P2p In The Cold War

[oldmancan]

If the Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., had not collapsed and the Cold War had continued up to the present, would P2P programs and networks be much different?

Would the government of USSR have helped or hindered development of P2P?

Would they have cared at all? If everything is owned by the state, do artists still copyright their work? Is communism related to sharing?

Anyone care to discuss?

omc

[Spider_dude]

in soviet russia the p2p shares you.

[j2k4]

Originally posted by oldmancan@14 March 2004 - 23:41
If the Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., had not collapsed and the Cold War had continued up to the present, would P2P programs and networks be much different?

Would the government of USSR have helped or hindered development of P2P?

Would they have cared at all?  If everything is owned by the state, do artists still copyright their work?  Is communism related to sharing? 

Anyone care to discuss?

omc

Do you theorize continued Soviet expansion, OMC, or do we continue to help keep them in check?

I suppose the Cold War would have continued, and the Soviets would have done what they could to use the web for their nefarious purposes; I don't know that they would have allowed PCs to proliferate, and such as there were would not have been linked to the 'net.

Thus p2p in the USSR would have been a non-starter, I think.

Truly an interesting question, and one not often entertained, as to do so requires one to re-consider Ronald Reagan, which many are loathe to do, as he played such a large part in the demise of the USSR.

[MagicNakor]

Considering the treatment of art during the "golden" Soviet era, it's highly unlikely that there'd be anything to share. At least, anything that wasn't state-sanctioned.

Any further analysis will require more defined parameters.

[b4icu]

disagree, soviet philosophy was much more about sharing (medicine, education, etc.) than our capitalist counterpart (RIAA, MPAA, data mining, etc.). i think they would have been technologically behind (just like they always were), but supported sharing networks.

[uNz[i]]

Somehow I doubt it. Risking western corruption amongst the soviet populace would have precluded any chance of P2P happening.

I'm guessing that if communist Russia had gotten online, it would have been a national intranet version for the general public, and only the KGB would have gotten full access to the rest of the world for the purpose of espionage.

[j2k4]

[i]Originally posted by uNz@15 March 2004 - 09:47
Somehow I doubt it. Risking western corruption amongst the soviet populace would have precluded any chance of P2P happening.

I'm guessing that if communist Russia had gotten online, it would have been a national intranet version for the general public, and only the KGB would have gotten full access to the rest of the world for the purpose of espionage.

uNz[i]

Yes-certainly a "managed" version of the net.

I also agree as to the question of underwear.

MN-

Yes-parameters, please?

[MagicNakor]

Wouldn't that be omc's duty?

[j2k4]

Originally posted by MagicNakor@15 March 2004 - 12:11
Wouldn't that be omc's duty?

Yes-

I was merely joining in your sentiment-should have clarified.

[oldmancan]

I was thinking of "status quo" say just prior to the Berlin wall coming down. I don't know if the were still expansionist dreams at that time. Let's assume a leader such as Gorbachev is in power and his policies of "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (reform) prevail. Futher assume his hopes of shifting resources to the civilian sector of the Soviet economy, and an end to the arms race with the West are being realized.

I wonder how much resources the soviets would have devoted to P2P? Would those efforts be aimed at supporting networks for the populace or attacking the networks of the enemy?

I think that the soviets would have followed the pc craze like the rest of the world. I think the general populace would been slow to be provided hardware. Demand would outstripe supply certainly. I think that "Control" would have been the big state issue.

I suppose the national intranet is a very likely idea. But would the Politiboro, the KGB and the military be the only ones allowed access to the 'net. What about international commerce, or university research?

Just musing.

:beerchug: omc