Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Internet is Breaking and We Need Contingencies

Video download link | md5sum 6a84c3a45403cd4467e8f79cf7fb51ae Internet is Under Attack, Governments Say They Protect You Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: A lot of the Internet (connectivity over UDP/TCP) and stuff built on top of it seems to be rotting and/or ebbing away, not just in Russia and China (among other Internet villains/scapegoats, notorious for extensive censorship/blocking); This scope of sabotage and obstruction goes further and further, extending far beyond the corporate Web, so that necessitates a rapid change in online behaviour (failing that, offline fallbacks)

THE national news sites have been warped into government propaganda sites, corporate media is selling war, and Twitter profits from conflict.

Where are we heading?

"Our self-hosted IRC network is a lot better anyway."Well, surely enough alternatives will be sought. I quit social control media (all of it) 5 days ago and so far I'm loving it. Our self-hosted IRC network is a lot better anyway. It's very diverse in all sorts of ways and it allows rapid response (native software has better interfaces than Web interfaces), it's quicker to type in it, and there's no time delays for responses (rather than wait for notifications people speak almost in real time).

The video explains rather bizarre things we've seen on the Internet lately, especially US-based ISPs (blocking things that they really ought not block), and then reminds people that we've invested a lot of time and effort improving the Gemini capsule. It's not that it's robust to censorship, not inherently anyway, but it's 'off the radar' for the most part. Sanctions, for example, don't impact Gemini capsules. The same is true when it comes to IRC, especially with many networks coming online all the time. Setting up an IRC network is vastly simpler than running and maintaining social control media platforms.

"Principles of the cornerstones of the Net aren't being tolerated anymore."With rotting economies (the full effect of soaring corporate and residential energy prices -- with their knock-on effect on travel, food etc. -- is yet to be seen) and an unstable world at risk of nuclear confrontation the governments will likely resort to unprecedented measures. Adapting when things already escalate is adapting too late.

Self-hosting has never seemed so attractive. Third parties cannot be relied upon as many shut down (due to government, corporate, or financial pressures), the censorious tendencies aside. 2022 is going to be a very interesting year for the Internet because we're seeing it stress-tested on many levels. Principles of the cornerstones of the Net aren't being tolerated anymore.

Recent Techrights' Posts

How We Do Techrights (and What's Changing Next Week)
Many former news sites no longer yield much non-meaningless news (not anymore); there's a gap to be filled
Links 12/07/2026: Palantir Unrest and Wireshark 4.6.7
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2026: New Instrument Time and PalmOS Experiences in 2026
Links for the day
Red Hat Staff Says IBM Policy Has Stigmatised Him as a Tool and a Slopper With Plagiarism Tools
IBM is killing Red Hat with slop
Freedom of Choice or Freedom Versus Choice (or When All Choices Are Incompatible With Freedom)
When some business asserts that it gives people different options, then it can rightly argue that it offers some choices, but that is not the same as freedom
Techrights IRC Turns 5 Without a “Code of Conduct”, “Code of Conduct Committee”, and All Those Bureaucratic Nightmares
18+ years if one counts our time in Freenode as well
Why U No Use AI???
Many hype waves come and go
There Are Still Slopfarms in Google News
Google is trying to participate in if not lead this pyramid scheme
The Cyber Show Explains How Slop and Promotion of Slop is About Taking Control Away From Computer Users
"On making a trustworthy machine"
Keeping Available the Site at All Times
Informal arrangements and crowdfunding keep our work available despite resistance (including from people who break the law)
What If "Era of AI" and "AI Revolution" (Fake News) Never Happened?
So how much longer before the bust (or bubble-burst)?
GNU/Linux Approaches 5% in Australia
5% by year's end?
Europe/EU is Moving Towards Independence, Fast to Adopt Free Software
More and more states (governments, public sector) in Germany are dumping Microsoft
GNU/Linux Grows at the Expense of Windows
People who want to get work done already left Windows
Tux Machines Growing as a Volunteers-Run Site
Historically the site did not have many original stories, but this changed as the audience grew and the site gained more recognition
Links 12/07/2026: European Commission Versus ‘Addictive Design’, "Google Loses Final Appeal Over $4.7 Billion EU Android Antitrust Fine"
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Market Share Increases Some More Today, statCounter Measures It at 7.3%
Will more such thresholds and records be broken?
Gemini Links 12/07/2026: Studying Languages and 2026 Old Computer Challenge (OCC)
Links for the day
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIII - At the EPO, Cocaine Addicts and Their Friends Are "Protected Class"
What does that tell us about the EPO?
Increasing Output by Focusing on Originals
It's probably more important to carry on with these than it is to keep abreast of non-crucial news
Amid Strikes and Industrial Actions, Young Professionals at the European Patent Office (EPO) Kept on 'Short Leash', According to the Local Staff Committee The Hague
Issues affecting Young Professionals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 11, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, July 11, 2026
Blogs May be Making a Comeback (They're Not Fediverse, They Are Joined by RSS Feeds)
Don't fake expansion where none existed
ChromeOS and GNU/Linux in the United Kingdom Reach 11%
the UK shows signs of digital maturity
Corporate Media: Blame the People Who Enter the Abandoned IBM Buildings, Not IBM for Abandoning Workers in Pursuit of IT Sweatshops
When the media spreads falsehoods stocks can go up (a lot higher), but at whose expense and how long for?
Canonical is Selling Microsoft, It Pays The Register MS to Sell Microsoft
It's all about money to them. And they call this journalism.
When Red Hat's HR Becomes the Same as IBM's HR (Bluewashing)
Red Hat keeps sacking very experienced engineers and adding temporary interns
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia
Assuming this is more or less accurate, we could use a plausible explanation
SUEPO Munich Report on the Recent EPO Demonstration and Rolling Strikes That Continue to Grow
"increasing registrations for the 'rolling strikes' running until autumn"
Over a Week After Microsoft Discontinued Some XBox Models It Apparently Exits Some Markets Altogether
We seem to be witnessing the end of XBox
Gemini Links 11/07/2026: Old Computer challenge, Poems, Antenna, and More
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2026: "Trademark wars of Influencer Culture", Xinuos Uses Copyrights Versus UNIX
Links for the day
North America: GNU/Linux Measured at 10%
To better understand what contributes to the gains
Following Corrections and Adjustments statCounter Sees GNU/Linux at 7.1%, an All-Time High
There is a lot of layoffs at Microsoft this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 10, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, July 10, 2026
Links 11/07/2026: Wednesday-Saturday News Catch-up
Links for the day
Prioritising High-Importance News
In order to fully catch up with news we'll not publish many new articles until next week