Where the Sidewalk Ends: An Internet Story

[Bessie]

I'm going to miss him when the bastards finally manage to assassinate him. Then again...

 

[downloads]

I swear, these updates are the most entertaining parts of this forum for me. Null always sounds like a poetic and revolutionary leader (not joking) when he writes these posts about freedom and fighting the system even when he has to make sacrifices to do so.

It almost makes me feel like I'm witnessing something truly important, even of historical significance, in real time.

If nothing else, he's a very good writer.

Cliche, but I always thought that Null is like the internet's Hunter S Thompson.

 

[tantric_depressive]

*movie trailer voice* Jersh Ehrverlord has been pushed to the end of his sidewalk, but this summer he pushes back

 

[Vecr]

1. Locate Ukrainian gopniks.
2. Give Ukrainian gopniks 1000 euros and a few bottles of Smirnoff.
3. Tell gopniks "This man Nool is feg and is hoarding all the menthols".
4. Discover that Null's already a high ranking member of their gang.
5. Get beaten with a baseball bat by Gopniks.
6. Null uses euroes to keep the site alive longer.

Seriously though, physical security is a very much overlooked component of doing things on the internet.

At least @Null doesn't make it too easy for people to find him.

 

[MAPK phosphatase]

Seriously though, physical security is a very much overlooked component of doing things on the internet.

At least @Null doesn't make it too easy for people to find him.

With all his talk about "If you're doxed, get a gun" I wouldn't be surprised if Null sleeps with an AK-47 under his mattress.

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

I'm just curious how an ISP running on (assumedly) leased circuits with its core infrastructure in a colo manages to get ARIN to give it its own ASN.

I guess maybe @Null got one under the multihome policy? I always thought getting an ASN was as prestigious an accomplishment as becoming a trusted root CA.

 

[I Love Beef]

It's a good fuckin' day to be a Kiwi Farmer. I always wanted to know what real renegade cyberpunk was like. Who'd knew I'd be at the heart of it?

Never change, Null.

 

[Monkey Prick]

Everytime some one tries to land the killshot on this place it just forces the errverlord to make it bigger,faster, stronger. How long before @Null has to build his own internet or jack us all into the matrix so we can keep laughing at spastics?

 

[Elysian]

There's a lot of purple prose and techie stuff here I don't understand but it sure does sound badass...

 

[mindlessobserver]

They simply have to keep up in their attempts to take the site down. Sure it may be an inconvenience for Null but in the end, he already managed to deal with the repeat tism of Vordrak. I wouldn't be surprised if this website gets hit with something big only to keep on going despite the shit being flung at it.

I was only half joking when I said Null could end up before the US supreme court. I'm not trained in tech boy stuff, and I am not a lawyer. I am however a trained historian. A thus far huge waste of my time but one that has taught me how to remember a ton of random crap, research the crap I don't know, and find someway to reference it all.

If my read on what he is saying he has had to do to keep the lights on here is accurate, Null has essentially set up his own independent utility company. 1776 Hosting is the internet equivalent to a water utility. It does not own the reservoirs, rivers and lakes, but it does own the plant the water flows into and moves on to its end users. Us.

I am using a water utility analogy here because to my knowlege there is not one single definitive case regarding the internet that pertains to the rights of users, ISPs or even what the constitutions role in it is beyond what the government can't do on it. There are numerous cases relating to government search of internet information, which by and large reference much older cases related to telephone wire tapping. All of them relate to the issuance of warrants, which the government has neatly side stepped by setting up its own super secret court (the FISA court) to issue warrants whenever they act.

What has never been adjudicated however is whether or not the ISPs have a DUTY to provide internet. Right now they are merely providing a technical service they can withdraw at any time. There are no laws to stop an internet backbone from blackballing the Farms, and we actually see foreign backbones in Australia and New Zealand actively trying to do this already. In this USA however (which matters because this is where the Farms locates in) , the matter is not so simple.

So why do I bring up Water Utility? Because there are a few Supreme Court cases pertaining to water utilities that are very relevant here, and date back to the late 19th century gilded age when the Courts had to grapple with the surge of new fangled technology like running water and electricity.

"Long Island Water Supply v. Brooklyn" (1897). This was an eminent domain case. When Brooklyn annexed a New York township as one of its wards, it assumed control of the water utilities. The voided township had a prior contract with the local water uility. When Brooklyn used eminent domain to seize the fire hydrants, they sued. The courts found against the utility, deciding that water being so important to the functioning of a modern city, could not be held hostage from the state by private contracts.

That the supply of water to a city is a public purpose cannot be doubted, and hence the condemnation of a water supply system must be recognized as within the unquestioned limits of the power of eminent domain. It matters not to whom the water supply system belongs, individual or corporation, or what franchises are connected with it; all may be taken for public uses upon payment of just compensation.

What we are grappling at here is nothing "new" in American history, if we take the broad strokes. When some ass hat spokesman for twitter says that the constitution does not apply because they are "private company" uses in essence the exact same argument countless other sheisters representing the utility companies did a hundred years ago. The only difference now though is they are providing something a tad more intangible then water, electricity or gas. IMO though the fundamental issues are the same. We take it for granted now that so long as you pay your electrical bill, the utility cannot disconnect you. We've forgotten that a hundred years ago this was not true. It took laws and lawsuits to restrict the power the privately owned utilities had to leverage their product against the population.

So with that said, I got my popcorn and soda ready to see if the people who want to take down the Farms are willing to cross that final bridge, and for no reason other then "fuck you, we don't like you", cut off that tier-1 ISP service. Is this autistic shitposting forum truly worth that much? Maybe it is. Some of the biggest cases in US history occurred for stupid and petty reasons.

 

[Vecr]

I'm just curious how an ISP running on (assumedly) leased circuits with its core infrastructure in a colo manages to get ARIN to give it its own ASN.

I guess maybe @Null got one under the multihome policy? I always thought getting an ASN was as prestigious an accomplishment as becoming a trusted root CA.

Some sort of classic multihoming would make sense, but I am very interested to know how it's physically set up.

 

[LU 010]

I remember in some stream or other you referenced this concept of anti-fragility. That the farms gets stronger every time it's attacked. Good example of it tbh. Semper fi.

I'm just curious how an ISP running on (assumedly) leased circuits with its core infrastructure in a colo manages to get ARIN to give it its own ASN.

I guess maybe @Null got one under the multihome policy? I always thought getting an ASN was as prestigious an accomplishment as becoming a trusted root CA.

Oh people in colos do this for multihoming all the time. It's a good way to get robust failover if one of your ISPs goes down. It's a pain in the ass in terms of setup and maintenance, though, compared to just plonking an IP down on your router and calling it a day.

 

[kadoink]

I already fulfilled my pay piggy duties this month with my brave donation, rest of you better do the same!

 

[The Reaper]

Dear Ooperator, is the next plan to put the server in space? The only threat then will be Brianna Wu’s moon rocks.

 

[The_GRIDs]

Funny story, guess what was up for renewal July 1st?

What happens if/when they come after your new guys? We Nevada now, yeah?

 

[Vecr]

Dear Ooperator, is the next plan to put the server in space? The only threat then will be Brianna Wu’s moon rocks.

International Space Station co-location?

 

[AnOminous]

Dear Ooperator, is the next plan to put the server in space? The only threat then will be Brianna Wu’s moon rocks.

We should put it on the Moon. Then we will control the moon rocks.

 

[VV 422]

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in all seriousness, you provide an awesome resource and it would really suck if the site got taken offline permanently. thanks for keeping it afloat

 

[⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛]

At this point, I'm amazed no one has done the obvious to deal with Null.
1. Locate Ukrainian gopniks.
2. Give Ukrainian gopniks 1000 euros and a few bottles of Smirnoff.
3. Tell gopniks "This man Nool is feg and is hoarding all the menthols".
4. Gopniks beat Null with a baseball bat.

Sir, you greatly underestimate the civic pride of the Slavic working man.

They are most unfairly maligned group in the world, outside the Southern United States.

for my tracksuit bros.

 

[ILovePudding]

Some sort of classic multihoming would make sense, but I am very interested to know how it's physically set up.

I hope you're not holding your breath waitng for details.