Well, the predictable has happened to Parler – which depended for its online existence on the radical left. On Jeff Bezos – the multibillionaire owner of Amazon, which owns the web servers that Parler depended upon.
Amazon just pulled the plug on Parler – an event as unpredictable as the setting of the sun. So now, no one can Parler. Not for the next two weeks, at least – which is how long the management of Parler says it’ll take them to find new servers. By which time it’ll be too late – again – to do much about the fait accompli of the Orange Man’s excision and the ensconcement of his Holy Ragging replacement.
Because of serial failure to anticipate fails – as for example by placing your ability to dissent in the hands of the people who want to make sure you can’t.
Bezos puts his money where his ideology is. He bought The Washington Post, for instance. He is not at the mercy of conservatives – which is why conservatives are at the mercy of leftists such as Bezos.
But they never learn – or at least, haven’t yet. Will they ever?
I just signed up for this mewe thing so that Twitter and FB aren’t the only things. But it’s sad to see everything Parler had going get flushed because they were too cheap or too stupid to not put their existence at the mercy of everything they supposedly oppose.
Very few have the infrastructure to handle such a load in the 20 billion dollar big boy business.
Amazon AWS (39%). Microsoft Azure (19%), Google cloud (9%), Sales Force and IBM combined (5%).
Censorship has gone global at the click of a mouse.
Repeat after me: There is no cloud. It’s all just other people’s servers.
Which means you are subject to their policies and whims.
I don’t know if I’d be that hard on John Matze and Parler. Amazon, unlike the rest of Big Tech, hasn’t been that ban-happy; compared to the other tech giants, they’ve been more hands-off. Until recently, they haven’t been in the same league as Twitter and Facebook. If Twitter or FB had owned Parler’s servers, then I’d agree with you; they should’ve seen it coming. Amazon wasn’t as overt in their inclinations, so I don’t know if Parler should’ve seen this coming.
BTW, Gab had similar problem in 2018. They got their own servers, so now no one can hold them hostage.
There’s always a chance their ISP can cut them off. The Internet is nothing more than a network of networks. You can host your own site on your own hardware, but the traffic to and from your site has to traverse networks that are not under your control.
Myles, actually, after GAB got sidelined awhile back they got their own connection to the pipeline … very difficult to shut them out now!
The only problems they have now are hackers and money …
They’re going after the Yoda of liberty, the guy who changed my mind for the better and for good, Ron Paul. I imagine the Ben Kenobis will be next…
https://www.infowars.com/posts/facebook-blocks-fmr-congressman-ron-paul-citing-vague-community-standard-violations/
Dr Paul was reinstated late last night, FB claims it was a “mistake.”
I call bullshit.
One suspects the only alternative libertarians will be left with is face-to-face contact and written communication. Why do you think the tech overlords spent so many years trying to replace the printed word with the electronic word?
MeWe is hosted by Amazon.
Gab is hosted by Cloudflare, which as of this posting, has remained mum.
And OAN Network… Amazon.
Cancelled hosting isn’t the only weapon in the censorship arsenal. Every domain has to be registered so DNS can resolve its IP address. Compel an ICANN registrar (e.g. GoDaddy, Network Solutions) to un-register a domain name, and “poof,” it’s gone.
I know someone that has happened to (yes, it’s a political site). GoDaddy “sold” (even though it wasn’t up for renewal) it to somebody else by “accident” and won’t do anything to get it back. It’s an address NOBODY else would ever want, so you know what really happened.
Speaking of which, how about your website host? Are you worried they will go woke and de-platform you? Or WordPress for that matter? They have been kicking some sites off now too.
Like I have thought, the internet is following the history of radio. And it sucks.
Eric,
I like the way you put it: “The failure to anticipate fails”.
I never trusted the Tech Lords, why did anyone else?
I’ve been pressured, as a burgeoning software developer, to learn AWS and other trappings of centralization.
No. I refuse. What I’M learning is how to make robust and redundant software, not dependent on ANYTHING Google or Amazon or Apple do.
Peek to the future: What we need is a NEW internet, not controlled by centralized authorities, which is wireless and all its traffic encrypted. We need an internet by the people and for the people. A wireless global P2P, network. Since I’m sure this shit will continue, I think the coming of this new internet is inexorable. And yes, eventually Longshanks will send his whole Northern Army (the FCC and backing agencies) against us. But it will be difficult to crush then, because the masses will love their free internet.
Or, at least, I can dream.
“What we need is a NEW internet, not controlled by centralized authorities, which is wireless and all its traffic encrypted.”
Your average drooling moron (the majority) “But then the terrorists would win”.
TPTB have realized that giving the proles the ability to organize and communicate freely was a big mistake. It will be corrected shortly. Internet drivers licenses, Website licenses, Annonimity=Terrorist (domestic), Social Credit Scores, Great American Firewall.
I have been telling people for years to run before they lock the exits. CLANG!….. Too late.
Yes, that’s right. The TERRORISTS! :O The ones who hate our freedom!
Wait that would be the above “TPTB”, wouldn’t it?
As far as that gate, there’s nowhere to run anymore, anyway. :p
There are several places you COULD have run to. But of course, “but my family”, “but my friends”, “it’s not that bad yet”, “but it would be hard”………..
So the frog gets a bit warmer? It’s still not too hot……..
Sure, Anon, but where would you have gone that would be better or freer or beyond the reach of the socialists, etc? Antarctica?
There is no perfect. There is no “beyond the reach of the socialists”. There are better and worse places, depending on your values and everyone’s are different.
Very rural is a good start just to be as far from the insanity and government of the cities. That is what I did mid 2000s as I saw some (certainly not all) of the tyranny and crazy that is now here coming.
But far too many will never do anything because nobody has handed them the perfect answer. The comfort of the known. My move was not perfect last time. I didn’t have all the answers. It has proven to be better than if I had stayed in the city. YMMV
Anon,
I have a good piece in the country (rural Az) which will eventually be my home. I knew that would be essential to a free life long ago.
It has been said, “Land is a man’s very own soul.”
Well, my soul is prepared. 😉
Just out of curiosity – Where are we running to? Australia, Europe, South American, some Caribbean Island?
Why would we run away from problems rather than facing them head on? Do you believe it is better to leave our friends, family, jobs, etc. here while we take off to god knows where? Save ourselves and let the rest of the place burn?
See my reply to BaDnOn above.
“Do you believe it is better to leave our friends, family, jobs, etc. here while we take off to god knows where? Save ourselves and let the rest of the place burn?”
Yes. But not the “while we take off to god knows where?”.
What is your plan? Stay WHILE the place burns? What does that achieve?
And to be clear, I think it is probably too late to run, as in to another country, now anyway. The gates are closing.
Makes the whole discussion pretty much moot. It’s batten down time now.
I live in the country, as do many on here. The only other place we could go is to leave the USSA. I assumed you would let us know that you are in the James Cook Islands, Guam, or Bolivia, but it sounds like you are where most of us already are.
Why did you choose not to leave? Where would you have gone if you could do it over? If you did not run why should the rest of us?
I did choose to leave. The plan was in the works in late 2019.
South America. Southern Argentina or Chile. Medium sized very rural farms.
You should do whatever you want. Stay, go, fight, surrender. Not my problem, it’s yours. My right choices may not be applicable to you.
So what ARE you going to do? Do you have a plan for how to survive the current and coming crazy?
Did you end up in Chile or Argentina?
I have a plan, but I don’t need to leave to implement it. I would prefer some quiet Bahamian island somewhere, but they don’t allow me my guns so I have to keep looking.
I am now considering Yemen. They have favorable gun laws.
No. Once Peru went lockdown the whole itinerary was screwed. Good thing or I would have likely ended up stranded down there before having purchased.
Now I am stuck. Flying is likely going to be impossible without vax.
Anon,
A boat comes in handy. That is my preferred mode of transportation.
After I hit the Mega Millions tomorrow night hubby said he would purchase me the 66′ Riviera Belize with Flybridge I wanted. After Uncle Sam and the Coonman take their half that leaves me about $210 million to sail around the Caribbean with until my final days.
I think it is a great man. If the Mega Millions doesn’t work, I should hit Powerball.
plan….not man.
Trying to type and finish bookkeeping at the same time. 🙁
While it’s surprising that Parler would host their service on AWS (what were they thinking?), does it really matter? Even if their hosting service didn’t shut them down, what’s to stop a “woke” ISP from throttling them or cutting them off entirely? Even if their own ISP doesn’t shut them down, what’s to prevent other ISPs that their ISP peers with from refusing to route traffic to/from Parler?
Note to Antifa: *This* is fascism.
Aren’t these all subject to the app stores controlled by Google and Apple? Why would Gab be any different than Parler?
It’s easy to draw attention to a social media’s “dangerous non-censoring.” All it takes is a agent provocateur to open a free account and write some post encouraging the death of a politician or some members of a protected minority. Bingo! That app now allows incitement of violence and must be shut down. It’s a great way for a Twitter to hobble its competition and also serves as a pretext to “ensure that protections are in place to limit dangerous hate speech.” False flag operations almost always work.
No – Gab has already dealt with this. They have never been allowed on the Apple or Google app stores because Gab would not agree to their terms of service (read: censorship). Gab is only accessable via web browser, but the UI is designed for that. If you access via a phone browser, its very ‘app like’.
Gab is in the process of developing their own smartphone (!) that will obviously have the app. Like I mentioned in an earlier comment, Gab has actually anticipated all of this and seemingly dealt with all complications.
One piece of legislation and Gab is outlawed. The War on Domestic Terrorists has begun.
Some political shithead “only Domestic Terrorists use Gab!!!”. Millions of mindless followers (fully masked) nod. USA! USA! USA!
I have seen this movie at least three times in my life already.
At least Gab can mount a 1st amendment claim if it’s the gumbint trying to suppress it. Can’t do that with those “private” tech companies though.
Yup. Three years later and $$$$$$$ legal fees later, they might get it overturned.
Parler’s problems are partially politics, but knowing how to host sites on Amazon’s servers is a hot skillset right now. Tech careers have such short half lives that every developer on a project has to be concerned about resume building anymore, and I’m sure Parler’s geeks were no exception.
Over nearly a 30 year career, I’ve seen a new set of “Hot Skillz” every six months.
I read the action plan on the Parler website. While they did not make the move to another server preemptively, they did have a plan, which is why they will be back up in two weeks. The site “The Conservative Tree House” was de-platformed by their hosting site, and they managed to transition without disruption, though they originally expected to be down for a couple of week (but a social media site like Parler is a bigger move). The upside of waiting for the hosting organization to make the move against you is that it forces them to expose themselves. Anybody who still doubts that Amazon stands against the 1st amendment will probably be clueless forever. For those with situational awareness, they have made their position crystal clear through action (they will still claim to support the first amendment). Change will happen when enough people are made uncomfortable enough to say “Enough!”. History shows that’s always the case.
Get on Gab.com. They control everything end to end, having already been blacklisted and banned by everyone over the past several years because they wouldn’t compromise on free speech. Think they said they are growing by 500-600K users a day now with everything going on.
Hi Dave,
Yup; I just tried but they are apparently “doing maintenance.”
Yea they have been getting slammed with visits and signups the past few days. I know the CEO has said they just got 10 new servers and so far 4 are online so hopefully the performance is back to normal soon.
Gab is the real deal, they anticipated all of this. I’d bet that’s where Trump ends up after all this.
Hi Dave,
I’ll be joining as soon as I can. I know Gab is being characterized as “neo nazi” and other such – and maybe so. But when they leave us no alternative, what else are we supposed to do? I mean besides just submit.
I wouldn’t worry too much about that characterization, Eric, it’s the standard slander used by Leftists against anyone they disagree with. If there is any truth to it at all it is probably is due to the same kind of “white power” morons, perhaps even some of the same ones, that drop in here to “enlighten” us with their malicious, bigoted worldview. They tend to infest any place that believes in real free speech since they don’t get tossed out on their ears. (Not that I think they should be, better that to have them in public and show them up for what they are.)
I’ll have to look into Gab myself. Sounds like a place that could be fun as well as an outlet for some real wrongthink.
Its certainly true that ‘Neo-Nazi’ is a slur they hurl at anyone to the right of Mitt Romney, but its also true in the sense Gab will really allow anyone on their platform without moderation or censorship. Gab has been around since 2016 – their commitment to free speech is the real deal. They will allow anyone to post anything so long as its not p*rnography or overt calls to violence.
Excerpt from an email I received from Gab News:
“Andrew Torba is a 29 year old Christian entrepreneur and American Populist from northeastern Pennsylvania. He is the founder and CEO of Gab.com, the free speech social network.”
Try downloading their web browser Dissenter (dot com) as I am browsing on Gab right now using the Dissenter browser. Andrew got their own browser, soon own phone, have a DM feature, GabTV, etc.
Once you go to gab website and do your set up, very important, go to the Introduce Yourself group and intro yourself. It gets out to the community and Andrew (CEO) @a does monitor it. He will repost it out to all when he has time….
Been with Gab for years and thru the growing pains. But the freedom is worth it.
Hi Toasty,
Thanks for the heads up and info; I will give it a go. I’ve had no luck signing up so far… servers down/busy, etc.
Update: I’m in! The handle is EPautos