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The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be enslaved by our technology, or liberated by it?
It was in cognizance of this notion, and in service to our collective freedom that the Free Software Movement was born. It is in this spirit that we aim here to define exactly what it means to say that a network is free.  We hope that the existence of this definition will help illuminate the path to a more just world.


- access to a global communication infrastructure should be a human right
Our intention is to build communications systems that are owned by the people that use them, that allow participants to own their own data, and that use end-to-end encryption and cryptographic trust mechanisms to assure privacy. We call such systems 'free networks' and they are characterized by the following five freedoms:


- i should be able to exchange value directly with a peer without third party involvement


- i should have control over the data that i generate


- it is my right to know how third parties are using my personal data
*Freedom 0) The freedom to participate in the network.
Freedom 0 regards your right to organize cooperative networks.
Conventional networks are characterized by a distinction between provider and user. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of self-interest. The provider builds and owns the infrastructure, and the user pays for access.  In a free network, however, nodes connect to one another, rather than to a single, monolithic provider. By nature of its design, a free network is owned by those that make use of it. Participants act as providers and users as the same time, and growth is auto-distributed by treating any profits as investment. In this way, those that join the network are able to become owners. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of the common good.


- i should have the capacity to allow or deny access to aspects of my data
*Freedom 1) The freedom to determine where one's bits are stored.
Freedom 1 regards your right to own the material stores of your data.
Conventional networks encourage (if not force) their participants to store their data in machines which are under the administrative auspices of an external service provider or host. Most folks are not able to serve data from their homes. Participants ought to be free to store their own data (so that it is under their care) without sacrificing their ability to publish it.


*Freedom 2) The freedom to determine the parties with whom one's bits are shared.
Freedom 2 regards your right to control access to your data.
Data mining and the monetization of sharing has become common practice. Participants should be free to chose those with whom they would like to share a given piece of information. Only someone who owns their own data can fully exercise this freedom, but it is an issue regardless of where the relevant bits are stored.


almost there:
*Freedom 3) The freedom to transmit bits to one's peers without the prospect of interference, interception or censorship.
Freedom 3 regards the right to speak freely with your peers.
Information flows in conventional networks are routinely and intentionally intercepted, obstructed, and censored. This is done at the behest of corporate and state actors around the world. In a free network, private communications should remain unexamined from the time they enter the network until the time they reach their destination.


You do not yet realize it, but even as you read this, a battle rages in our midst. It is a battle for freedom, for sovereignty, and for our collective future. The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be enslaved by our technology, or liberated by it?


The question is as old as civilization itself, and speaks directly to the trajectory of history's arc. Still, as the pace of innovation acceleartes, it becomes increasingly clear that something new and still unnervving approaches. Take a long enough view of the processes that surround us, and you'll begin to recognize the singular gravity of the here-and-now. This very moment is the dawn of a new age - information moves the world now, and there's no going back.
*Freedom 4) The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted identity.  
 
Freedom 4 regards your right to construct your own identity
It was in full cognizance of this notion, and in service to our collective freedom that Richard Stallman started the Free Software Foundation. The newly formed Free Network Foundation continues that tradition, and seeks to intensify the struggle for our freedom as we enter this most critical hour.
There is increasing pressure to forbid anonymity, and yet trustworthy communications remain rare. While it is essential to liberty that individuals be able to remain anonymous in the online public sphere, it is also essential that they be able to construct and maintain persistent, verifiable identities. Such identities might bear a legal name, a common name, or an avatar that masks one's corporeal self – individuals could have many such identities, and switch between them at will. Clear delineation between anonymous, pseudonymous, and onymous actors would enable all of us to better asses the trustworthiness of others on the network.
 
The free software movement has thrived in part because they have made it exceedingly easy to differentiate between free and unfree code. They have done so through the definition of free software embodied in the GNU project's 'four freedoms.' It is in this spirit that we aim here to define exactly what it means to say that a network is free. We hope that the existence of such a definition will highlight the ways in which our current network, the Internet, is unfree, and help illuminate the path to a freer world.
 
We specify five freedoms. In a word each, they are access, transmission, storage, authentication, and consignment. Let's go through them now, one by one, understand what they mean, and measure the ways in which they do or do not exist today.
 
 
Freedom 0) The freedom to access the network without tariff.
 
Tariff here means price above cost. In today's world, internet service providers and telecommunications firms charge heavy fees to gain access to the network. Our right to peacably assemble in cyberspace is being restricted - we must not allow this erosing. The Free Network Foundation aims to combat this practice by assisting in the formation of network access cooperatives on the local and regional level. We envision a world where the only cost that one pays to access the network is the cost of operating a network node.
 
 
Freedom 1) The freedom to transmit bits from peer to peer without the prospect of interference, interception or censorship.
 
Today's Internet exhibits an architecture of centralized command and control. This makes the network far too succeptible to breakdowns, both accidental and intentional. The truth of this sentiment is manifest, from the recent outage of Amazon Web Services to the network shutdown during the Egyptian uprising. Moreover, choke points make it far too easy for bit movers to look inside the packets they are transporting. So called 'traffic shaping' is already an accepted practice, even in the United States. The ability of governments and powerful corporations to look at the messages we send to one another and determine their fitness for transmission is nothing less than censorship. We demand our right to free speech, and view the construction of mesh networks as avenue to the restoration of that freedom.
 
 
Freedom 2) The freedom to determine where one's bits are stored.
 
 
 
Freedom 3) The freedom to maintain a trusted network identity, and to represent oneself.
 
 
Freedom 4) The freedom to share or not share one's own bits as one sees fit.

Latest revision as of 01:56, 26 June 2012

The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be enslaved by our technology, or liberated by it? It was in cognizance of this notion, and in service to our collective freedom that the Free Software Movement was born. It is in this spirit that we aim here to define exactly what it means to say that a network is free. We hope that the existence of this definition will help illuminate the path to a more just world.

Our intention is to build communications systems that are owned by the people that use them, that allow participants to own their own data, and that use end-to-end encryption and cryptographic trust mechanisms to assure privacy. We call such systems 'free networks' and they are characterized by the following five freedoms:


  • Freedom 0) The freedom to participate in the network.

Freedom 0 regards your right to organize cooperative networks. Conventional networks are characterized by a distinction between provider and user. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of self-interest. The provider builds and owns the infrastructure, and the user pays for access. In a free network, however, nodes connect to one another, rather than to a single, monolithic provider. By nature of its design, a free network is owned by those that make use of it. Participants act as providers and users as the same time, and growth is auto-distributed by treating any profits as investment. In this way, those that join the network are able to become owners. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of the common good.

  • Freedom 1) The freedom to determine where one's bits are stored.

Freedom 1 regards your right to own the material stores of your data. Conventional networks encourage (if not force) their participants to store their data in machines which are under the administrative auspices of an external service provider or host. Most folks are not able to serve data from their homes. Participants ought to be free to store their own data (so that it is under their care) without sacrificing their ability to publish it.

  • Freedom 2) The freedom to determine the parties with whom one's bits are shared.

Freedom 2 regards your right to control access to your data. Data mining and the monetization of sharing has become common practice. Participants should be free to chose those with whom they would like to share a given piece of information. Only someone who owns their own data can fully exercise this freedom, but it is an issue regardless of where the relevant bits are stored.

  • Freedom 3) The freedom to transmit bits to one's peers without the prospect of interference, interception or censorship.

Freedom 3 regards the right to speak freely with your peers. Information flows in conventional networks are routinely and intentionally intercepted, obstructed, and censored. This is done at the behest of corporate and state actors around the world. In a free network, private communications should remain unexamined from the time they enter the network until the time they reach their destination.


  • Freedom 4) The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted identity.

Freedom 4 regards your right to construct your own identity There is increasing pressure to forbid anonymity, and yet trustworthy communications remain rare. While it is essential to liberty that individuals be able to remain anonymous in the online public sphere, it is also essential that they be able to construct and maintain persistent, verifiable identities. Such identities might bear a legal name, a common name, or an avatar that masks one's corporeal self – individuals could have many such identities, and switch between them at will. Clear delineation between anonymous, pseudonymous, and onymous actors would enable all of us to better asses the trustworthiness of others on the network.

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