A couple weeks ago the Relay for Reddit app I've used for many years stopped working because the developer added a dependency on Google Play services to force paid subscriptions. GrapheneOS doesn't play well with that. So I begrudgingly switched to the Infinity app. Well, this week it appears they started blocking all known VPN and data center IP addresses. I hate this recurring feeling as a Cypherpunk that the walls keep closing in.

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As long as Bitcoiners are still promoting non-private by default financial networks over "shitcoins" like Monero all critique is lost on me.
Everything corporate will be non accessible soon. All innovation will happen in private by default, decentralised, self-custodial spaces in the interwebs until the old system dies off.
Reddit, Twitter, and even plain good old podcasts are slowly disappearing behind spywalls and paywalls. Also, I just coined a new word. “SPYWALLS”. Thanks for the inspiration 😅
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nobody 2 years ago
I've stopped using services that don't let me hide myself. Reddit was the last centralized service I use.
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nobody 2 years ago
Used* I deleted it some months ago.
Certain government websites began restricting access once we set up a Tor node. Consequently, I have to use a VPN to get weather updates now.
Yeah, we no longer have a neutral Internet. A large reason for that is the lack of cost. VPN addresses are blocked largely because they're used in DDoS attacks, and SMTP is no longer an open protocol because of spam. The internet should not be free to use.
This really is the worst. Instagram started the trend with their hideous "log in or else" flow. Then Twitter and reddit went to insanely privacy-hostile API changes instead of simply requiring a proof of work or anon payment. Even some major nostr relays seem to be doing Tor blocking now (damus? Not sure, but I get a ton of errors connecting to certain relays via Tor.) Platforms have become so fearful of bots/spam/scraping (or rather pretend to be fearful, so as to justify blatantly commercial and anti-social decision-making) that they've totally destroyed the open access model that a functioning freenet depends on. This is the main reason I want to see "unowned" protocols succeed. Jack has it right: we're at a turning point. View quoted note →
I don't really blame them - they have every right to demand and enforce payment for their service. What I do blame is Cypherpunks for not making freedom tech alternatives for popular functions sooner. All of this has been predictable for a long time. Why is it that devs in the freedom tech space only do things when its too late and even then just make apps that don't even fill needs?
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Kendy 2 years ago
From my brief exposure, compensation/wages seems to be a major roadblock. Even more so now with steep inflation. Cypherpunk devs gotta feed their families. They’re probably the type (on avg) to be too humble to ask for handouts as well. Maybe we should really blame people like you and I for not showering devs in money unprompted because it’s something we highly value 🤷🏻
Bitstream could help decentralize the web by allowing relays to serve data to users over Lightning bit by bit, packet by packet. Without Bitstream, paying for files over Lightning requires trusting the relay to not run away with the money… But with Bitstream, the need to trust relays is minimized because relays can only claim the Lightning payment if they deliver the exact file requested by the user. 🌐⚡️
Agree! The "Internet" has pretty much moved its content behind Cloudflare (giving US Intel Community a vantage point?). Agree, VPN and Tor endpoints are blacklisted and throttled. A real pain. (Even rented VPS IPs tend to be in blacklisted range). The solution? As mentioned, a new protocol or set of protocols has to succeed.
Time to show the folks behind the walls that they're there to imprison them, not keep them safe! Nostr does that. Bitcoin does that. FOSS does that. Stay humble, stack says and #zap freely. You can't take it with you. #grownostr #plebchain #coffeechain View quoted note →
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Geist 2 years ago
I notice it everywhere, its unsettling, having always on vpn kill switches is making a lot of services unusable. Not having google play services hasnt been so bad, but some things just cant work. Staying ahead of the curve is requiring constant adaptation.
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medicineman9 2 years ago
What do you think about AETHER? Seems to work very fine and it is free software...
That moment you let go of the plane, and your brain goes, you’re in technical terms have passed the point of no return, the gravitational event horizon plunging to certain death. Nothing to worry now, terminal velocity is painless. Fear comes when there are strings to pull or find insight in the mechanics of water balloons. 🪂
> Even some major nostr relays seem to be doing Tor blocking now Ed, I've been a Tor maximalist for nearly 10 years, and can definitely relate. But I think the Tor friction that we've been experiencing on nostr is mostly due to naive operators using Cloudflare to front-end their services and relays, rather than malevolence (as is definitely the case with centralized platforms). Most of these people have never run a server before, and while it's sad to see them walk straight into the Cloudflare funnel, in my opinion it needs to be part of their learning curve - just like a bitcoiner's shitcoin period. I think as the network matures and the rubber meets the roadspikes, Tor friendliness will emerge organically. Give it a year :)
5 of my 14 relays are regularly blocking me until next day. Of one I know it is behind Cloudflare, and suspect the others are too.
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deleted 2 years ago
The future is self hosted services, or i am going amish.
Honestly man it’s so fucking epic to have you on nostr, keep the based takes rolling
Infinity for Reddit also switched to subscriptions to keep up with #reddit #API updates, so it's dead on #fdroid image
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Bek 2 years ago
Instagram has alot of fake pages on there. I don't get anyone safe following me until I told Shane. And I mostly get creeps.
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Xdu 2 years ago
With Android 14 is going to be worst; Android 14 blocks all modification of system certificates, even as root
ws://2pbkpndvpeebljfvjew6auq63lndzszqnntct5aqfmazslerzxe75kad.onion
Recently on holidays I tried flying my drone close to where I grew up. The app informed me it was now a restricted area and offered no guarantee that I would be able to maintain control of my drone. The app then began an identity verification routine, before launch. Needless to say, I aborted the flying mission.
The spam is a real issue. It's horrid. But its a spam problem in most if not all social media, and I'm not that certain that the answer is to make it cost to post. But I don't know, all I can think of is community driven filters you can opt in to.
Some genius will rebuild podcasts over a nostr or ipfs file store, like what @npub1gf3evh74st92vrpnkdvcnn2fan6wqht87995wru4u3q9gg8xnc0qnc3mck is building. Then we can use tools like zspotify to pull down podcast episodes and bring them over to the open world we are building.
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Xdu 2 years ago
Many forks of Android like GrapheneOS and LineageOS are going to have problems. It is going to be impossible to debug your own traffic.
Maybe I don't know enough. I'm thinking that a system certificate ensures system integrity and modification should not, for obvious reasons, be possible. It would seem that my understanding is, at least, incomplete, but can you elaborate?
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banjo 1 year ago
if you use ChatGPT you're frankly part of the problem. ever take the time to read their terms of service? oppressive and dystopian when people continue to use services that are collecting information it seems quite hypocritical to complain about some other service doing the same and please don't say "I have nothing to hide"