@cwebber But I think you're right that this starts to come apart at the seams. In fact, as you pointed out, the relay isn't neutral. It deletes spam and removes illegal content.

That's important not just because of the operating costs, but because it means that the headcanon one-true-AT-network doesn't really exist; what exists is something much more centralized and hard to duplicate.

I don't have a good response to this. I think if you want relay independence, Bsky isn't likely to cut it.