Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Shot in the foot with a laser

Several times in recent columns I've mooted the prospect of building an alternet (a "citizen's Internet") using laser as the transport medium.

As soon as I get my Raspberry Pi computers I'll be spending what little spare time I have available on developing some code and hardware that will turn the combination of a cheap laser pointer, photo-receptor and Raspberry Pi into a self-contained "alternode".

Hopefully, I won't be the only one working on such a project and eventually I expect one or two of the best designs to proliferate -- especially as a method of setting up totally independent mesh networks that will be unfettered by the recent move to "clamp down" on the real Internet.

But can you really use a cheap laser pointer for such things?

Well, according to this story, you can.

In fact, the bandwidth of such a system is significantly higher than WiFi -- making it even more suitable for mesh networks that need to and carry large amounts of data.

Another story on today's wires that would indicate just how useful such a network might be in sidestepping the road-blocks being rolled out by "the powers that be" is the report that piracy is shifting to VPNs.

An independent network, owned (in total) by nobody and operated on frequencies (light) that are outside the control of RF regulatory bodies would seem the perfect way to remind certain sectors of industry that their business models are past their "best-by" date.

It would be very interesting to see just how authorities might respond (under pressure from the recording and movie industries) to such a "people's Net".

Would they simply ban all laser devices?

Would they attempt to ban the concept of mesh networks where each node is owned by a separate person or entity?

Or would they perhaps come up with a license system associated with the use of lasers for communications purposes and mandate, as part of securing such a license, that all data must be logged and made available to the authorities for "security" purposes?

That last one would probably be the way they'd go (IMHO) as it would add extra revenues to the crown's coffers and also keep the puppetmasters happy by allowing them to continue pretending that 20th century business models will still work in 2012.

However, licensing the very light we see becomes a dangerous precedent and I would expect Maori to put their hands up for a share of the booty that would flow from such a scheme. After all, although they weren't using radio when they first settled NZ, they were using light.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's time for the governments of the world to back off and stop trying to stick their noses into everyone's business. Simply accept that people demand and should expect the right to privacy.

Sure, it might mean that some crimes go unpunished -- but if they're that worried about undetected crimes, why not fit cameras to every room in every house in the country and have us surveilled for drug abuse, domestic violence, smacking our kids, etc?

I wonder how many people, while sitting through those obnoxious "you wouldn't steal a handbag" threats at the beginning of their legally store-bought DVDs, think to themselves "well, if I'm going to be accused of a crime, I might as well commit a crime"?

The crazy thing is that these studios think that those lame threats might stop people from ripping their DVDs. Little do they realise that the endless crap that forms the preamble to the movie is the very reason that many people *do* rip those DVDs.

I know that many of the DVDs I've bought have been ripped to DVDR solely to get rid of that dross.

Of course once someone has the software needed to rip a DVD and prune out the threats, I suspect many realise how easy it then would be to rip a friend's DVD or one from the video store.

And, once the laser-based alternet mesh is running, how easy will it be to share movies with others in your area -- on a totally anonymous basis?

Out of feet yet MPAA?

Please visit the sponsor!

Have your say on this...

PERMALINK to this column

Oh, and don't forget today's sci/tech news headlines

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font