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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’

#311

Post by slightwinder »

cratermoon wrote: post #247
slightwinder wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

For many years in the US there was THE phonebook published by the regional Bell Operating Company.

Exactly, regional. Each city/region has it's own phonebook and dialing-code. This is also quite similar to how DNS-hierachies&zones are working.

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

#312

Post by hrktb »

jawzz wrote: post #232
clairity wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not even non-payment. poor people are disproportionately affected by non-payment cancellations. might be ok if it were means-tested, like only allowing non-payment shut-offs if the customer is above the mean income (even for small businesses).

“Poor people are disproportionately affected by not having enough money to purchase things”

In a number of countries there are legal provisions to prevent cutting access to vital resources for non payment.

E.g. in winter times booting out renters or cutting heating/electricity is forbidden. Applying the same for internet isn’t far fetched anymore IMO.

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

#313

Post by twobitshifter »

dempseye wrote: post #256
input_sh wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO not enough "useful" content is not reachable via "normal" DNS for anyone to care about the alternative DNS systems. Sure, sites like TPB and Sci-Hub need to switch to a different domain from time to time bringing some annoyance to their users, but that's about it. Only if all domain registrars at once started actively removing "shady" domains would an alternative DNS ever come to spotlight.

Not much useful content needs it. The intersection of "universally criminal, such that it requires a censorship-resistant DNS alternative" and "valuable enough that normal people want to see it" is very very small.

What about individuals living under a dictatorship or within a regime that censors political speech? I could see there being billions of people in the world that would benefit from an internet that resists censorship.

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

#314

Post by rasengan »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #309
jrochkind1 wrote: post #240

This article (really it's more of a press release from the interested parties) seems to confuse the role of DNS from the role of certificate authority, making it hard for me to understand what they're talking about. These days sometimes the same entities provide both SSL certificates and DNS, but they are different services. > Handshake is “is effectively a decentralized domain name server,” Roquerre said. Instead of…

This appears to be just another commercialisation of domain names, trying to create another "Gold Rush" for the most sought after "vanity" names. Winner-take-all. A few profit at the expense of the many. It perpetuates that problem of ICANN DNS becoming a "business" instead of solving it. (ICANN DNS domain names were originally free.) The potential for censorship is only one problem of ICANN DNS. Also, this project i…

> This appears to be just another commercialisation of domain names, trying to create another "Gold Rush" for the most sought after names. Winner-take-all. A few profit at the expense of the many.

This is a major problem that the project has made a sincere attempt to address. Through scarcity certain sybil protections are afforded, which has been inherently architected into the consensus protocol [1]. Additionally, an airdrop to many internet pioneers and open source developers was built in as well, giving everyone similar resources to participate in the auction system which, in turn, affords everyone more equality in participation. Finally, the top 100k names as per alexa were pre-reserved for the holders in the alexa list, and these sites are incentivized to properly setup DNSSEC, as that's the only way they can claim their name on handshake.

This is a win for internet security and internet users. It's absolutely a big win for freedom of speech.

[1] https://handshake.org/files/handshake.txt

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

#315

Post by metabagel »

Karunamon wrote: post #226
baggy_trough wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I think this concept of freedom of speech is in opposition to freedom of association.

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

#316

Post by Karunamon »

metabagel wrote: post #315
Karunamon wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I think this concept of freedom of speech is in opposition to freedom of association.

Society already makes inroads on freedom of association. Businesses aren't allowed to turn away customers based on race and so forth.

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

#317

Post by a1369209993 »

NoSorryCannot wrote: post #264
Bakary wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a principle to me. edit: to make this answer less of a throwaway line: it's a principle that underpins most of the MMR-based ideology on this very same website and animates most of the tech scene in general, "making the world a better place" statements notwithstanding. How many of you here can genuinely pretend otherwise in your professional life? A portion perhaps, but clearly the minority. Beyond the si…

I view a principle as being a belief held that one will hold the line on, even if to do so would be potentially costly. A principle isn't necessarily popular or just. Optimizing for traffic, revenue, or whatever else is certainly a strategy but I don't think it's a principle in the sense of someone or some people having principles. And I would add that the effective output of such a strategy, if it were the behavior…

> I view a principle as being a belief held that one will hold the line on, even if to do so would be potentially costly. A principle isn't necessarily popular or just.

To be scupulously fair, "never hold the line, especially if it would be costly to do so", is still a principle by that definition, albeit a vacuous one. Just like "zero" is a number of apples you can be holding.

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

#318

Post by rhacker »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #240

This article (really it's more of a press release from the interested parties) seems to confuse the role of DNS from the role of certificate authority, making it hard for me to understand what they're talking about. These days sometimes the same entities provide both SSL certificates and DNS, but they are different services. > Handshake is “is effectively a decentralized domain name server,” Roquerre said. Instead of…

decentralized in the sense of not under the control of one organization.

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

#319

Post by jessaustin »

xnyan wrote: post #199
eternalban wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not "pedantic", rather literate, to note the word directory instead of grasping for DNS. "A telephone book was a directory for telephone numbers" is clear and accurate. Unless knowing what the word "directory" means is asserted to be the domain of pedants. "By providing a worldwide, distributed directory service, the Domain Name System has been an essential component of the functionality of the Internet since 1…

>It is not "pedantic" It's quite pedantic. I'm the same way, here's an interpersonal relationship tip I've had to learn: If someone calls you an asshole, you can't say "No, I've thought about it and you're wrong, you don't really think I'm an asshole." Well, you can say that, but it just makes you come off as even more of an asshole.

That escalated quickly.

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

#320

Post by a1369209993 »

jcytong wrote: post #205
sudobash1 wrote: post #58

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."

> "Phonebooks were like DNS for telephone numbers." A floppy was like the save icon on old software. :)

"Why do you have a bunch of 3D-printed save icons on your desk?"
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