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Great minds...

I've written several columns on the concept of building an "undernet" that operated totally outside the realm of the internet.

Using lasers or RF technology, such an undernet would be comprised of many individual nodes that not only served as an entry/exit point for data but also as a relay to forward data to/from other identical nodes within operating range.

Given the very low cost of both laser and ISM-band RF technology, the creation of such an undernet would be almost trivial and the more we hear of government snooping on our online activities, the more attractive such an option becomes.

Well it seems that "great minds think alike" (or perhaps it's just that "fools seldom differ") but this story from New Scientist magazine is promoting exactly the same concept.

So really -- what are the chances of getting something like this going in the "real world"?

And, just as important, how could we avoid it being used for evil - in the way that the Tor network was recently exposed as a perfect anonymising vehicle for those engaged in the creation, sharing and consumption of child pornography?

Well the answer to that question is probably "we couldn't".

Perhaps governments around the world should take note of that fact.

The more you force people to take extreme steps to protect their identities and activities online, the easier you make it for nasty folk like kiddy-pornographers to conduct their business.

In a totally open environment, where nobody bothers to conceal who they are or what they're doing -- because they know they're not under 24/7 surveillance, it becomes far easier to spot the tell-tale signs of illegal activity and easy to identify those responsible.

Treat everyone like a criminal however, and those *real* offenders disappear amongst the noise created by millions of others who are simply using encryption and identity cloaking to preserve their legitimate privacy.

Push people so far that they opt to become a node of an independently owned and operated highly encrypted undernet and then you're really going to have problems catching the bad-guys.

Despite the hurdles, the Ars article mentions a mesh network in Spain that now contains over 21,000 nodes connected by RF technology and which spans much of Catalonia. Given the Kiwi "can do" attitude, I wonder if it is too incredible to believe that the same snowballing effect might happen here?

Take an NZ$50 Raspberry Pi, a WiFi USB adaptor and some smart routing software -- and viola, done! Suburban mesh network all set and ready to go for less than the price of a month's ADSL broadband access.

Yes, there's a chicken and egg situation -- why would people connect when there's nothing actually on such an undernet?

Well park a relay outside McDonalds or some other WiFi-enabled locations and you've got some anonymous gateways to "the real Net". Get some "movie clubs" set up in the neigbourhood and you can watch "someone else's" copy of Iron Man 3 on a Saturday evening instead of renting the DVD or paying for Sky Movies.

Once a few things like that start appearing, more and more people will want to invest less than $100 in hardware to join the local undernet and then you find that each area's local undernet grows to a point where they overlap -- forming a much wider-area network.

Lather, rinse, repeat -- and pretty soon, large parts of NZ begin to look like Catalonia -- perhaps.

Meanwhile, even if they want to get in on the act, buying a node will get the spooks nowhere.

There is no identifying information (other than a raw undernet IP number) to identify any specific user and there are no hardwired links between any part of the system. Even the logical structure of the mesh can be changed dynamically to make it harder to find a given node.

Indeed, node numbers can also be dynamically (much the same as a dynamic IP) so that tracking users becomes a virtual impossibility. And of course, all the data inside the packets is encrypted.

Would this leave the "real internet" as something like a communal bathing area -- where you can get unlimited hot water and clean towels, so long as you're prepared to expose your nakedness to the world? While the undernet was like your own private bathroom which allowed you to bathe in privacy and seclusion, free from the prying eyes of others and the authorities?

Governments need to be very careful how they treat the public -- because the public can respond in unexpected ways if they feel they've had enough of being bullied and having their rights stripped away.

Would *you* be prepared to spend under $100 to become a node of a wireless mesh network?

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