$Id: README,v 1.11 2003/05/01 23:11:19 blackh Exp $

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Stephen Blackheath  02 May 2003               http://www.grapevineproject.org/


Thank you for helping us test the Grapevine Project!

NOTE:  The use of this software entails some risk to you.  It is important
that you read the WARNING document before using it.

For usage instructions, see README.<Your Operating System>


WHAT IS IT?

The Grapevine Project is an ongoing project to create an anonymizing
peer-to-peer file storage network.  At the time of writing, it is still in
development.  The goals are:

  * It acts as a sort of global shared hard drive, and it functions like the
    World Wide Web.
  * You can publish any file.  And we mean ANY FILE.
  * You can retrieve any file.  (See above.)
  * It strongly resists censorship, surveillance and denial of service
    attacks.
  * The nodes in the network collaborate to store files.  It is not a "file
    sharing network" in the usual sense.
  * You can distribute popular files for low cost, since the downloader pays
    the full cost, so it lends itself to content distribution.
  * It operates reliably and efficiently, even though the network is composed
    of unreliable nodes.
  * It can scale to global size.


CAN I USE IT WITH A DIAL-UP CONNECTION?

Yes - please do.  The software is designed to cope well with a connection that
is only sometimes up.


CAN I USE IT FROM BEHIND A FIREWALL?

The short answer is no.  But you can do it if you configure your firewall to
forward your network TCP port to the machine on which grapevine is running.
(The port number must match.)

We intend to fix it so you can run it on a machine behind a firewall with no
special configuration, but this is not top priority at the moment.


WHY IS IT GOBBLING UP ALL MY CPU TIME?

It is supposed to do this.  Grapevine runs a low-priority thread which
consumes all otherwise unused CPU time.  This should have only a neglegible
impact on the performance of your system.  The website explains the purpose
behind this "Solve A Hard Problem" algorithm.


GRAPEVINE DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM

This version of the software functions as the real thing, while also acting as
a development platform.  We can publish changes to the software, which your
Grapevine daemon will automatically pick up and execute.

A central plank of our philosophy is the total elimination of all forms of
centralized control.  We cannot liberate you by making you dependent on us
instead of someone else.

This is in obvious contradiction to the automatic loading of new versions of
code.  We realize this, but we are doing it as a convenience to ourselves
during the development phase.  When the software is nearer completion, we will
release "real" versions that do not bootstrap off the network.


WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

For several reasons:-


Free speech

Freedom of expression is the basis for all other freedoms (and freedom of
thought is more basic still).  We believe that in most countries today, the
legal system is failing in its duty to uphold this inalienable right.


Information as power

Few people truly grasp the political power that comes from the control of the
flow of information in human society.  The withholding of information is one
of the primary mechanisms of power at all strata of society.  When this power
is concentrated, the result is tyranny.  When this power is diffused, tyranny
cannot exist.


Intellectual property

Information is a form of wealth, but it has a different economic behaviour to
manufactured goods.  The important difference is that if I give you a piece of
information, I do not lose it.  The free exchange of information produces the
greatest possible material wealth (which is quite distinct from monetary
wealth, which represents the distribution of economic control rather than
a measure the amount of wealth as is commonly believed).

Intellectual property in its modern form is an economic system that sacrifices
this great benefit to society, so that corporations can translate the power of
withholding information into income.  Due to industry lobbying, the copyright
expiry period has gradually increased from 15 years to 99 years, and so these
corporations now own a large section of our culture, and even much of our
language (the basis of thought).  And, they are constantly dreaming up new
things that can be owned, such as genetic material.

Our purpose is to shift the balance of power.


Libel laws

Libel (defamation) laws were created to protect a person's good name from
mud slinging, which is a very good idea.  Unfortunately, some while ago
companies became 'legal persons'.  And so they had an unbeatable combination:
The legal rights of a person, and the political power of a homicidal robot
from the future.  So for example, they are protected by libel laws, but not
bound by murder laws.  This has allowed them to go into Third World countries
and shoot people (which is becoming a regular occurrence), and then prosecute
anyone who tells on them.


Mass media

The world is drifting - and in some countries, stampeding - towards a
totalitarian structure.  Basic freedoms are being eroded in Australia and
Europe, while the United States Government is making a sad parody of the
country's founding document.  Totalitarianism is already entrenched in much
of the remainder of the world.

A central pillar of any totalitarian system is the mass media, and this is
illustrated rather well in George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty Four".  Such a
mass media can only exist in a vaccuum, and recent events have shown that the
Internet is fast becoming the last refuge of journalism.

But you can be sure that plans are afoot to rectify this situation.

Media/news conglomerates have already bought up Internet service providers en
masse, and they are restricting various types of outgoing traffic from cable
modems.  The Internet is slowly being converted into interactive television.

Many news websites drop old articles into the memory hole, freeing themselves
from scrutiny.  New Zealand's leading news website drops articles after a day!
The global news agencies are swiftly degenerating into outright lying,
especially regarding economics and war.

Governments - the Australian Government being a shining example - are dreaming
up fake crackdowns on child pornography, hate speech, and other acts of
terrorism, in order to justify restrictive censorship laws.  Censorship has
this marvellous property of being inherently unaccountable.  It only needs to
be introduced - it does not need to be justified on an ongoing basis.

Various "terrorist" websites have been shut down in the USA (First Amendment
be damned!).  Internet Service Providers (which are owned by news and
entertainment corporations) are increasingly being required to police
censorship and copyright laws, and more recently, "counter-terrorism".

And importantly, hate speech is now illegal in Europe, providing a panorama
of excuses for political censorship.


Surveillance

The old Echelon spy system, the Council of Europe's "Convention on
Cybercrime", and the United States' Information Awareness Office are three
indications of plans to introduce total global electronic surveillance.

What's wrong with surveillance if you have nothing to hide?  Let me answer
this argument.  A free state is achieved by a system that is carefully
designed so as to avoid its greatest weakness - the untrustworthiness of
individuals.  It prevents too much power getting into too few hands.
This is achieved by - 1. distributing power between branches of government,
and 2. preventing unnecessary concentrations of power.  A global
surveillance system is a concentration of unimaginable power.  This fact is
not immediately obvious to most people.  When the government is honest and
strongly structured, these concentrations are a potential weakness in the
system.  When the government is corrupt, freedom is dead.  Which kind of
government do you live under?

Surveillance is a central theme in Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty Four".  This
surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment of the American Constitution.  And,
if you think about it the Third Amendment is also about surveillance, but it
was written before Orwell's notion of "continuous warfare" became non-fiction,
and before the advent of police and digitally networked video cameras.

  ARTICLE THREE

  No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without
  consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed
  by law.

  ARTICLE FOUR

  The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
  effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
  and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
  affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
  persons or things to be seized.

