To eveyone on Mastodon:
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@thisislieven @s1m0n4 @LukefromDC It is a concern that UK-native payment card and ATM networks have mostly been dismantled in favour of consolidation with Visa & Mastercard, though the BACS Faster Payments and CHAPS bank transfer settlement systems remain independent of them, nominally at least. So, the impact of possible US sanctions on UK based entities is only partially mitigated. Canada itself has their Interac system, The Netherlands has iDEAL and so on. Whilst I personally find cryptocurrency highly unsavoury and distasteful, UK-anians might be forced into using some of it in the worst case scenarios for Internet wide censorship which could unfold now. I could have snapped up the .org domain for my company; glad I didn't, but I do rely on its .net domain a lot. The .com domain was outright stolen by GoDaddy and flipped to opportunistic scumbags after the ICANN sunrise period.
These national payment systems are generally a good thing though I have no details how everything works behind the scenes. The problem is that these are typically only for digital payments and payments in person (by card) still rely on US infrastructure. Another issue is that these systems typically only work within the respective country.
Both Brazil and India have their own payment systems that work both on- and offline and are incredibly successful. They are interesting cases, but they too only work within the borders.
The Digital Euro and Wero are supposed to address this and I hope it comes soon. While Wero replaces some national systems it's also intended to tie in with some other national systems across Europe (not just EU eventually). I am unaware if there's anything here in regards to the UK but it could be a worthwhile effort (though the UK being the UK that might be easier said than done).
At its most basic premise I find crypto interesting, especially given the massive flaws in our banking system globally. Sadly, the way it is being employed, and by whom, seems to make it more an evil than something good.
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To eveyone on Mastodon:
The real lesson of the US attack on autistici/inventi is that WE ARE NEXT. Mastodon servers mostly do not run things like PRISM, are often based outside the US, and compete directly with the Tech Bros and their ad and tracker supported shit for an audience.
Also lots of anti-Trump activism here.
If we don't fight for autistici/inventi today, we will have to fight for Mastodon tomorrow. Domino effects are real with Fascists as we saw at the start of WWII.
@LukefromDC smurfs. You need very clean smurfs with a minimum of two degrees of separation for the banking.
Staggered.
That’s about as specific as I care to get. -
These national payment systems are generally a good thing though I have no details how everything works behind the scenes. The problem is that these are typically only for digital payments and payments in person (by card) still rely on US infrastructure. Another issue is that these systems typically only work within the respective country.
Both Brazil and India have their own payment systems that work both on- and offline and are incredibly successful. They are interesting cases, but they too only work within the borders.
The Digital Euro and Wero are supposed to address this and I hope it comes soon. While Wero replaces some national systems it's also intended to tie in with some other national systems across Europe (not just EU eventually). I am unaware if there's anything here in regards to the UK but it could be a worthwhile effort (though the UK being the UK that might be easier said than done).
At its most basic premise I find crypto interesting, especially given the massive flaws in our banking system globally. Sadly, the way it is being employed, and by whom, seems to make it more an evil than something good.
@thisislieven
France also has its own sovereign circuit called CB for card payments, but it doesn't work abroad.In any case there's no bank in the world that, under the threat of having all dollar transactions frozen, won't comply with US requests.
Cryptos are limited too. People and organizations can't pay electricity bills or rent in bitcoins. Instead that's where the Digital Euro could play a role. Unfortunately it's still far from being implemented.
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@LukefromDC well the world would probably be better without social media at all....
@djsat2 Well .. then just log off and leave us alone.... -
A abekonge@venner.network shared this topic
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @psoul also see that toot:
https://mstdn.science/users/dryak/statuses/117175633951136563/activityAnd the linked wewillfreeus write up.
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @LukefromDC In a nutshell, this is what seems to be going on. "Terrorism" means networked activist left. (This reporter I cite doesn't mention UK war on Palestine Action, but that's cut from same cloth.)
“Trump’s War on the Left”: Jack Crosbie of Rolling Stone on the Prairieland Nine, NSPM-7 & More"
activism.https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/26/trump_s_war_on_the_leftYeh know about his war, just didn’t recognize the specific attack (blocking email domaine)
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@crazyeddie Thank you!
Yeah, this year I've been steadily transitioning away from US-based providers.
However, my new ones - such as #Mailfence and @thegoodcloud (@nextcloud) - are based on .com TLDs, which now worries me.
Gah.
@clickhere @thegoodcloud @nextcloud @baedling @LukefromDC
Don't worry too much about that. Let them.
You can be concerned, but don't worry. It's not your responsibility.
One of the best things you could do to fight what's happening is not to panic and try to solve this when you can't. They want you panicked and doing things panicked people do. There's a few steps from A/I to nextcloud.com.
Using nextcloud and all that is already quite a lot and you should continue regardless of TLD stuff
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To eveyone on Mastodon:
The real lesson of the US attack on autistici/inventi is that WE ARE NEXT. Mastodon servers mostly do not run things like PRISM, are often based outside the US, and compete directly with the Tech Bros and their ad and tracker supported shit for an audience.
Also lots of anti-Trump activism here.
If we don't fight for autistici/inventi today, we will have to fight for Mastodon tomorrow. Domino effects are real with Fascists as we saw at the start of WWII.
@LukefromDC this news is 14 years late, people needed to hear this when they decided to hunt Kim Dotcom like he was bin Laden -
@clickhere @thegoodcloud @nextcloud @baedling @LukefromDC
Don't worry too much about that. Let them.
You can be concerned, but don't worry. It's not your responsibility.
One of the best things you could do to fight what's happening is not to panic and try to solve this when you can't. They want you panicked and doing things panicked people do. There's a few steps from A/I to nextcloud.com.
Using nextcloud and all that is already quite a lot and you should continue regardless of TLD stuff
@crazyeddie Thank you!
Okay. Deep breaths, and keep on going.
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@LukefromDC this news is 14 years late, people needed to hear this when they decided to hunt Kim Dotcom like he was bin Laden@feld @LukefromDC And being on a large Mastodon instance that has already been targeted by feds who have a full DB dump doesn't help either. Maybe it is time to use a decentralized network in a more decentralized fashion.
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@LukefromDC We also need to be laying the groundwork for the next generation of decentralized social networking that can't be dismantled this way. The fediverse is incredibly vulnerable to DNS seizure (the technical part of the attack on A/I) to break federation and relationships across instances, and that vulnerability is entirely gratuitous from bad design choices in the protocol and failure to give users autonomous identity.
@dalias @LukefromDC DHT, like for BitTorrent.
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To eveyone on Mastodon:
The real lesson of the US attack on autistici/inventi is that WE ARE NEXT. Mastodon servers mostly do not run things like PRISM, are often based outside the US, and compete directly with the Tech Bros and their ad and tracker supported shit for an audience.
Also lots of anti-Trump activism here.
If we don't fight for autistici/inventi today, we will have to fight for Mastodon tomorrow. Domino effects are real with Fascists as we saw at the start of WWII.
@LukefromDC
I can tell you with certainty that neither Zuckerberg nor Pichai really worry about Mastodon.
The authoritarian regime that can't take any criticism, though, that's a real concern! -
These national payment systems are generally a good thing though I have no details how everything works behind the scenes. The problem is that these are typically only for digital payments and payments in person (by card) still rely on US infrastructure. Another issue is that these systems typically only work within the respective country.
Both Brazil and India have their own payment systems that work both on- and offline and are incredibly successful. They are interesting cases, but they too only work within the borders.
The Digital Euro and Wero are supposed to address this and I hope it comes soon. While Wero replaces some national systems it's also intended to tie in with some other national systems across Europe (not just EU eventually). I am unaware if there's anything here in regards to the UK but it could be a worthwhile effort (though the UK being the UK that might be easier said than done).
At its most basic premise I find crypto interesting, especially given the massive flaws in our banking system globally. Sadly, the way it is being employed, and by whom, seems to make it more an evil than something good.
@thisislieven @bms @s1m0n4 For in-person payments cash is the way to go.
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@s1m0n4 @thisislieven @LukefromDC Maybe some kind of leftist "hawala" system could get money to the A/I folks and others under blockade.
@joeblowenarbol @s1m0n4 @thisislieven This brings up one of the reasons blood diamonds exist. Merchants of death use them as curremcy because a few thousand dollars worth of diamonds fit in a very small space and are easily concealed.
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@thisislieven @bms @s1m0n4 For in-person payments cash is the way to go.
I understand the benefits of cash and also the downside of electronic payments but I'm really glad to hardly ever use cash these days. And while I'm glad it's still around and some people need it I'm genuinely happy it's less and less a thing, even more so with the euro.
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I understand the benefits of cash and also the downside of electronic payments but I'm really glad to hardly ever use cash these days. And while I'm glad it's still around and some people need it I'm genuinely happy it's less and less a thing, even more so with the euro.
@thisislieven @bms @s1m0n4 I do all in person stuff in cash for privacy reasons.
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@thisislieven @bms @s1m0n4 I do all in person stuff in cash for privacy reasons.
@LukefromDC I prefer paying with my card however I still use cash from time to time because it must stay supported as payment method. It gives shops, vendors and customers more options.
Given how the world is turning, sometimes it's a good thing to keep the old ways. -
To eveyone on Mastodon:
The real lesson of the US attack on autistici/inventi is that WE ARE NEXT. Mastodon servers mostly do not run things like PRISM, are often based outside the US, and compete directly with the Tech Bros and their ad and tracker supported shit for an audience.
Also lots of anti-Trump activism here.
If we don't fight for autistici/inventi today, we will have to fight for Mastodon tomorrow. Domino effects are real with Fascists as we saw at the start of WWII.
@LukefromDC totally agree!
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Thanks, that gives some clarity.
With my instance is actually interesting. Team is in Estonia, data hosted in the Netherlands, TLD from Isle of Man so I am not sure what gets precedence here. Isle of Man is not EU, Estonia and the Netherlands are - that also matters.
Maybe it's not the worst idea for US-based instances to at least explore what it would mean to move everything. And all others to at least have a plan in place as well.
A voluntary user database that lives independently might also be an idea? Just in case everything gets down at once people can be reached and the community won't fall apart at once.
This should be a bigger fediverse-wide conversation.
@thisislieven @gbargoud @LukefromDC If you needed another pair of eyes on the technical and policy side, I'd recommend Steven J. Murdoch of the University of Cambridge. Not volunteering his services on his behalf or anything, just giving him a recco, he often has his hands full with Tor these days.
For what it's worth, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) would have been another place to go, but they seem to have largely sunset their Friends of FIPR operations. I wasn't a FIPR member, but I was in Friends in the 2000s.
Richard Clayton, who effectively broke BT Cleanfeed, is another capable reviewer. He's also at Cambridge last I saw; his historical claim to fame is being a primary developer on Locomotive Software's LocoScript word processor for the Amstrad PCW series dedicated Z80-based word processors.
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To eveyone on Mastodon:
The real lesson of the US attack on autistici/inventi is that WE ARE NEXT. Mastodon servers mostly do not run things like PRISM, are often based outside the US, and compete directly with the Tech Bros and their ad and tracker supported shit for an audience.
Also lots of anti-Trump activism here.
If we don't fight for autistici/inventi today, we will have to fight for Mastodon tomorrow. Domino effects are real with Fascists as we saw at the start of WWII.
Actually MAGA needs Mastodon because Truthsocial is a rebranded Mastodon instance without federation
