Activists are essential to decentralized systems
Imagine BitTorrent without The Pirate Bay doing everything it can to stick around
Tor exit node operators took on real risk in the early days especially
-
Show this thread
-
Replying to @backus
Running an exit node is still pretty risky, although not to the same extent that it used to be, I imagine. And activist institutions are huge targets — e.g.
@riseupnet is being targeted right now1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @sonyaellenmann @riseupnet
Yeah, I actually haven't looked into how risky it is lately. I just remember being at DEFCON in like 2013 listening to members of the Tor foundation appeal really hard to people trying to get more exit nodes
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @backus
Also varies a lot by country. In the US, if I recall correctly, you're mainly definitely going on some fed list and at risk of having your ISP kick you off
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @sonyaellenmann
Yeah. The most terrifying thing IMO is the idea that your house might be raided and all your machines seized because someone was viewing child porn through the exit node you ran. With that in mind, it seems especially valuable that institutions like MIT run exit nodes
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @backus @sonyaellenmann
Rephrasing orig tweet: It seems like decentralized systems which leverage legal grey areas depend on activists willing to fight the inevitable battles that come from running the most sensitive parts. Pirate Bay founders & Tor exit node operators knew LE would harass them one day
2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @backus @sonyaellenmann
From one perspective, maybe this seems obvious: activist software requires activism. From a pure techno-utopian decentralization perspective tho, I think it is easy to see us fighting legal systems w/ pure software. Pirate Bay founders and exit node operators are critical though
1 reply 1 retweet 6 likes -
Replying to @backus
🤖 Sonya Mann 🎀 Retweeted nic carter
I think "legit" institutions like Coin Center are key too, in terms of creating room for sufficient adoption to happen. Nic put it well:https://twitter.com/nic__carter/status/1013890458236354561 …
🤖 Sonya Mann 🎀 added,
nic carter @nic__carterCrypto-anarchism is a bargaining strategy. If you make it functionally impossible to comply with regulations, either the state mobilizes significant resources to stamp you out, or they change the rules. The trick is to make the crackdown prohibitively expensive.Show this thread1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @sonyaellenmann @backus
There's a delicate in-between period, which I think bitcoin and ethereum are probably out of, but almost nothing else
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
Pure crypto-anarchism seems to only exist in real world as a subset of legally ambiguous & permissible tech. Tor, BTC, and PGP have all bothered USG before but have general good uses. Darknet markets are the subset combining them all. CoinCenter protects permissible buffer layer
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.