When Wikileaks was thrown off Amazon's servers, some people began to wonder about the security of their communications on the Internet in a new way. When Egypt shut down access to the Internet and mobile phones for the whole country, more people began to think about how easy it seems to be to pull the plug, even in the USA (thank you, Senator Lieberman). Now, a few folks are beginning to talk about what may turn out to be a People's Internet, a non-corporate, non-governmental Internet, that can't be shut down or turned off.
Can it be done? Should it be done? Here are four initiatives that are pointing the way.
Buy This Satellite
http://buythissatellite.org/
The owner of the world's most capable communication satellite just went bankrupt.
We're fundraising to buy it.
So we can move it.
To connect millions of people who will turn access into opportunity.
WHY THE INTERNET?
We believe that Internet access is a tool that allows people to help themselves - a tool so vital that it should be considered a universal human right....
The Internet has transformed what it means to be human - we are now more connected to one another than ever before. Yet, over 5 billion people do not have access to this incredible invention, do not have a voice in the global dialog, or the opportunity to share ideas and learn from the Internet's ever-expanding knowledge pool.
We believe that access to information and the Internet is a necessity for every global citizen and We plan to address the information inequality by making internet access so ubiquitous you can take it for granted: Free, global, seamless connectivity.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO BUY THIS SATELLITE?
The Terrestar-1 satellite, launched in 2009, is as big as a school bus, connects to a tiny handset called the Genus, and proves that communication satellites can provide data services effectively. The company that owns that satellite filed for chapter-11 bankruptcy protection on October 19th 2010.
PHASE 1
Our goal is to raise $150,000 USD to do the following:
1. Finalize a business plan for large scale funders.
2. Process the legal and business aspects of submitting a bid for the satellite.
3. Hire several full-time engineers to make our calculations and planning into a concrete reality.....
When our plan is funded we will:
PHASE 2
1. Make an official bid for the Terrestar-1 satellite.
2. Begin development of an open source low cost modem.
3. Acquire an orbital slot (satellite parking spot) and spectrum (radio wave allocation).
4. Finalize plans with partner governments.
5. Continue all of the technical work required to reposition a satellite.
When all of these details are finalized we will continue:
PHASE 3
1. Move the satellite to a new orbit over our partner country/countries.
2. Distribute low cost modems.
3. Roll out service...
WHO CAN THIS SATELLITE HELP?
Easy - anyone without Internet access!
Papua New Guinea (PNG) would be an excellent candidate. They have an orbital slot (a parking spot in space for a satellite), a terrible Internet penetration rate of 2.1%, and their prime minister has been trying to build a satellite to connect their people for a while.
"We need to get information to them [the citizens] so they can think for themselves, better their own lives, and not rely on other people's dole."
In Papua New Guinea six million people could be directly impacted. If we include Indonesia (Internet penetration rate: 12.3%) we could include another 243 million people.
Then there's Africa....
IS MOVING A SATELLITE EVEN TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE?
Our engineers say yes, and we chatted with Terrestar a few months ago.
Ahumanright.org: "Is it possible to move your satellite into a new orbit and provide services to a different country?"
Dennis Matheson Terrestar CTO: "Without revealing too much, yes we could. But I can't give you details."
So simply put, yes.
OK, IT ALL SEEMS SIMPLE ENOUGH. HOW MUCH?
Our first phase requires $150,000- that is our fundraising goal. If we can raise more, we will be thrilled. At this time there is no specific price tag on this treasure.
But consider the Iridium satellite constellation: it cost 5 billion dollars to build, and was sold for 23 million dollars after it went bankrupt in 2000. When opportunity knocks, answer the door.
HOW WILL YOU PAY THE BILLS?
Although we believe in free Internet for the planet, there are some realities to face: like paying the rent.
We will offer a diminished service for free to everyone, while allowing telecommunications companies to purchase and re-sell high speed bandwidth. Our goal is to not only get everyone online, but also facilitate the growth of an industry.
As the CTO of Deutsche Telekom Thomas Curran advised us: "You're evangelizing for access, expanding it. That can only help the industry." And helping industry helps developing countries grow.
AREN'T COMPUTERS EXPENSIVE?
We're building our own open-source low cost modem that will make getting online easy. Devices to get online are cheaper than ever-- India is building a 12 USD laptop.
Open Mesh Project
http://www.openmeshproject.org/
Take away the wires and routes and we will still communicate. -OpenMeshProject.org
What is Open Mesh Networking
Open Mesh networking is a type of networking wherein each connected node in the network may act as an independent router or "smart" device, regardless of whether it has an Internet connection or not. Mesh networks are incredibly robust, with continuous connections that can reconfigure around broken or blocked paths by "hopping" from node to node until the destination is reached, such as another device on the network or connecting to an Internet back haul. When there is local Internet available, they can amplify the number of people who can connect to it. When there isn’t, mesh networks can allow people to communicate with each other in the event that other forms of electronic communication are broken down. Devices consist of most wifi enabled computers and run on existing Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, and Linux systems along with iPhone and Android mobile devices. An open source mesh network further offers a scalable solution that retains low costs while avoiding path dependencies and vendor lock-in. Combined with open hardware, these networks facilitate long-term maintenance flexibility and improvements.
The Project Goal:
To find the best of breed Open Source Technologies and to build partnerships with existing technologies that would allow us to create a private citizen owned communications infrastructure called the Open Mesh Project. We will maintain the community around the Open Source Mesh Standard. As a community we will drive our future private communications needs. We will work to provide 2 click mesh installs on any device in the world. We will work to interconnect the communities of many nations. Our goal will be to keep communications open at all times....
Request a technology interview: interviews@openmeshproject.org (Send us a outline of your project)
Let us know if you are interested in helping: info@openmeshproject.org
Mesh networking is built into the One Laptop Per Child computer ($100 laptop).
Douglas Rushkoff, author of Life Inc, is convening a summit conference on October 20, 2011 in NYC to build a community of interest around innovating new forms of social media, including a new non-hierarchical Internet.
Contact
http://www.shareable.net/...
I’ve decided to convene a summit called Contact. Contact will seek to explore and realize the greater promise of social media to promote new forms of culture, commerce, collective action, and creativity. I'm inviting technologists, artists, activists, businesspeople, funders, and other stakeholders in the networked future, to come together to hatch new ideas, connect with new collaborators, and forge an ongoing community for innovating social media and beyond....
From the development of a new non-hierarchical Internet to the implementation of alternative e-currencies, the prototyping of open source democracy to experiments in collective cultural expression, Contact will seek to initiate mechanisms that realize the true promise of the networking revolution.
The first summit, to be held October 20, 2011 as a MeetupEverywhere and centered at the historic Angel Orensanz Center in New York City, will be a participatory festival for ideas and action, consisting primarily of meetings convened by attendees. Featured participants will deliver brief "provocations" on stage, sharing the greatest challenges they are facing in their particular fields. But their primary contribution to the day will be to join in the meetings convened by other participants, sharing their experience, insight, and even connections to help bring these ideas into reality.
If it’s not the only thing of its kind in the world, so much the better. Let’s connect, conceive, and conspire. Contact isn’t a way of competing with those efforts, but supporting them.
Topics I’m opening for discussion include:
TECHNOLOGY
• Can we build an alternative Internet that can't be turned off?
• Alternatives to top-down registries and corporate-controlled access
BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
• New net-based currencies and transaction networks
• Net-enabled Local Activism and Job Creation
CULTURE
• Arts networking initiatives
• Decentralized social networking platforms
GOVERNMENT
• Proxy voting to expert friends
• open source democracy
• "Filter Bubbles" and how to prevent them
MEANING
• What Factors Facilitate Collective Intelligence?
• The Reclamation of Public Space
But please feel invited to bring your own. I may be initiating this thing, but I am by no means in charge.
Greenfield Vision of Autonomous Internet
http://p2pfoundation.net/...
"Greenfield" means that you are "wiping the slate clean" and trying to imagine a whole new system from the ground up. This is meant mostly as an exercise in imagining and visioning new alternatives....
1 A Whole-earth system
2 Universal State Transfer
3 A Plural Architecture
4 Deep resistance to spam and denial of service.
5 Content-centric networking
6 Ubiquitous encryption
7 MIXes
8 Source routing
Something is percolating in the WorldMind. I don't know whether any of these projects will come to fruition but it seems that some of us are looking for a new way to communicate that leaves Big Brother out in the cold.