[Commotion-discuss] concerns about the NYT / mo jo mesh articles

[Anderson Walworth]

And when Obama hits the internet switch.. "Drat..it won't  work on
Commotion.... deploy the EMP drones!" jk

 I second the VPN but it isn't usually easy to set up maybe there is an
alternative software.

We need a free open source 100% secure proxy/gateway we can set all of the
routers to that connect to the internet. Anyone have one?

Anderson




On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 9:02 PM, Ben West <ben at gowasabi.net> wrote:

> Here is the Mother Jones article being mentioned.  First time I saw it.
> http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mesh-internet-privacy-nsa-isp
>
> An obvious weakness to this premise of using neighhorhood-wide mesh
> networks to preserve privacy is that the underlying reliance on *wireless*makes the task of eavesdropping just that much easier.  I believe this is
> what Julian Priest was explicitly warning about during his surprise talk at
> the Berlin summit last month.
>
> Plus, very few community meshes that provide Internet access are not able
> to do much more than the "last mile," meaning they still rely on
> conventional telcos in one form or another for their uplinks, just at
> somewhat higher levels than individuals.
>
> Better integration of VPN layers could indeed help reduce the
> vulnerability to eavesdropping, although that would very likely incur
> unappealing performance penalties.  However, there is still the fact you're
> actively broadcasting all your data, for any adequately equipped parties
> (whether you want them to be or not) to listen in.  This isn't unique, we
> already do this compulsively with mobile phones.
>
> I would hope that this current trend of framing community mesh networks as
> tools again surveillance doesn't eclipse the parallel motivation of also
> building such meshes for economic reasons.  And likewise that it doesn't
> distract from the deployment of adhoc meshes during emergencies.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 2:00 PM, Anthony Townsend <amt3 at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
>> i agree - great this is being seen as a movement.
>>
>> is anyone else disturbed by the trend towards painting this as a
>> potential threat to national security? you are all a bunch of renegades
>> trying to hide from the NSA?
>>
>> whether that’s true or not, its an incredibly sensational angle and
>> creates the potential for serious backlash. when i read both of these
>> articles in my mind i immediately saw Verizon lobbyists descending on
>> Trenton with re-prints and legislation blocking mesh networks attached.
>>
>> maybe I’m paranoid but this reminds me very much of the days when
>> NYCwireless were being called “wireless pirates” even though we weren’t
>> doing anything illegal. then Philly, then all the steakhouse bans on muni.
>>
>> maybe this is not the place for it, but just wanted to raise a
>> counterpoint to all the high-5ing
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Ben West
> http://gowasabi.net
> ben at gowasabi.net
> 314-246-9434
>
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>


-- 
Allied Media Projects
Detroit Digital Justice Coalition
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