Notes from Lunduke highlight why we need a federated internet – and why mesh networking may be the answer. The Internet Archive – one of the Internet’s last major resources for ‘free and open information’ faces an existential threat. Could this have been avoided? Maybe. As I said last year, my best wishes are that we come away from these fights with a plan where everybody gets most of what they want, and we lose none of what we need. That never happened. Nothing got better, and now everything is worse.
Since 1996, The Internet Archive “intended to provide free access to collections of digitized materials including websites, software applications, music, audiovisual and print materials … As of February 4, 2024, the Internet Archive holds more than 44 million print materials, 10.6 million videos, 1 million software programs, 15 million audio files, 4.8 million images, 255,000 concerts, and over 835 billion web pages in its Wayback Machine.[5] Its mission is committing to provide ‘universal access to all knowledge'”
Who could say ‘no’ to that, ‘right? Evidently, big book publishers could, and did. Per Lunduke: “Here’s the short-short version of this lawsuit:
The Internet Archive created a program they called “Controlled Digital Lending” (CDL) — where a physical book is scanned, turned into a digital file, and that digital file is then “loaned” out to people on the Internet. In 2020, The Internet Archive removed what few restrictions existed with this Digital Lending program, allowing an unlimited number of people to download the digital copy of a book.
The result was a group of publishers filing the “Hachette v. Internet Archive” lawsuit. That lawsuit focused on two key complaints:
- The books were “digitized” (converted from physical to digital form) — and distributed — without the permission of the copyright holders (publishers, authors, etc.).
- The Internet Archive received monetary donations (and other monetary rewards) as a result of freely distributing said copyrighted material. Again, without permission of the copyright holders. Effectively making the Internet Archive’s CDL a commercial enterprise for the distribution of what is best described as “pirated material”.
That lawsuit was decided, against The Internet Archive, in 2023 — with the judge declaring that “no case or legal principle supports” their defense of “Fair Use”.”
But then it gets worse, IA’s legal brief contains flimsy arguments and weird arguments:
The argument here is roughly as follows:
“It costs a lot of money to make, and distribute, digital copies of books without the permission of the copyright holder… therefore it should be legal for The Internet Archive to do it.”
An absolutely fascinating defense. “Someone else might not be able to commit this crime, so we should be allowed to do it” is one of the weirdest defences [sic] I have ever heard.
The IA appears ready to lose both their appeal and the lawsuit, heralding the death-knell of one of the major repositories of ‘free and open information’ on the Internet. This will be a dark day for the Internet and a darker future for free and open information exchanges worldwide. One wonders at the conversations that led to their lawyers’ D-list defense. Did the Internet Archive kill itself by refusing to get out of its own way?
I welcome additional information about this topic so I can learn more. In the meantime, my Futurology brain started whirring as I read through the bad news and an interesting though occurred to me: How would a federated Internet avoid the issues in Hachette v. Internet Archive?
What is a FedInternet?
A federated Internet – a worldwide meta network of non-centralized networks uses an Internet architecture and governance that removes the ownership and control of large organizations (looking at you, AT&T). Instead, smaller, autonomous networks with interoperable protocols, APIs and formats means that no single person or organization can exert undue influence on how the rest of the Internet works.
The current model of Internet architecture and control have led us to some bad places – censorship and control, privacy issues are bad in and of themselves. Then you add problems like Cory Doctorow’s … ahem – ‘enpoopification‘ of Internet properties. Centralization of Internet resources have incubated 21st century Robber-Barons. We aren’t seeing any light at the end of that tunnel yet.
By contrast, a federated Internet would have given the Internet Archive decentralized storage and a reduced legal entity to target. A fedinternet could have implemented transparent copyright management, community governance, and built-in fair use mechanisms.
Now, Add Mesh Networking
What about a mesh networking? A mesh network would fit hand-in-hand with the fedinterent. Part of the reason our current Internet architecture exists is because centralized network management was handled by large monolithic organizations (again, looking at you, AT&T) and enabling them to be pressured to provide extraordinary access to their technology at the expense of privacy.
Small-scale implementations of mesh networking are out there already. For example, Meshtastic is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices. Meshtastic utilizes LoRa, a long-range radio protocol, which is widely accessible in most regions without the need for additional licenses or certifications, unlike HAM radio operations.
Mesh networking, by definition, resists centralized control. Sure, it takes a little longer for packets to get from Point A to Point B, and there are real dangers to having all your stuff out there for public consumption. But on the balance, after thirty years of ‘road closures’ and ‘traffic jams’ on the Information Superhighway, the juice seems to be worth the squeeze.
And Then There’s Mesh
When I started working on Mesh a few years ago, stories like these were my inspiration. Like many others, I read the dire predictions about the death of ‘free, open information on the Internet’ with a level of hopelessness and then I thought ‘what if somebody did something about this? How would they fix it?’ I started imagining a future where smart kids (and yes, there are a few running around) decided to make their own fedinternet as an alternative to the massive, bloated Internet monstrosity we’re stuck with now. Then I started thinking about the characters and their motivations. The story started telling itself from there.
Sadly, we don’t have a fedinternet or a mesh networking internet. Internet Archive insisted on implementing the CDL, despite the massive legal liability. Large publishers, facing pressure from management to avoid piracy-induced losses, attacked the lowest-hanging fruit. Calmer heads didn’t prevail, and now we’re here. We’re hurtling toward a future I hoped we might avoid. Yeah, I’m really sad about this.
Now, nobody gets most what they want, and we all lose something important that we need. Hope it was worth it, folks.
