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[Grapevine-cvs-commits] cvs: website / index.php
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From: rossta <gra...@li...> - 2001-10-13 23:33:56
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rossta Sat Oct 13 16:33:55 2001 EDT
Added files:
/website index.php
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Testing to see if SourceForge supports PHP
Index: website/index.php
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<?php include("header.inc") ?>
<br>
by <a href="mailto:st...@bl...">Stephen Blackheath</a>
- 29 Sept 2001<br>
<br>
Once there was a peer-to-peer file-sharing network called
Napster. People happily shared music files in flagrant violation of
copyright laws. Unfortunately Napster had a fatal weakness: It could
be shut down.<br>
<br>
Free speech is under attack.<sup><a href="http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/Felten_v_RIAA/">
1</a>
, <a href="http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/cpbfaq.html">2</a>
, <a href="http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/cens1.html">3</a>
</sup> The legal system - now corrupted by corporations - is being
used increasingly to deter and limit political expression. And without free
expression of political ideas, democracy cannot exist.<br>
<br>
And, there are those among us who believe in the unrestricted right
to publish anything.<br>
<br>
"But musicians have a right to be paid for their work!" I
hear you cry.<sup><a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/economy.ideas_pr.html">
4</a>
</sup> And maybe you are not in favour of the completely free
and unimpeded publication of hate speech, pornography, bad jokes, conspiracy
theories and sit-coms. Or, perhaps you see these evils as the necessary
price of freedom. Whatever you think, one thing is for sure. These
arguments are about to be rendered academic by technology. You might
as well argue whether the sun should rise and set.<br>
<br>
Welcome to the post-Napster era.<br>
<br>
<hr width="100%" size="1" noshade="">
<h3> Frequently Asked Questions</h3>
<ol>
<li>What does it do?<br>
<br>
To use Grapevine, a user installs the Grapevine software
(currently vapour-ware), making them part of a global data storage
network. The goals are:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>You can publish anything for free (no matter
how popular it gets).</li>
<li>You can publish anonymously.</li>
<li>You can surf anonymously.<br>
</li>
<li>It is difficult for any authority to censor
the network.</li>
<li>It is difficult for any authority to shut
the network down.</li>
<li>Files are retrieved reliably.</li>
<li>A balance is struck between anonymity and
efficiency.</li>
<li>The network can scale to <i>any</i> size.<br>
<br>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Hasn't this been done?<br>
<br>
Not really. <i>This is a new technology.</i> The idea has been around for
about five years, but it has never been successfully executed. (Or,
at least it has never been executed to our satisfaction.) This project brings
a new approach, though it borrows from other attempts.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>What is the project status?<br>
<br>
<i><b>There is no code yet.</b></i><br>
<br>
We've nearly worked out how it will work, but this is not finalized
yet. The next stage will be to build a prototype to help finalize the details.
Then, the document will be completed and we will start building the real
thing.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Grapevine is a <u><i>file storage</i></u> network.
How does this differ from <u><i>file-sharing</i></u> networks?<br>
<br>
With a file-sharing network (such as the old Napster and <a href="http://www.gnutella.wego.com/">
Gnutella</a>
), you store the file. The purpose of the network is to make this fact
known to others. With The Grapevine, however, the nodes comprising the
network collaborate to actually store the file. So, if you publish something
then disconnect, the file stays published.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>What other projects are related?<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.freenetproject.org/">The
Free Network Project</a>
has very similar goals, but our approach is different and
we believe we have solved more of the technical problems.</li>
<li><a href="http://oceanstore.cs.berkeley.edu/">
OceanStore</a>
is intended to be an efficient global data store.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.freehaven.net/">The Free
Haven Project</a>
is intended to achieve strong anonymous/secure publishing,
but with less emphasis on efficiency.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
</li>
<li>What sort of user interface will it have? <br>
<br>
It will have an HTTP interface so it looks like the web. You will be
able to upload files using FTP.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>What will be the licence terms? <br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#LGPL">The GNU
Lesser General Public Licence (LGPL)</a>
<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Where is the technical detail?<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>The detailed technical explanation is in <a href="grapevine.pdf">
grapevine.pdf</a>
(360K - 45 pages). This document is not completed yet.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
</li>
<li>I want to help out! I have questions! What do I do?<br>
<br>
Email <a href="mailto:st...@bl...">Stephen Blackheath</a>
. I'll be very pleased to hear from you. </li>
</ol>
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