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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 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 Richard Stallman started the Free Software Movement. 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.


The question is as old as civilization itself, and speaks directly to the trajectory of history's arc. Still, as the pace of innovation accelerates, it becomes  clear that something new and still unnerving approaches. Take a long  view of the processes that surround us, and you'll recognize the singular gravity of the here-and-now. This moment is the dawn of a new age - information moves the world now, and there's no going back.
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:


It was in cognizance of this notion, and in service to our collective freedom that Richard Stallman started the Free Software Foundation. The Free Network Foundation continues that tradition, and seeks to intensify the struggle for our freedom as we enter this most critical hour.
*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, compensating one another in proportion to their contribution. This mode of organization encourages network operation in the service of the common good.  


The free software movement has thrived because they have made it 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.
*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.


We specify five freedoms. In a word each, they are access, transmission, storage, identification, and consignment. Let's go through them now, understand what they mean, and measure the ways in which they do or do not exist today.
*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 from peer to peer 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 0) The freedom to access the network without tariff.
*Freedom 4) The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted identity.  
 
Freedom 4 regards your right to construct your own identity
Tariff here means price above cost. In today's world, Internet service providers charge heavy fees for access to the network. Your right to peaceably assemble in cyberspace is being restricted - you must not allow this erosion. The Free Network Foundation aims to combat this practice by assisting in the formation of network access cooperatives on the local and regional level. Envision a world where the only cost that one pays to access the network is that of operating a network node.
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.
 
 
 
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 susceptible 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 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. Demand your right to free speech - participate in the cooperative construction of mesh networks as an avenue to the restoration of that freedom.
 
 
 
Freedom 2) The freedom to determine where one's bits are stored.
 
If you are like most, and you most likely are, then the most comprehensive collection of bits pertaining to you is stored in a nondescript building in Prineville, Oregon. That is the location of Facebook's primary data facility, and the site where more than 25 Terabytes of data per day are harvested and stored. Facebook has become a 50 Billion dollar behemoth by selling this data to the highest bidder. It has also been known to hand over these logs to government agents without so much as a subpoena. At this point, you might say that they don't care, that you've got nothing to hide, and don't mind industrial-strength marketing. We are here to say this: you should. You should care where your data is stored, even if you have nothing to hide. Not to do so does a deep disservice to freedom fighters, to whistleblowers, to those that put their lives on the line for humanity. To demand this freedom is to demand your right to property. Not to do so is to allow the outright theft of what rightfully belongs to you.
 
 
 
 
Freedom 3) The freedom to maintain anonymity, or to present a unique, trusted identity.
 
Of all of the freedoms, this is the one most realized in todays world, but that does not make it any less essential. The free network must allow for anonymity, but it must also sometimes function as a trust network. The cryptographic community has established mechanisms for building trust networks, where people are who they say they are. The mechanism established by the GNU Privacy Guard is called keysigning, and it amounts to the practice of people vouching for one another. Authentication is important, and the freedom not to authenticate as much so - the essential thing is the ability to determine between a known entity and a shadow figure. Only on a trust network is this possible.
 
 
 
Freedom 4) The freedom to determine the parties to whom one's bits are consigned.
 
It is important to understand that the transmission of bits to others necessarily entails a loss of exclusive ownership. This is the very nature of digital reproduction. Whichever party receives those bits will gain the ability to reproduce and transmit them anew. This makes it all the more important to maintain complete control over who is granted access to your bits. Your right to privacy is contingent upon an ability to determine exactly who can see your data.
 
Do not accede to the corporate hegemony. Do not remain complacent while your freedom erodes. The fundamental dialectic of our struggle is this: will we be enslaved by our technology, or liberated by it? It is up to us.

Revision as of 15:51, 24 May 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 Richard Stallman started the Free Software Movement. 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, compensating one another in proportion to their contribution. 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 from peer to peer 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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