100 lines
4.5 KiB
TeX
100 lines
4.5 KiB
TeX
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
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\usepackage{graphicx}
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\usepackage{geometry}
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\title{\huge \bf Free Network Definition}
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\date{}
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\newcommand{\statement}[1]{\textbf{#1} \medskip}
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\begin{document}
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\begin{figure}[t]
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\centering
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\includegraphics[scale=0.4]{thefnf-logo.png}
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\end{figure}
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\maketitle
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\thispagestyle{empty}
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\pagestyle{empty}
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\statement{The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be
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enslaved by our technology, or liberated by it? 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 exactly
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what it means to say that a network is free. We hope that the existence of
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this definition will help illuminate the path to a more just world.}
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\\
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\\
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Our intention is to build communications systems that are owned by the people
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that use them, that allow participants to own their own data, and that use
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end-to-end encryption and cryptographic trust mechanisms to assure privacy. We
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call such systems `free networks' and they are characterized by the following
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five freedoms:
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\begin{itemize}
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\item \textbf{Freedom 0) \\
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The freedom to participate in the network.}
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Freedom 0 regards your right to organize cooperative networks. Conventional
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networks are characterized by a distinction between provider and user. This
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mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of
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self-interest. The provider builds and owns the infrastructure, and the user
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pays for access. In a free network, however, nodes connect to one another,
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rather than to a single, monolithic provider. By nature of its design, a free
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network 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 treating any
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profits as investment. In this way, those that join the network are able to
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become owners. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the
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service of the common good.
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\newpage
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\item \textbf{Freedom 1) \\
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The freedom to determine where one's bits are stored.}
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Freedom 1 regards your right to own the material stores of your data.
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Conventional networks encourage (if not force) their participants to store
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their data in machines which are under the administrative auspices of an
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external service provider or host. Most folks are not able to serve data from
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their homes. Participants ought to be free to store their own data (so that
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it is under their care) without sacrificing their ability to publish it.
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\item \textbf{Freedom 2) \\
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The freedom to determine the parties with whom one's bits are shared.}
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Freedom 2 regards your right to control access to your data. Data mining and
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the monetization of sharing has become common practice. Participants should
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be free to choose those with whom they would like to share a given piece of
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information. Only someone who owns their own data can fully exercise this
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freedom, but it is an issue regardless of where the relevant bits are stored.
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\item \textbf{Freedom 3) \\
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The freedom to transmit bits 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. Information
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flows in conventional networks are routinely and intentionally intercepted,
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obstructed, and censored. This is done at the behest of corporate and state
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actors around the world. In a free network, private communications should
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remain unexamined from the time they enter the network until the time they
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reach their destination.
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\item \textbf{Freedom 4) \\
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The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted
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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 communications
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remain rare. While it is essential to liberty that individuals be able to
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remain anonymous in the online public sphere, it is also essential that they
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be able to construct and maintain persistent, verifiable identities. Such
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identities might bear a legal name, a common name, or an avatar that masks
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one's corporeal self -- individuals could have many such identities, and
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switch between them at will. Clear delineation between anonymous,
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pseudonymous, and onymous actors would enable all of us to better asses the
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trustworthiness of others on the network.
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\end{itemize}
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\end{document}
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