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The Internet Has Become Too American to Trust

54 points by Teever

by CM30

0 subcomment

This is why both decentralisation (federation or otherwise) and a healthy market are so essential. If one company controls a vast swathe of the internet and lots of people's everyday services, the country it's based in can force changes at the drop of a hat. If dozens of companies and groups provide a service, then it becomes way more difficult for any one person, country or organisation to force their worldviews on others/censor them.
But the only way to force this is to somehow force interoperability for products. Make it so anyone has the right to create a client for a service, or connect one service to another. Make it so whenever you buy a product, that's it you can do whatever you like with it. There can't be a license or terms of service beyond maybe "don't redistribute it as your own".

by dreambuffer

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The distrust is not even ideological anymore, we just want our services to keep working without some guy deciding to nuke everything the next day for literally no reason.

by casey2

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I'd argue that there is far more American infiltration of Canada's political, legal, industrial and trade base that the internet, the one thing that could be cut off from America overnight, should be a distant afterthought.

by skybrian

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I was going to say there's too much Cory Doctorow in this piece, but it's actually Cory Doctorow. Lots of outrage, no real ask.

by Arodex

2 subcomments

Before someone flags it because "don't want politics on HN", the problem here is not Trump. He's only revealing the problem with Americans as a whole. Most of the political apparatus, Congress and Senate and the Supreme Court, is spineless and jingoistic. Most of American tech leaders are spineless and jingoistic. Most of the electorate is complacent and relish cruelty. Most of the media - both the old MSM and the new podcasters/YouTubers/tiktokers/etc. are clowns.
The problem is America, not Trump.

by cyanydeez

1 subcomments

by ktallett

0 subcomment

by coastalredneck

0 subcomment