[SV_BubbleTime]

I’m actually quite optimistic about this!

Yes! Push the porn to the “dark web”. Make it a pain in the ass. Ask for ID. Go all out!!

…because… this is how we’ll get a free internet again. This is how we’ll get real encrypted networks. This is how we go back to the good internet - except - it’s going to be harder to remove the bad stuff.

But this is what they’re doing. Strangling themselves with faux-morality and New Puritan complaintism.

So I’ll take the good effect of an internet that isn’t controlled by 6 companies with the bad that some people may say or do things I don’t like.

[miki123211]

Not if the only computing platform you have is a walled-garden smartphone with parental spyware.

The only reason we had a free internet in the first place was because we had free computers. Many people no longer have free computers.

It's not just the App Stores that are at fault here, almost unbeatable screen time[1] protections, limited mobile APIs, battery usage optimizations and carrier-grade NATs also matter here.

Hosting video is extremely expensive. Either you fund it with ads, which is hard for porn, with subscriptions, which is impossible because of Visa/Mastercard rules, with cryptocurrencies, which are easy to ban as per above, or you offload the cost to P2P, but smartphones are effectively barred from participating in P2P networks due to the above reasons.

This is also a major driver behind the fall of piracy. Piracy is easy if everybody has an always-on device with a stable internet connection and a good power source. This is no longer the case.

[1] By "Screen Time" I mean Apple's comprehensive suite of tools for device access restrictions, both for owners and children. These restrictions don't just concern screen time, they may also prohibit certain apps (or categories of apps) entirely. The point is not restricted to Apple, similar solutions exist for Android, and they give even more power to the parents due to the system's open nature.

[colinsane]

i'm typing my reply on a Linux mobile phone (NixOS + SXMO). it's true i don't run p2p stuff on the phone, but most utilities like 'transmission-remote' and NFS mounts, cryptocurrency wallets etc work OOTB such that if you can figure it out on a PC you can figure it out on a phone.

no, not accessible to a layperson. but increasingly accessible to anyone who's comfortable with desktop Linux.

[bluefirebrand]

The problem is that "the internet" is still a series of connected physical cables and some entities do in fact control those. They can push off people who are using encryption they don't like or serving content they don't like, if push comes to shove

And for the specific people who are trying to make a living through selling smut, payment providers are making their lives hell

[genewitch]

there's gotta be millions of USB wifi dongles sitting in cabinets and drawers around the globe. a couple "do-ers" with high chimneys can start backhauling for their neighborhood. Mirror wikipedia, podcasts, music, books, etc. The issue becomes "on demand" video stuff, which i haven't put a lot of effort into figuring out, because if i set something like this up the video would all be programmed for 720p+ and only 360p would be available on demand.

When the power goes out for multiple weeks, it doesn't affect me at all, entertainment wise. in a "oops all censored" future dystopia, i'd make sure my neighbors could access entertainment, even if it's self-serving for mine own self.

[dotnet00]

That sounds nice, but in the short term, many of these sites are causing people to risk losing their source of income. So many sites have had to crack down on NSFW content due to the payment processor cartels threatening to cut them off, and while theoretically they have alternative options for taking payments, in practice they don't, because most people are not going to jump through the hoops of mailing in a cheque or buying crypto just for an NSFW art commission.

To some this might not really feel like much of a loss, but since the payment processors are maliciously vague about where they draw the line, companies often overreact and also threaten artists whose most NSFW art might be a character in swimwear.

[anigbrowl]

…because… this is how we’ll get a free internet again.

X to doubt. You can do this now but it's limited to people with technical skills, and once you have figured out torrent trackers or TOR or whatever it is you're interested in, there isn't that much incentive to radically improve the tooling to make it more consumer friendly. If nothing else having it require some work insulates you from Eternal September. The less work it is, the easier it is for cops and politicians to whip up a moral panic about.

[SuperNinKenDo]

You're definitely pointing out a real problem, but I will say, back in the day when Netflix didn't exist, even some of my most technically and intellectually challenged friends would figure out stuff that now seems to confuse people who present as above-average in tech literacy. The will to do somrthing, and a social network that shares information count for a lot more than people seem to think.

[autoexec]

I agree, in the old days the barrier to access to porn and getting games installed and working inspired a lot of people to get into tech. Maybe when people have to work a little harder to get access to the media they want it will lead to a new generation of tech savvy folks and another wave of innovation.

[SV_BubbleTime]

This is double true for the effort people would put into getting porn.