IQNets: user classes, network locality, quid pro quo, torrents at core, on gaming reputation

[Zenaan Harkness]

The IQNets network is a friend to friend network. 

IQNets provides for links to, and routes through, unknown peers/nodes
(ala bittorrent).

IQNets is built on certain principles such as quid pro quo.

For example, since primary network entry is via friends, friends are
giving or sharing bandwidth between themselves.

IQNets incentivizes sharing ([private request from Bill to John] "yo
John, can you stay online for 20 minutes, I want to finish
downloading last year's GoT.")

Such requests may be broadcast to your group of friends, and possibly
their friends, possibly anonymously (but verifiably as belonging to
one of your friends if you previously established the appropriate
cryptographic comms ring/net;

Getting more friend nodes results in greater maximum up/download
capacity for any one node at a time (given typically bursty nature of
impatient youtube watchers and movie downloaders), thus motivating
meat space connections.

also, friends don't dominate friend's internet connections - friends
have a far greater tendency/incentive, to play nice with one another,
than completely anonymous "fly by night" contacts.


Classes of nodes (from a node's perspective):

  - direct friend nodes with a meat space asserted trust level, which
    may be anywhere on the trust axis - both above and below zero

  - indirect "friend of friend" nodes and so on

  - "unknown" nodes, once you get beyond friends of friends of
    friends I guess
    - there is also every reason to utilize a bittorrent style DHT to
      make contact with "genuinely 'unknown' nodes"
    - DHT bootstrapping? also, read up on PEX


Classes of locality:

  - legal jurisdiction locality - relevant magnitude is most likely
    "nation" or "state"

  - ISP locality - other IQNets users within my ISP

  - "roaming" IPv6 addresses? Is this a thing yet?

    - If this exists, it could be called dynamic network locality,
      and is probably important and useful to know about.

    - Certainly seizing dynamic connectivity by the horns is going to
      be useful for maximizing "ad hoc p2p wireless" within a crowd
      of people.


Classes of quid pro quo:

  - network connectivity 

  - storage/ content caching resources (design TODO)


Storage metrics, just as with network metrics, are also maintained in
order to establish fairness - quid pro quo.

At its most basic, the internet is about making available, and
downloading, content of one form or another, be it tweets, web pages,
movies or phone calls; iow, the internet is a content distribution
network.

The internet as it was conceived has core design principles which are
desirable for robustness and censorship resistance, such as peer to
peer communications and flexible routing.

In practice, the internet today falls somewhat short of its founding
ideals due primarily to our governments (military) stalking us and
snooping on us, and corporations (profit at all costs) interests.

A bittorrent like protocol shall form the fundament of IQNets, with
configurable settings which would impact possible levels of privacy
and anonymity.

In other words, the goal is high speed and relatively efficient
network utilization for arbitrary, and arbitrarily large, content
distribution, whilst maintaining configurable levels of (at least
partially achievable) privacy and anonymity.

I.e. "large file distribution" is a first class citizen in the IQNets
network.  With a shout out to cypherpunk Juan for suggesting the idea.

  IQNets - making the impossible possible.

  Framed in the terms of our fundamental human rights, IQNets
  reclaims for all end user "nodes", the role of primary
  authority;
  echos of GNS (GNU Name Server) design principles.


On gaming reputation:

  - nodes self declare intentions or expectations such as bandwidth,
    uptime/ connectivity, the node's estimated/assumed monthly quota,
    suitable times for use of bandwidth (peak vs off peak), and more.

  - metrics are empirically measured of course and stored so that
    sane and safe routing and connection decisions can be made

  - friends share metrics (at least, on request)

  - nodes may collude to proclaim "great metrics" amongst themselves,
    which they broadcast to other nodes who ask, but ultimately, the
    empirical evidence that I observe, is the primary metrics data of
    relevance, followed by that shared with me by my 'friends', and
    finally, that which other nodes self declare