Marek Isalski – marek @ faelix.net – @maznu

PDF: https://faelix.link/digidemo (4Mb)

"Is Democracy in Crisis? What is the solution?"

DOES THE INTERNETCHANGE EVERYTHING?

INDEPENDENT I.T. SECURITY CONSULTANT

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF FAELIX LIMITED

whoami

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

THE WORLD'S LARGEST

UNGOVERNED SPACE

Schmidt & Cohen, Google Inc.

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

THE WORLD'S LARGEST UNGOVERNED SPACE?!

▸ These bodies have roles in Internet Governance:

▸ ICANN, IAB, IGF, IRTF, RIRs, ISOC, W3C, ITU, NOGs…

▸ This is a very long, dry read:

▸ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_governance

▸ Lots of governance… by consensus!

https:/

/faelix

.link/d

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WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

ONCE AGAIN, WITH LESS "CLICKBAIT"

▸ "An" internet is a group of interconnected networks.

▸ "The" Internet is the global internet that everyone calls "The Internet"

▸ But what is a network?

▸ And how do they interconnect?

THERE IS NO CLOUD, JUST OTHER PEOPLE'S

COMPUTERS.

various attributions

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

Your RouterYour Computer

Stuff you or your IT department doesn’t

want to care about, so we just draw it as a

nebulous cloud because it’s someone

else’s problem!

Your Internet Connection

IMPORTANT METAPHOR!

YOU ARE HERE

BT / SKY / VIRGIN

GOOGLE FACEBOOK

KPN, LEVEL3, GTT, NTT, COGENT…

≈16 OF THESE (8 HEADQUARTERED

OUTSIDE USA)

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

ME!

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

WE PAY THESE COMPANIES TO

DELIVER TRAFFIC TO/FROM US

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

WE DECIDE WHICH TO USE WHEN SENDING

TRAFFIC OUT

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3TIER-1 ALL

CONNECT TO EACH OTHER, BUT DON'T

PAY ANYONE

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

WANT LECTURE

SLIDES PDF!

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

"GET PDF"

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

"GET PDF"

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

digid

emo.p

df

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

digidemo.pdf

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

HOW DOES THE INTERNET WORK?

▸ Lots of connectivity

▸ Interconnectivity

▸ Redundancy

▸ Diversity

▸ Trust

▸ Competence

▸ Wing and a prayer

THIS TALK

Meeting of the techies who run the

UK's Internet Service Providers

NONE OF US KNEW WHAT WE WERE DOING, WE MADE IT UP

AS WE WENT ALONG — PART 2

https://indico.uknof.org.uk/event/39/contributions

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

HOW DOES THE INTERNET WORK?

▸ Lots of connectivity

▸ Interconnectivity

▸ Redundancy

▸ Diversity

▸ Trust

▸ Competence

▸ Wing and a prayer

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR DEMOCRACY!

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

HEY, GUYS! I KNOW HOW TO GET

TO GOOGLE!

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

GOOGLE?

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

GOOGLE?

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

fake google

786JISC aka JANET

You

43531ConsoleConnect

35425Bytemark

3257GTT

174Cogent

41495Faelix WWW

Server

2914NTT

3356Level3

fake google

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS… A LOT!

▸ Usually in error; sometimes malicious.

▸ Every. Single. Day.

▸ https://twitter.com/bgpstream

▸ https://twitter.com/bgpmon

▸ e.g. 13 March 2015: traffic for UK Atomic Weapons Establishment was routed via Ukraine

▸ http://dyn.com/blog/uk-traffic-diverted-ukraine/

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

ENOUGH WITH THE GEEK-SPEAK

ALREADY!

You, right now? :-)

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

WHAT EVEN IS THE INTERNET?

A WONDER OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD

▸ Physically: complex network of copper, optical fibre, wireless…

▸ Logically: complex network of networks of networks of netwo…

▸ Technologically: hardware, software, computer science, maths…

▸ Politically: many tiers of non-governmental regulation.

▸ Geopolitically: legal minefield and diplomatic arena.

▸ Commercially: multinational providers at apex of hierarchy.

▸ Human: built, operated by fallible (questionably honest) beings!

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

READING LIST: "POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY"

▸ Popular press + mass membership party = predictable electorate

▸ Broadcasting was obliged to balance political views.

▸ Anti-partisan, anti-party?

▸ Channel 4: originally created to attract "discriminating minorities" and provide greater freedom of choice.

▸ Originally did not have to balance views within a programme, but only over the whole schedule and over time.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

MEDIA: IT'S ABOUT THE AUDIENCE

▸ First objective of any press/media/broadcasting entity:

▸ attract an audience

▸ Most important pressure on TV scheduling and programme-making:

▸ advertising expenditure

▸ Why would "The Internet" be any different?

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

READING LIST: "POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY"

▸ Different types of TV programmes attract different audiences

▸ e.g. sit-com/soap transcends social class, age, sex

▸ Pressure to maximise audiences

▸ entertainment > serious

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

READING LIST: "POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY"

▸ Increase audience by emphasising personal and human interest aspects

▸ social problems ⇒ individual case studies

▸ "light viewers" ≈ "floating voter"

▸ as unselective as heavy viewers

▸ advertising on high-rating programmes is most efficient way to reach them

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

READING LIST: "POWER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY"

"Thus it is widely believed that press freedom exists because anyone who does not find his views expressed has the right to start his own newspaper. In practice very few can exercise this right."

▸ Starting a blog, YouTube channel = £0.00 capital cost

▸ Generating revenue from YouTube channel = £0.00 setup

▸ Generating revenue from blog, website = £0.00 setup

GAME CHANGER

HOW "THE INTERNET" MAKES MONEY

adverts

analytics

entertainment

IF YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR THE SERVICE THEN YOU ARE THE PRODUCT

various attributions

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

MAKING YOUR GRAPHS GO UP AND TO THE RIGHT

▸ More impressions = more clicks = more advertising revenue

▸ Invest some profits in "search engine optimisation" (SEO)

▸ Get more visitors = cycle repeats = $$$

▸ Get content out quicker for "scoop" to get initial surge of visitors

▸ Old-guard media will be a step behind.

▸ Alters their audience loyalty

▸ Becoming aggregator, custodian, verifier (especially for "elite")

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

▸ "White Hat" = plays by "the rules"

▸ "Black Hat" = what rules?

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

▸ Typically used to raise ranking in search results for keywords.

▸ Higher in results = more people click to see your content.

▸ Goes hand-in-hand with paid-for advertising.

▸ Two bites at the cherry!

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

▸ SEO can also be used to lower ranking in results for search terms.

▸ Less visibility of the real bad news.

▸ "Proactive and reactive tactics to remove or dilute unwanted content from the Internet"

▸ Wall Street bankers hired online reputation companies to minimise their appearance online, paying up to $10k per month for the service.

▸ EU "Right to be Forgotten"

I ONCE MADE $50,000 A MONTH

SPAMMING GOOGLE

https://inbound.org/blog/confessions-of-a-google-spammer

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

SCHMIDT (GOOGLE) ET AL.

"Governments will always find ways to use new levels of connectivity to their advantage, but because of the way current network technology is structured, it truly favours the citizens."

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

https://faelix.link/room641a

SCHMIDT (GOOGLE) ET AL.

"Fewer jobs require a physical presence, talented individuals will have more options available to them… levelling of the playing field for talent."

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

RACE TO BOTTOM?

DRM

▸Digital Rights Management

▸Originally for rights holders to protect their content from "copyright theft"

▸ Increasingly used to stop owners of physical things from performing "unauthorised repairs"

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

https://faelix.link/tractorhacker

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

DOES SCIENCE FICTION HAVE IDEAS?

▸ "Revelation Space" books by Alastair Reynolds

▸ Future faction of humanity called "demarchists"

▸ Political system of "democratic anarchy"

▸ "neural implant that constantly sought the user's opinion on aspects of Demarchist life. This constant prompting eventually faded away into the user's neural background, much like the ticking of a clock might fade away into background noise"

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

ELECTRONIC VOTING

▸ Practical application of digital technology for democracy!

▸ Verifiable (need to be able to trust the count is representative)

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

VERIFIABLE ELECTRONIC VOTING

▸ Take examples from safety-critical systems?

▸ NASA Space Shuttle: Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25

▸ Controlled by two independent dual-CPU computers, A and B

▸ The failure of controller system A automatically leads to a switch-over to controller system B

▸ Within each system (A and B), the two CPUs operate in "lock-step"

▸ System A would have two CPUs manufactured by MotorolaSystem B would have two CPUs manufactured by TRW

▸ Memory for block I controllers were of the plated-wire typeBlock II controllers used conventional CMOS static RAM

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

ELECTRONIC VOTING

▸ Practical application of digital technology for democracy!

▸ Verifiable (need to be able to trust the count is representative)

▸ No forgeries (one person, one vote)

▸ Anti-tamper (nobody can change your vote)

▸ Anonymous (cannot tell how any one person voted)

▸ No receipts (prevent vote-buying)

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

WASHINGTON DC INTERNET VOTING SYSTEM, 2010

▸ State held mock election to see if anybody could compromise the system.

▸ https://jhalderm.com/pub/papers/dcvoting-fc12.pdf

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

WASHINGTON DC INTERNET VOTING SYSTEM, 2010

▸ State held mock election to see if anybody could compromise the system.

▸ [Researchers] gained near-complete control of the election server [within 48 hours].

▸ [Researchers] successfully changed every vote and revealed almost every secret ballot.

▸ Election officials did not detect [the] intrusion for nearly two business days — and might have remained unaware for far longer had we not deliberately left a prominent clue.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

ELECTRONIC VOTING

▸ Practical application of digital technology for democracy!

▸ Things are happening now, and more locally too:

▸ http://www.demsoc.org/participatory-budgeting-in-scotland/

PRIVACY AND ANONYMITY

▸ Privacy

▸ VPNs

▸ end-to-end encryption

▸ Signal

▸ WhatsApp

▸ Anonymity

▸ Tor

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

3D PRINTING

▸ Device that builds three-dimensional objects out of plastic (or metal)

▸ Broken part? Look online, download someone's model, print it.

▸ Can't find the part? Design it, or use 3D scanning systems to digitise what you need.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

3D PRINTING

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

SCHMIDT (GOOGLE) ET AL.

"Video cameras installed in police cars will help keep the police honest, if the camera phones carried by citizens don't already."

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

NEVER MIND DEMOCRACY, MY BRAIN IS IN CRISIS

Conclusions…

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

CONCLUSIONS 1/4

▸ "Digital" is a tool, but a complex one.

▸ Just like "the cloud" is what technical engineers draw on a network diagram to elide "don't understand what's going on here", so too digital technology clouds complexities for participants in democracy.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

CONCLUSIONS 2/4

▸ Technology needs to be trustworthy.

▸ Being able to trust technologies is a hugely important part of being able to use them in democracy — be it voting, anonymity, activism, media/news.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

CONCLUSIONS 3/4

▸ Technology is too hard for everybody to understand.

▸Democracy is too important to entrust to corporations.

DOES THE INTERNET CHANGE EVERYTHING?

CONCLUSIONS 4/4

▸We all have a lot of work to do to keep democracy honest in the face of digital advances.

e: marek@faelix.net t: @maznu w: https://faelix.net/

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

ANY QUESTIONS?