Re: [gaia] draft-irtf-gaia-alternative-network-deployments. Mitar review, question #1: Motivations

[Roger Baig Viñas <[e-mail]>]

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Hi,

On 04/14/2016 09:52 AM, Mitar wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 8:33 AM, Jose Saldana <[e-mail]> 
> wrote:
>>> - Various forms of activism, looking for network neutrality 
>>> guarantees, anti-censorship, decentralization to minimize 
>>> control, building of commons, etc.
>> 
>> When you say "building of commons", do you mean "Digital commons"
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons#Digital_commons .
> 
> Various forms of commons, but mostly commons in the sense of 
> Internet connectivity. If we see Internet connectivity as a human 
> right, then commons is a social way to provide that. Like drinking 
> water can be seen as commons, public spaces as well. It is commons 
> to access digital commons. :-) The network itself becomes a
> virtual public space where people can participate without
> censorship, oppression. So commons in very broad term. It is really
> the best term I can find to explain various aspects of community
> networks.
> 
> For example, we can see the infrastructure put up by community 
> networks as commons. Not owned by any one particular entity, but 
> operated and maintained by a community.
> 
> This research paper talks more about this view on community 
> networks:
> 
> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2725358
I haven't had the time to read the whole paper, but, at least the
statement

"Guifi.net's infrastructure is managed as a “commons”: it is legally owned
and commercially run by a non­profit foundation (on behalf of its users)."

is not true:

1) the contributor keeps the ownership rights over the contributions
made, so, he/she/it (e.g. public admins., enterprises, etc.) can keep
the ownership or he/she/it can donate them to the Foundation (this has
become the preferred/recommended practice by the Foundation as is the
best way to ensure that these contributions will never be removed from
the common pool resource) among any other actions the holder of the
ownership rights is permitted to take by law.

2) commercial activity is essentially done by ISPs (we call them "the
professionals")

my thoughts:

1) probably the mistakes are related to a weak understanding of the
implications of the  "common pool resource" (CPR), or, at least,
what are our understanding of these implications. The general idea
behind guifi.net is that we understand the network part of the
network-contents pairing as a CPR, so both the deployment and the
operation of the network infrastructure is done cooperatively.
We show this in slide 3 of
https://guifi.net/files/20160414_Fundacio_guifi.pdf
using a well know reference diagram (guifi model at the very right)

2) I have the impression that the, at least in some cases, the academics
do not spend enough time in understanding the details and the
consequences these details of what they
study. I guess this is, at least in some cases, due to the heavy
publication pressure they are under. In any case, it is a pity,
because, at least in many cases, the details make a big difference.


Thanks for all these efforts and the constructive discussion.

> 
> (It talks also about organizational structures and motivations for
>  such networks.)
> 
>> - Various forms of activism, looking for network neutrality 
>> guarantees, anti-censorship, decentralization to minimize 
>> control, creating and sharing of "commons"  (i.e. information
>> and knowledge resources that are collectively shared), etc.
> 
> But also infrastructure, the network itself as communication space,
> and control is often similar to other commons-based projects (open
> source projects, etc.).
> 
>> 4.2.  Goals and motivation
>> 
>> Alternative Networks can also be classified according to the 
>> underlying motivation for them, e.g., addressing deployment and 
>> usage hurdles:
>> 
>> o  Reducing initial capital expenditures (for the network and
>> the end user, or both).
>> 
>> o  Providing additional sources of capital (beyond the 
>> traditional carrier-based financing).
>> 
>> o  Reducing on-going operational costs (such as backhaul or 
>> network administration).
>> 
>> o  Leveraging expertise, and having a place for experimentation 
>> and teaching.
>> 
>> o  Reducing hurdles to adoption (digital literacy; literacy in 
>> general; relevance, etc.)
>> 
>> o  Extending coverage to underserved areas (users and 
>> communities).
>> 
>> o  Free sharing of Internet connectivity, including altruistic 
>> reasons.
>> 
>> o  Becoming an active participant in the deployment and 
>> management of a real and operational network.
>> 
>> o  Various forms of activism, looking for network neutrality 
>> guarantees, anti-censorship, decentralization to minimize 
>> control, creating and sharing of "commons" (i.e. information and 
>> knowledge resources that are collectively shared), etc.
>> 
>> o  Providing an alternative service in case of natural disasters 
>> and other extreme situations.
>> 
>> o  Preferring alternative ownership model (co-owning, 
>> co-operating) of the networking infrastructure.
> 
> Looks better and better. Great! Thanks!
> 
> 
> Mitar
> 



- -- 
Roger Baig Viñas
Fundació Privada per a la Xarxa Oberta, Lliure i Neutral guifi.net

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