A future where the darknet is the only place to find non-sanitized content on the Internet is extremely blackpilling to me, even if it turns out to be the only option.
I know Tor and I2P aren't what the mainstream paints them as, and that they are easy to use, but the idea of having to use something that is often associated with 1337 hax0rs just to access content that was common place on 4chan or even the darker corners of Reddit 10 years ago without showing an ID, just seems so wrong to me.
Also, many people don't realize how easy it is to de-anonymize users even if they are using Tor. Sites can use JavaScript or even CSS to de-anonymize users. Metadata can give clues of who people are. That's why the Tor browser discourages fullscreen use. You just know that governments are going to be setting up more honeypots where they try to catch even the most slight slips of OPSEC, if a future like this happens.
Not to mention that these darknets are still ultimately band-aid solutions because they still rely on the physical structure of the regular Internet and governments and ISPs can (and in the former case, have) block them via DSP. Supposedly, the Tor bridges hide the fact that you are even using Tor by making the traffic look like VoIP, but I feel like they can find a way to determine if you are using it, eventually.
It's far more likely that you're gonna need good friends across various judicial superregions of the Internet to use each others' connections in a peer system.
There's some cool tech coming out of China in regards to this, check out Project Xray (fork of v2ray) and Project REALITY.
@slipgate I feel like a full blackpill scenario would have sneakernets and underground cafes with PirateBoxes as the only means to exchange un-sanitized information. Kind of like how North Korea apparently has an underground sneakernet full of people smuggling K-Pop and anime.
Not to mention that these darknets are still ultimately band-aid solutions because they still rely on the physical structure of the regular Internet and governments and ISPs can (and in the former case, have) block them via DSP. Supposedly, the Tor bridges hide the fact that you are even using Tor by making the traffic look like VoIP, but I feel like they can find a way to determine if you are using it, eventually.
To me this is the ultimate point.It does not matter how "free" your networks are if they depend on consolidated structures. This is a big part of the reason why I think StarLink will end up being a net-negative for the Internet.
Keeping cyberspace free is inseparable from the real-world reality, and vice-versa.
>extremely blackpilling to me
why? we're chill people. i miss when URC and anoNet were bussin but they all grew up and got a life
@wowaname I have nothing against onion sites or eepsites. But I don't know. It will always seem depressing if we have to use them just to access a site as edgy as 4chan in the near future.
I mean this was what people were thinking when major hosting companies were doing censorship back in 2017, but at least with corporate censorship, you didn't have to worry about being thrown in prison if your cover was blown. Now with this age verification shit (done by the government), you risk jail time for hosting a darknet site that uses the honor system of just merely asking visitors their age. And yes, you can make the whole OPSEC argument, but just look at how many people suck at it.
>a site as edgy as 4chan
4chan isn't edgy at all
>look at how many people suck at it.
and i'm good at it so i don't care. onionland died because the majority of its users are leeches
@xianc78
Don't forget that the sights are probably loving this because anything that blocks fingerprinting is now going to be illegal, i.e. they get to advertise to everyone.
@xianc78@gameliberty.club
Also, many people don't realize how easy it is to de-anonymize users even if they are using Tor. Sites can use JavaScript or even CSS to de-anonymize users.
I genuinely wonder how much this matters. We all KNOW how bad privacy is on the clearnet yet they still need people to submit their ID as a gating mechanism. I think the problem isn't strictly privacy, but how much of a pain it's made for them to control things.