Yes, I am familiar with those (indirectly) but they don’t achieve what I’m referring to. The problem is addressed directly in the structure of the internet.
Perhaps that is the most attractive point for business, spy agencies or fame whores (thanks for that one @gracchus) , but I wouldn’t agree that it’s fundamentally true that most or even many people wish to use the net as a means to reach as many people as possible. Many of us simply would like to be in contact with our personal sphere(s), and have a normal measure of control of how those presentations are managed.
We have pre-existing communication systems that aren’t fundamentally vulnerable to malicious algorithmic manipulation. The telephone network, amateur radio, bulletin board systems etc.
But to pretend that these are the only two options for the future would be surrendering to a false Neo-liberal/Market Fundamentalist dichotomy, (not to mention a terribly limited imagining of the possible).
Several current technologies in combination could conceptually achieve this, RSS + Bit-Torrent + ubiquitous network connectivity. (Samsung recently announced a 1TB flash memory chip for phones…)
