Frequently Asked Questions - Revision history

Woody: /* What is the purpose of this project? */

2022-06-11T16:23:30Z

What is the purpose of this project?

Erica1: /* Is anyone required to use this project? */

2022-06-11T16:11:36Z

Is anyone required to use this project?

Erica1: /* Does this project advocate for sanctions? */

2022-06-11T16:05:31Z

Does this project advocate for sanctions?

Erica1: /* Who is it for? */

2022-06-11T16:03:49Z

Who is it for?

Erica1: /* What is the purpose of this project? */

2022-06-11T16:00:45Z

What is the purpose of this project?

Woody at 07:55, 18 April 2022

2022-04-18T07:55:26Z

Woody at 07:53, 18 April 2022

2022-04-18T07:53:20Z

Woody at 13:32, 29 March 2022

2022-03-29T13:32:36Z

Woody at 10:30, 20 March 2022

2022-03-20T10:30:51Z

Wadmin: /* What is the beacon? */

2022-03-19T13:34:29Z

What is the beacon?

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 === What is the purpose of this project? ===
-This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.
+This project allows Internet organizations to comply with the sanctions imposed by the government or governments to which they're responsible, without "over-complying" by blocking entities which are not specifically named in those sanctions.
 === Who is it for? ===

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 === Is anyone required to use this project? ===
-No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not.  The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.
+No, this project is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not.  The obligation to comply with sanctions imposed by the governments, regional organizations or international organizatinos in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements and helping to avoid operators from over-complying with measures that might otherwise arise due to lack of clarity of sufficient information on sanctions designations and legal requirements.
 === What is the beacon? ===

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 === Does this project advocate for sanctions? ===
-No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, have for thousands of years, and governments and society generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments which wish to impose sanctions, and network operators who wish to comply with governmental requirements, to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice, this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.
+No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, and have done for centuries, and governments and society (particularly those in the Global North) generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments (that wish to impose sanctions) and network operators (that wish to comply with governmental requirements) to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice; this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.
 === Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 === Who is it for? ===
-This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to enact sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to enact sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds.
+This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to comply with sanctions. Since this project is never inherently ''pro sanction'', we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to comply with sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds (e.g. the project does wants to help avoid over-compliance with sanctions by Internet organizations, rather than contributing to it).
 === How does it work? ===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 === What is the purpose of this project? ===
-This project allows Internet organizations to enact precisely-targeted sanctions which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.
+This project allows Internet organizations to comply with precisely-targeted sanctions, which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.
 === Who is it for? ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:55, 18 April 2022
Line 22:		Line 22:
	=== What is the beacon? ===		=== What is the beacon? ===
	The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.		The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.
		+
		+	=== Is that really supposed to be a logo in the top left corner? ===
		+	Yes, well, it wasn't the highest priority at the time, and these things are always stickier than you hope. A better project logo would be very welcome. Consensus is, as always in open projects, the difficult part.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 No, this project is agnostic with regard to whether sanctions should or should not exist, or should or should not be levied by any government against any party. Sanctions exist, have for thousands of years, and governments and society generally regard them as deescalatory and preferable to violent alternatives. The aim of this project is to assist governments which wish to impose sanctions, and network operators who wish to comply with governmental requirements, to reach a mutually-satisfactory state. If you don't like the idea of sanctions, you can take that up with the government of your choice, this is not a forum for debate on fundamental questions such as whether sanctions should exist.
-=== Is anyone required to use it? ===
+=== Do Internet sanctions disconnect anyone from the Internet? ===
-No, this is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not.  The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.
+No, Internet sanctions remove the societal subsidy from the cost of Internet access to sanctioned entities. In the same way that banking sanctions don't prevent sanctioned entities from using money, they just increase the friction and cost of doing so, Internet sanctions don't disconnect sanctioned parties from the Internet, they just ensure that they pay the full cost of using it, without the subsidies which would normally be provided as a function of societal cooperation.
 === What is the beacon? ===
 The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 === Who runs it? ===
 This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.
 === Is anyone required to use it? ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:34, 19 March 2022
Line 15:		Line 15:

	=== What is the beacon? ===		=== What is the beacon? ===
−	The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators.	+	The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.