, obviously, negates any advantage "end-to-end encryption" brings, or any other form of security, you'll quickly find there is not a single secure messenger. This is an argument I've never been able to successfully make to anyone except a military colonel.

This can be amplified by saying 'No end-to-end security without top-to-bottom security'.

Re: FireChat was a tool for revolution, then disappeared

#110

Post by nwsm »

candiodari wrote: post #96
throwaway81523 wrote: post #43

> Then, one day in February 2020, as COVID-19 swept the globe, access to FireChat was completely cut off without explanation. If it could be shut off from one place like that, it doesn't sound very "decentralized". Anyway, are there significant obstacles to re-implementation? Someone above mentioned an alternative that uses LoRa. That's nice but it sounds like the attraction of Firechat was that it used ordinary phon…

Once you realize that the ability to update code, obviously, negates any advantage "end-to-end encryption" brings, or any other form of security, you'll quickly find there is not a single secure messenger. This is an argument I've never been able to successfully make to anyone except a military colonel.

Is there really no way on an Android to keep an app forever without taking updates? Of course maybe the OS needs to be updated which then breaks the app and necessitates updating the app, but the distinction of a forced update seems important.
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