I believe you're on to something, and there is a technical solution here. (Mainly I believe that because it's something I've been saying for years <g>)
Here in the states, the NSA was allowed to view data on telephone calls 3 or 4 levels out from a terrorist. So, for instance, if a terrorist called A, and A called B, and B called C, and so on? The NSA could track C or D.
The argument against that is that it would cover something like 80 or 90% of the population.
Well, there you go. Assume one trillion connected devices and each device is accessible through a "path" of connected devices over 4 or 5 hops, with a percentage_success and average_network_lag time tracked for each path.
Add in a few GB of buffering and the requirement that every connected device use up 10-20% of its bandwidth on public, anonymous access, and you've got a mesh system that's decentralized.
The only other limit I'd add is probably some kind of rules to prevent DDOSing, say a 64Kb message size and a few other things like that.
You are right there- but its not just a math problem. Once people would use it, the usual suspects would show up and start to warp this distributed web.
Despots would add sinks that suck in all messages, by pretending to be a known plankton/connection.
Also assume that traditional isps would first try to subvert it and then try to replace it by providing a similar walled in service - warning from the dangerous open source network.
The whole thing would have to be constructed in away like the TOR-Network, preventing the identification of sender and reciver before Arrival.
Finally i think the problem remains, that any sufficiently enough supressing regime, would force its citizens to uninstall such software.
> Finally i think the problem remains, that any sufficiently enough supressing regime, would force its citizens to uninstall such software.
Not force to uninstall - rather regulate, requiring licensure for operation; giving people a reason to be complacent. (Likely in the name of counterterrorism/child safety/etc)
Still, you have a decent grasp of the situation, which is much appreciated. Anyone who still thinks interpolitical issues can be swept away by some "just invent X" has either not lived long enough to know better or are doomed to the delusion that "it's the next one" until they die.
I upvoted your opinion, because i think it discuss worthy.
You argue, that sociopolitical constructs can not be made that contain corrossive elements.
I think, some of the democratic institutions proof the opposit.
As in biology containment vessels can be constructed to withstand quite extraordinary corrossive circumstances. The strategys against the corrossion are constant renewel (disposing of counter-measures), counter agents to corrossion (keep the secret services busy with infinite clutter), rerouting of corossive elements (avoid giving them a attack surface- for example by distributing the hidden app via a virus/non visible release group). Finally, and thats the beauty of it- the Centralizers may be the undoing of there own system- after all its usually monocultured (very few os-systems), has a very centralized single point of failure- and the greed involved usually corrodes even there tools. Thus if a NSA backdoor guns down the internt, and this app would still be up, i think on that day, my suggestion could pick up the pieces.
Here in the states, the NSA was allowed to view data on telephone calls 3 or 4 levels out from a terrorist. So, for instance, if a terrorist called A, and A called B, and B called C, and so on? The NSA could track C or D.
The argument against that is that it would cover something like 80 or 90% of the population.
Well, there you go. Assume one trillion connected devices and each device is accessible through a "path" of connected devices over 4 or 5 hops, with a percentage_success and average_network_lag time tracked for each path.
Add in a few GB of buffering and the requirement that every connected device use up 10-20% of its bandwidth on public, anonymous access, and you've got a mesh system that's decentralized.
The only other limit I'd add is probably some kind of rules to prevent DDOSing, say a 64Kb message size and a few other things like that.
It's just a math problem.