Even an undetectable darknet is no defence against a strong regime bent on asserting control over information, for such a regime can use its regulatory powers not merely to detect forbidden network activity but to wholly prevent it by locking down the underlying computer and network technology.
It seems, then, that the introduction of such a darknet would in fact provoke the aforementioned shift in the way a regime carries out its policy of information control---that it would force the regime to renounce ad-hoc policing and piecemeal intervention (registering blogs, banning keywords, detecting traffic, etc) and instead pursue a national technology programme of an Orwellian nature. Otherwise the regime would lose control of information, and with it the ability to manipulate public sentiment and stifle organized resistance; revolution would soon follow. It is obvious therefore that a so threatened regime would demand success at any price. This logic tends to limit Freenet's potential. Specifically, it suggests that Freenet will persist but a short while when subjected to the might of a strong, hostile regime; and further, it even spells out the general nature of the new technological order that then must inevitably ensue. It also leads us to a practical decision. For if we demand, as I think we do, that regimes be obstructed in their attempts to control information, and yet all our efforts so far promise to meet this demand only in a limited, transient, and highly unsatisfactory way---we are forced, then, either to water down our demands, at least temporarily, or to seek bold new means towards their satisfaction. That is, we may accept that Freenet is unlikely to take root under tyranny. But we may yet plant it in more liberal jurisdictions, and thereby help to block the potential emergence of yet more tyranny in those places. Or we may conclude that then we must make it our business to end tyranny directly, as to do otherwise would be to betray our ideals. In fact, there is no decision to make: we must do both. We must face squarely the limitations of our technology and abandon the false hope that it can overcome a tyranny; instead, we must have faith in its potential to preserve freedom. And we must also believe in our ability to do ourselves in other ways what our technology cannot, though it may be just as hard as it is important. I've made a diagnosis and written a prescription that I believe has the potential to put this project on a firmer foundation. I eagerly await your reply and I apologize if I have here annoyed you in any way---I have simply tried to present my ideas as directly as possible, and if I sound preachy please be assured that I am only preaching to myself though in public; I need it badly these days. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://emu.freenetproject.org/pipermail/tech/attachments/20051015/eb39c59f/attachment.html>
