A National Intranet relies on its own OS (Operating System) and computer software applications designed by and for its Totality. The PC features its own Browser to access the National Intranet, the Search Engine facilitating navigation of the National Intranet. The Browser contains the various applications and websites responsible for the Digital Economy and any Virtual Economies, the Tournaments of the VCS Economy and the SSE, and the Intranet Service Providers and Social Forums governing the whole digital infrastructure. Practically anything and everything that the Totality would expect to find on the International Internet should have their national equivalents on the National Intranet.
There is currently no international consensus on precisely how the demarcations between the International Internet and the National Intranets of the world should be drawn. This lack of consensus has concurrently informed the development of National Intranets and their interactions with the International Internet.
- Are the demarcations defined by national ownership of all digital infrastructure?
- Is it State governance of the Gateway Nodes and Firewalls between the International Internet and a National Intranet?
- Is it the speed at which somebody could enter the International Internet or what information that they could expect to encounter while there?
- Is it the programming language or the need for special software to access the International Internet?
- Does it involve Air Gapping by reducing the number of connections to the International Internet?
For the nations of Scenario 1999, there are different perspectives on how to govern the International Internet and the National Intranets. The Koreans are proponents of Air Gapping by programming language and connections to the International Internet. Software not designed with the Korean Dasein in mind will never function properly. Computers with access to the International Internet are housed in buildings completely separated from any computers with access to the National Intranet. The Pan-Arabs and the Iranians, because of their nations’ large Muslim populations, have had to enforce Sharia Law on their National Internets. Everything defined as Halal is permissible, whereas anything deemed Haram will be blocked.
The five prevailing powers of the Scenario 1999’s world order are the Federalist American Union (FAU), the German Reich, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Imperial Japan. Each of them have their own ideas.
Federalist Intranet
The Federalist American Union (FAU) is Hamiltonian America, its Federalist Government ruled by the Greater American Federalist Party (GAFP). The GAFP, concerned about the implications of a “Cyber Pearl Harbor,” advocate for National Intranets with elaborate computerized defensive networks. The demarcation should employ IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) capabilities that distinguish between friends and enemies of Hamiltonian America. Anyone hostile to the Federalists–the American people–will be denied access.
The American SSE, the UFSE (Unified Federalist Student Economy), encourages its Student Body to enforce the Second and Third Amendments of the Federalist Constitution.
Amendment II: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Amendment III: “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”
To ensure compliance with Conscription Law, the Federalist Government allows the UFSE’s Student Body to form “Cyber-Militias” at the Universities. Students interested in computer programming are allowed to fulfill their conscription by assisting in the national cyberdefense of the American Totality.
Germanic Intranet
The German Reich is split between the ASPDV (All-Deutsche Sozialistische Partei des Deutschen Volksreiches; Pan-Germanic Socialist Party of the German People’s Reich) and KPDV (Kommunistische Partei des deutschen Volksreiches; Communist Party of the German People’s Reich). The Volksreich Government advocates for national ownership of digital infrastructure within the framework of the Germanic Federalist political system. While the Reich Government owns and controls the Germanic National Intranet, the National Intranet itself is only just the macrocosm. The real microcosm is organized along regional lines.
The Germanic National Intranet applies the Trade Policy of the Reich Government, its digital demarcation reflecting the Real World demarcation between the German-speaking world and the rest of Europe. Websites selling goods and services sourced from outside the German-speaking world are more expensive compared to those domestically produced in the German-speaking world. The Reich Government allocates investments to the “Informational Autobahn” to ensure that the German Reich would have the fastest connectivity and bandwidth speeds in Europe, if not the world.
More importantly, the German Reich is not on the cutting edge of cyberwarfare capabilities; the US, PRC, and Soviet Union are the real pioneers on that front. Although far from defenseless when it comes to matters of cyberdefense, the German Reich leads the world on unmanned ground and aerial vehicles. German automotive and precision machinery industries have developed Miniaturized Automated Tractor Vehicles (MATVs), autonomous vehicles capable of assisting and working with human operators. The Reich Government is considering the possibility of breathing new life to the Manufacturing Sector through the Germanic National Intranet.
Soviet Intranet
The Soviet Union boasts the world’s first self-sufficient National Intranet, competing with Federalist and Germanic software developers for the best-possible economic planning and accounting software tools. Economic Planners and Accountants are interested in digitalizing their economic plans and accounting work to streamline the production processes. The range of software in development is capable of facilitating not only Enterprises operating exclusively on the National Intranet, but also allowing Soviet Enterprises in the Real World to conduct themselves on the National Intranet.
Soviet software is distinguishable by the Cyrillic language, which is language chosen to define its programming language and applications. The Soviet National Intranet is capable of disconnecting itself from the International Internet and still be able to operate uninterrupted. Gateway Nodes are heavily defended, filtering all incoming and outcoming traffic for any malware and spyware deployed by hostile nations. It is also capable of hosting offensive cyberwarfare platforms as the Soviet Union is the world’s leading developers of cyberweapons.
Concerns about rogue hackers with cyberweapons is a major policy issue in the Soviet Government. The Soviets are advocates of monitoring computer hackers. They are a prominent advocate of defining hackers unaffiliated with any national armed forces as subject to international treaties on non-combatants.
Chinese Intranet
The People’s Republic of China is a proponent of Cyber-Sovereignty, the belief that national laws should be enforced on the National Intranet as they normally are in the Real World. The national legal jurisprudence of one nation’s National Intranet is only applicable to that National Intranet. Barring international treaties recognized by the World State Organization (WSO), the laws of one nation cannot be enforced in another nation’s National Intranet. What this means is that access to the International Intranet and by extension another National Intranet should be akin to traveling abroad. Going by this legal argument, existing laws regarding Foreigners traveling to other nations should be reapplied to the National Intranet.
The legal precedent presented by this argument presupposes the idea of digitalizing Travel Visas. Specific locations where one could ‘travel’ to another National Intranet on the International Internet whilst staying within the borders of their own homeland. The International Internet is place unto itself but governed by International Law. It represents that small space where one finds the bridges and gateways to National Intranets. Internet Cafés could be revisited in this context, especially if certain National Intranets require special software in order to access them.
But what the Chinese have done differently is that they have argued for demarcating the National Intranet and the International Internet based on control of Firewalls and Gateway Nodes. The State ownership of those Firewalls and Gateway Nodes both to and from the International Internet is the decisive factor. Just as how every nation should police their borders and maritime trade routes, so too should they police the Firewalls and Gateway Nodes and enforce legal norms.
Japanese Intranet
Imperial Japan, unlike the Chinese, view the National Intranet as an extension of a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. This is an understandable sentiment in 1999 insofar as connecting to the digital realm oftentimes required dialup. WIFI technologies have yet to be made commonplace or at the very least compatible with the specifications required by the Japanese and the other nations covered here. The legal argument posited here is that because people are required to register telephones under their real legal name, people should also use their real legal name in the National Intranet.
Of course, there are always going to be people browsing the National Intranet under screennames, but the real challenge is how to promote privacy and sovereignty simultaneously. People should be recognized for their personal achievements on the National Intranet. Intellectual Properties-as-Power are granted more importance on the National Intranet, which can extend to the State Investments and Taxes that went toward their creations. Granted, any personal, financial, medical, court records and forth should be kept to the Self in order to deter identity theft. Identity fraud will continue to be a real issue on the National Intranet as it has always been in the Real World.
There is a concurring desire in the Japanese Government on how nations should respond to cybercrimes committed in the National Intranet. Since crimes are taken seriously in the Real World, a similar attitude needs to be implemented on the National Intranet. This includes expanding the role of law enforcement to police the National Intranet for deterring and solving serious cybercrimes. Another area of concern is the Totality being able to expose government corruption and scientific misconduct on the National Intranet, including imploring the authorities to act in response.
Categories: Politics
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