Volunteers create a snoop-free Sopranica mobile network.

For about a year, the American activist Denver Gingerich has been putting open to hand some program parts of a large project, which he and his associates call Sopranica . This is the world's first mobile network that unites users on open principles, without the participation of a commercial company, the mobile operator. Anyone in the world can join the network on a voluntary basis.

For example, in January 2017, Jingeririch published the source code for jmp-register - the registration wizard for the JMP chat (JIDs for Messaging with Phones). In the JMP chat, everyone chooses for himself a free and anonymous ID with an indication of a phone number of the type +12113114111@cheogram.com, through which he can exchange text messages and pictures with other users. When registering with JMP, you specify an arbitrary phone number that is tied to an anonymous Jabber account.

The JMP chat is the first brick that makes up the free Sopranica mobile network.

Sopranica is based on XMPP (Jabber) - it is an open protocol for voice or text communication from an anonymous phone number (ID).
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Anyone in the world can easily join a new anonymous network. Just install Jabber on your mobile phone, create a Jabber ID account, select a phone number and install the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) application, which redirects calls and messages to the Internet instead of the cellular operator's network.

Tracking users through mobile phones is becoming commonplace technology in many countries around the world. The authorities use it routinely to determine the current location of the user, the history of his movements and conversations. In some countries, all conversations are also recorded, and the archive with records is stored for many months or even years, and can be used against a person at any time. Most people have become accustomed to the idea that they constantly carry a “bug” in their pocket.

In Sopranica you choose the number you like. The confirmation code will be sent to the mobile phone in the Jabber application. From now on, you are protected from being snooped by the secure XMPP protocol: “When talking to JMP numbers, your mobile operator does not know what number you are talking to and with whom: all communications are encrypted. The operator doesn’t even know about the fact of the conversation, ”Denver Jingerich explains in an interview with Motherboard .

Unfortunately, even going to the secure JMP software, you still leave the phone connected to the operator’s cellular network, so that it can technically continue surveillance. Therefore, the next stage in the development of the free Sopranica network is the creation of its own physical WOM infrastructure (WPAN Of Messaging). In fact, WOM is an XMPP running on the chibiArduino protocol stack (802.15.4). Gateways establish a link in the 900 MHz band (902-928 MHz in North America, 868.0-868.6 MHz in Europe). At this frequency, gateways can exchange data in direct line of sight at a distance of tens of kilometers, but in densely populated cities, a large number of gateways are needed, so now volunteers' assistance is urgently needed.

WOM is a public P2P radio network that routes long-distance and international traffic and provides users around. Registration of WOM operational gateways occurs on this page .

The WOM network can work even without gateways: the XEP-0174 specifications provide for peer-to-peer messaging without a server.

Thus, the Sopranica network applies the Embrace Then Extinguish principle (“include and then destroy”) in relation to existing cellular networks. That is, at first, it uses the existing infrastructure of mobile operators through JMP, and then begins to work without their participation in the WOM infrastructure.

Free infrastructure will operate on a voluntary basis and will exist on voluntary donations. Regular users do not have to pay for mobile communication, if they do not want to.

In the future, Sopranica activists are hoping that mobile phone manufacturers will implement WOM support at the hardware level. At least, this applies to manufacturers of free mobile phones aimed at maximum security and safety, such as DragonBox Pyra, Purism Librem 5, Neo900, etc. Such phones can, as an option, also support traditional GSM / LTE communication if the user agrees to be monitored at times , or devices will only support WOM. There are plans to release JMP SIM cards for integration with existing cell phone models.

Protected anonymous cellular communication is an indispensable tool for journalists and political activists in countries where the state infringes upon freedom of speech. WOM infrastructure with fast deployment and peer-to-peer communications can also be useful in areas of natural disasters and military operations, where traditional cellular communications are not available or are unsafe. For all other users, this is simply a cheap alternative to traditional communication, without having to pay for conversations.