[liberationtech] a privacy preserving and resilient social network

[Ali-Reza Anghaie]

Thank you - I read your comments on Diaspora, Tor, I2P, etc. and
through section 4.2.2 (Adversary Model) of your thesis. I find it
curious that some of the issues you're critical of in those systems
you've actually implemented into your own design (e.g. you do have a
central server/trust dependency with the CA). I may go back and
continue reading 5 later as I'm interested in how you implement your
CA model (4.2.1 / 6.1). My questions of the earlier sections probably
would only be addressed further in the thesis. Until next time - good
luck. Cheers, -Ali


On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 3:37 AM, Alireza Mahdian
<alireza.mahdian at gmail.com> wrote:
> First of all anonymity is not a goal here. I have to be clear on that. A
> structure similar to I2P or Tor that uses overlay network would be very
> inefficient due to network delays). as for using a Jetty stack we chose Java
> as the language to implement this software in order to have a platform
> independent application in one code base and at it is also supported on
> Android as we are developing an smartphone app as well. Using Java has saved
> us a lot of time getting this app ready for different platforms. The jetty
> is a lightweight Java based web server that also installs on android so
> seemed like a good choice to use to serve the UIs and we chose to use web
> interface to implement the UIs as it feels more like common social networks
> like facebook and google+ also future UI enhancements are easier on a web
> app. as for the user, they are not even aware that a web server is being run
> on their computer as no installation or configuration has been done by the
> user. they only run the MyZone launcher and it opens up the browser loading
> their feed page. We have considered a lot of user feedbacks when we designed
> MyZone. this software has a somewhat complex design and there are so many
> small details involved as well so if you have any further questions
> regarding our design choices I would like to refer you to
> http://joinmyzone.com/Thesis.pdf
>
> On Jun 28, 2013, at 1:17 AM, Ali-Reza Anghaie <ali at packetknife.com> wrote:
>
> *nod* Yeah, that's was the hint I got.. but the bits about relay
> servers, registration, etc. Lets set those aside.
>
> How do you ~intend~ for this to behave in the wild? Every single
> client w/ a Jetty stack? And - given that footprint - why not start
> within a framework like I2P? (I'm not recommending anything, I'm
> trying to understand without going too far off-kilter.)
>
> -Ali
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 3:09 AM, Alireza Mahdian
> <alireza.mahdian at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> those are all to protect our organization (CU Boulder) from any liability.
> also the contents that can be shared on this social network can be pretty
> much anything and since we can't control or monitor any of the contents
> being shared we had to have a strict terms of use agreement just to be clear
> that if the terms of use agreement is violated we are not gonna be liable.
>
> On Jun 28, 2013, at 1:06 AM, Ali-Reza Anghaie <ali at packetknife.com> wrote:
>
> I had similar confusion when I first started poking around - couldn't
> find a proper LICENSE file and then the ToUs including things that
> read an awful lot like Facebook instead of a distrubuted
> privacy-centric system.
>
> Including:
>
> ---
> a. You will not provide any false personal information on MyZone, or
> create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
>
> b. You will not create more than one personal profile.
> ---
>
> My guess is this is because of the Uni affiliation right now..
>
> Architecture right now I'm not going to comment on. Going to
> reconsider past biases first.. -Ali
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2013 at 2:59 AM, Alireza Mahdian
> <alireza.mahdian at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> this is to prevent modifications that would render it as a malware. I
> haven't signed the code yet so I am just protecting myself from such
> liabilities.
>
> On Jun 28, 2013, at 12:51 AM, John Sullivan <johns at fsf.org> wrote:
>
> I like the idea, so I was checking it out. I was confused by this
> statement in the download terms:
>
> Since MyZone Client Application is open source, you will not change any
> part of MyZone’s code without the written approval of MyZone’s copyright
> owner Alireza Mahdian reached at (alireza.mahdian at colorado dot edu).
>
>
> Can you explain what you mean? Usually, something called "open source"
> can be modified without any additional written approval.
>
> -john
>
> --
> John Sullivan | Executive Director, Free Software Foundation
> GPG Key: 61A0963B | http://status.fsf.org/johns | http://fsf.org/blogs/RSS
>
> Do you use free software? Donate to join the FSF and support freedom at
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> --
> Alireza Mahdian
> Department of Computer Science
> University of Colorado at Boulder
> Email: alireza.mahdian at gmail.com
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> --
> Alireza Mahdian
> Department of Computer Science
> University of Colorado at Boulder
> Email: alireza.mahdian at gmail.com
>
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> --
> Alireza Mahdian
> Department of Computer Science
> University of Colorado at Boulder
> Email: alireza.mahdian at gmail.com
>
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