Tim Bray

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mask-network-acquires-pawoo-net-070000858.html

Tl;dr: Fediverse roll-up already had mstdn.jp and mastodon.cloud, now adds pawoo.net.

Oh really.

pawoo.net is widely de-federated because it’s full of lolicon. I just left mastodon.cloud because it was getting sketchy. Hey, now they’re all gonna have Web3 too.

#fediblock alert, obvs.

It’ll be interesting to see how the ecosystem reacts to to this sort of burgeoning EvilFedi.

“Take the ship up and nuke the site from orbit” is unfortunately not an available tactic.

Yahooist Teil der Yahoo Markenfamilie

Dec 22, 2022 at 7:40amWeb
Show threadPierce Nichols, Yak BarberDec 22, 2022
@timbray The fact that they bought the Fediverse home of the lolicon really drives home the impression that they are scammers, morons, or both.
Show threadMark GardnerDec 22, 2022

@nocleverhandle @timbray I just had someone on a siloed social network sniff at encouraging my community to move from #Twitter to the #fediversr because “that DAU is lower than #Gettr.” The “number go up” ethos is everywhere.

They had such strong opinions considering they never post to the Twitter community. Sorry, buddy, you don't get a vote if you never show up.

Show threadPierce Nichols, Yak BarberDec 22, 2022
@mjgardner @timbray LOL, those people should be mocked until they STFU.
Show threadMark GardnerDec 22, 2022
@nocleverhandle @timbray Worth noting: I didn't ask for anyone’s opinion. Just a “this is happening, get on board if you want” announcement
Show threadGabriel PettierDec 22, 2022
@timbray i think the only solution is to (socially, as it’s not technically enforceable) avoid allowing servers to grow big enough to be potential candidates for such a buyout, of course, a company could decide to host many server, or to buy many small servers for the same effect, but i feel like it would be easier to defend if there are many many small servers to begin with, rather than only a few dozens or even hundreds of large-ish ones.
Show threadMark AllertonDec 22, 2022
@timbray no red flags here at all, seems totally on the up and up… /s https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/futureofworkweek/2022/07/01/the-crypto-ceo-who-doesnt-want-the-job/
Show threadKevin Karhan Dec 22, 2022
@timbray never heard of #LOIC?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Orbit_Ion_Cannon
https://github.com/NewEraCracker/LOIC
#sarcasm
Low Orbit Ion Cannon - Wikipedia

Show threadD PawsonDec 22, 2022
@timbray Review this post for (unnecessary?) jargon Tim? Darned if I could understand it.
Show threadMax Jonas WernerDec 22, 2022
@timbray It's funny how the article says "Anticipation is riding high for decentralized social networks to emerge" while it's reporting on the exact opposite. This is the Fediverse becoming more centralized little by little. 😞
Show threadChris is.Dec 22, 2022
@timbray they really just regurgitated the press release.
Show threadFighenDec 22, 2022
@timbray what do you mean with “sketchy”?
Show threadTim BrayDec 22, 2022
@Fighen Most obvious things were pokemon porn and people selling stolen Google accounts.
Show threadFighenDec 22, 2022
@timbray ok. Understood! But porn was Common Even on Twitter.
Show threadTim BrayDec 22, 2022
@Fighen Sure, but easy to avoid. Twitter didn't have the equivalent of the "local" stream.
Show threadMichael SokolovDec 22, 2022
@timbray perhaps we need something between defederation and nothing. Can we slow walk the updates... Reprioritize the feeds somehow. IDK this protocol much
Show threadAbid NevesinjacDec 22, 2022
lucky we can move profile from instace to instance ... Unlike on centralized social networks
Show threadLes capsules du prof LutzDec 22, 2022
@timbray @mattskala was at the forefront then… sadly, I rarely can Tl;dr his essays (language limitation? I'm french speaking) so here's the link https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/entry/335 He tooted an interesting take recently about de-federation.
Mastodon WTF timeline - Ansuz - mskala's home page

In the last few days I've been fortunate to witness an interesting chapter in the Internet's history, and I'm trying to compile a timeline of what has happened while the memories are still reasonably fresh. This is incomplete and a work in progress; I'll be updating it, and n...

Ansuz - mskala's home page
Show threadTim BrayDec 22, 2022
@lutzray @mattskala Merci, je vais lire.
Show threadBradford Dec 22, 2022

@timbray it’s funny; I was considering moving off of mastodon.cloud, when I saw your post. The move was so smooth I didn’t even know you’d done it. I hadn’t realized that the local server feed could actually be something I’d look at.

It’s nice to be able to move. I’d still prefer to own my identity with a custom domain, but this is a good first step.

Show threadAdam BlissDec 23, 2022
@timbray
wait, what's sketchy about mastodon.cloud?
Show threadTim BrayDec 23, 2022
@abliss admins are mostly absent, the chuds at places like poa.st can throw abuse at anyone on .cloud. Local feed full of Pokemon porn and people selling stolen Google accounts.
Show threadJulesy (but spicy)Dec 23, 2022

@timbray

It’ll be interesting to see how the ecosystem reacts to to this sort of burgeoning EvilFedi.

I figure evil instances divide into:

  • those that host trolls, which are easy to starve of their victims by fediblock style moderation and so are short lived.

  • those where the users are happily sending each other pictures of sexualised children and don't even need federation with other instances not also in EvilFedi. in that case, eventually, law enforcement will probably get involved.

Show threadTim BrayDec 23, 2022
@snarglebritchet Sigh, the problem is that what pawoo.net and mastodon.jp are doing is perfectly legal in Japan (almost nowhere else in the world).