[mariusz79]

I think it is safe to say that by 2020 the Internet as we know it today will not exists. All we will have is a bunch of walled gardens, under full surveillance from both the government and corporations. And most people will not even notice or care.

[astrodust]

I think it's safe to say you're exaggerating, and while there will be local pockets of utter confusion (North Korea, some US ISPs) on the whole it will be fine.

That's not to say we don't need to fight for rights, to keep this sort of thing from happening, but that I have confidence that we can and will fight these things successfully.

Australia, as one example, has tried on many occasions to put up very restrictive firewalls and has mostly failed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Austral...

Stay vigilant, stay informed, and you can control the future.

[antihero]

If in 2010 I told you the next presidential candidate for the USA was retweeting 4chan memes, you'd have probably said I was exaggerating. All I'm saying is things are changing quicker than we can imagine.

[astrodust]

4chan's track record of getting people elected is pretty terrible. See also: Ron Paul.

[antihero]

Probably for the best, really. Ron Paul was more of a Reddit thing, anyway.

[mariusz79]

I don't think I'm exaggerating. When you read this article, and read what corporations are doing, and politicians are advocating, it's easy to see where this is going. In addition to that you have ICANN stewardship transfer, which might make it easier for other countries to influence how the Internet works. We also have growing number of hacks/leaks that will be used to push the "need for firewalls" and "warnings" from experts that "someone" if probing our defences. It all does not make me hopeful that we can keep the internet free.

[astrodust]

Key word here is "advocating".

It's our job as citizens to oppose these things. Raise a fuss. Write letters. Get upset. Donate to causes that oppose this.

The enemy here is not these corporations but complacency.

[QuarterReptile]

Between surveillance states, cyber attacks, and probable rising energy costs, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of things general became much less global. If you want to hear one of the greatest pessimists of our age, I recommend James Howard Kunstler. He's written some books, does some podcast appearances, and keeps a blog. He's the first person I ever saw put forth a convincing argument for why the internet may be a temporary phenomenon.

[rm_-rf_slash]

There's too much money or power otherwise. Perhaps the discussion to have is not about the degrees of surveillance or walled gardens, but public access to mass surveillance records collected by government agencies. If everyone had access to everything, it would be a check on the absolute power of powerful institutions to corrupt them absolutely.

I'm not evangelizing the idea, I just think it's something worth debating and I don't see enough of it yet.

[JohnStrange]

Nah, just point your DNS queries to 8.8.8.8 (two times Adolf Hitler's birthday, easy to remember) and you'll be fine. Or, if Google is blocked, use another root server. Or, if all root servers are blocked, use a VPN. Or, if all VPNs are blocked, invent a distributed DNS system that adds .realuk as a new top-level domain.

[the8472]

> if all VPNs are blocked

If VPNs are blocked then DNS filtering likely is not your only problem. You would already be behind a something akin to the great firewall.

And you also have to consider that when you start using counter-measures then you're already retreating and relying on foreign, more-free societies to support you. What if they succumb to the same thing too which obviously is not so far-fetched since it already happened to your society?

[mariusz79]

Hitler was born 04/20. I believe 88 refers to H being 8th letter of the alphabet. (HH = 88)

[JohnStrange]

You're right. It stands for Heil Hitler. Nazis apparently tattoo this kind of shit on their heads.

[schoen]

Google reportedly chose it because of its extremely positive associations in Chinese culture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Eig...

[technion]

Every apartment in my building is exactly the same as the one on the floor above and below it.

Apartment 88 sold for nearly 50% more than 78 or 68, because it was seen as lucky by the Chinese buyers.

I'm in Sydney btw.

[e12e]

Which also generally applies for the sun cross, the mirrored swastika, go figure ;)

[s_kilk]

88 and 18 are the ones to watch out for with these types. They sure do love dem small numbers.