80 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
80 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: '**Free Network Definition**'
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---
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**The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be enslaved
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by our technology, or liberated by it?
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It was in cognizance of this
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notion, and in service to our collective freedom that the Free Software
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Movement was born. It is in this spirit that we aim here to define
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exactly what it means to say that a network is free. We hope that the
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existence of this definition will help illuminate the path to a more
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just world.
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Our intention is to build communications systems that are owned by the
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people that use them, that allow participants to own their own data, and
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that use end-to-end encryption and cryptographic trust mechanisms to
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assure privacy. We call such systems 'free networks' and they are
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characterized by the following five freedoms:
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- Freedom 0: The freedom to participate in the network.
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Freedom 0 regards your right to organize cooperative networks.
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Conventional networks are characterized by a distinction between
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provider and user. This mode of organization encourages network
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operation in the service of self-interest. The provider builds and
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owns the infrastructure, and the user pays for access. In a free
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network, however, nodes connect to one another, rather than to a
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single, monolithic provider. By nature of its design, a free network
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is owned by those that make use of it. Participants act as providers
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and users as the same time, and growth is auto-distributed by
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treating any profits as investment. In this way, those that join the
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network are able to become owners. This mode of organization
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encourages network operation in the service of the common good.
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- Freedom 1: The freedom to determine where one's data is stored.
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Freedom 1 regards your right to own the material stores of your
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data. Conventional networks encourage (if not force) their
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participants to store their data in machines which are under the
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administrative auspices of an external service provider or host.
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Most folks are not able to serve data from their homes. Participants
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ought to be free to store their own data (so that it is under their
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care) without sacrificing their ability to publish it.
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- Freedom 2: The freedom to determine the parties with whom one's data is shared.
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Freedom 2 regards your right to control access to your data. Data
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mining and the monetization of sharing has become common practice.
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Participants should be free to choose those with whom they would
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like to share a given piece of information. Only someone who owns
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their own data can fully exercise this freedom, but it is an issue
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regardless of where the relevant bits are stored.
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- Freedom 3: The freedom to transmit data to one's peers without the prospect of
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interference, interception or censorship.**
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Freedom 3 regards the right to speak freely with your peers.
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Information flows in conventional networks are routinely and
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intentionally intercepted, obstructed, and censored. This is done at
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the behest of corporate and state actors around the world. In a free
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network, private communications should remain unexamined from the
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time they enter the network until the time they reach their
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destination.
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- Freedom 4: The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted identity.
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Freedom 4 regards your right to construct your own identity There is
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increasing pressure to forbid anonymity, and yet trustworthy
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communications remain rare. While it is essential to liberty that
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individuals be able to remain anonymous in the online public sphere,
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it is also essential that they be able to construct and maintain
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persistent, verifiable identities. Such identities might bear a
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legal name, a common name, or an avatar that masks one's corporeal
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self -- individuals could have many such identities, and switch
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between them at will. Clear delineation between anonymous,
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pseudonymous, and onymous actors would enable all of us to better
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asses the trustworthiness of others on the network.
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