Internet Archive Dweb

2018: Creation of the decentralized Internet

On September 19, 2018 it became known that the development team with the assistance of the Internet Archive organization works on creation of the decentralized Internet of DWeb in which data will be stored in nodes of network, but not on servers of the large companies. On such Internet it will be impracticable to block the website for censorship reasons.

The main idea is that it will work, without relying on centralized attendants. It is similar to how in 1980-1990 when the World Wide Web only began the existence, users were directly connected to each other computers.

At the beginning of the 2000th the situation changed — users began to perform communication and to share data through the centralized services provided by the large companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.

According to authors of the project, DWeb has many advantages in comparison with the normal Internet. As data do not accumulate in hands of one company, the risk of their mass leak as a result of the hacker attack decreases. Besides, the centralized placement of data facilitates to the government shadowing citizens and censorship introduction that can be avoided using the decentralized Internet.

In a case with DWeb to the government, will block more difficult any website as its data will arrive to the computer user from different places, as at jump of a torrent. However same is also a lack of the idea as on the decentralized Internet it will be more difficult to stop, for example, distribution of a child pornography and other materials breaking the law.

Principles of work

As Matt Zumwalt from Protocol Labs — to the company which develops systems and tools for DWeb explains — one of the basic principles of work of the decentralized Internet is communication directly between nodes of network at which each computer not only requests any services, but also provides them.

Besides, the normal Internet finds and transfers data on the links http and https, i.e. being guided by their location.

On the decentralized Internet nodes of network directly will be connected with each other DWeb will find content being guided directly by its contents — what is it, but not where it is located. This approach will allow to store and transmit data between computers by different methods, but not through one server.

On the decentralized Internet personal computers will be used more functionally.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency

The blockchain will be used on the decentralized Internet to fix the movement of data, to register unique user names and even for direct data storage.

Besides, there are already cryptocurrency projects which should help to create DWeb. For example Protocol Labs started the Filecoin cryptocurrency in August, 2017 that gave the chance to attract in the project investments in the amount of $205 million Filecoin should contribute to the development of free market of data warehouses. If the user of the decentralized Internet has free capacities, it can place data of other users there, having received for this Filecoin. If it needs to place somewhere own data, he will pay this service with cryptocurrency. All transactions register in a blockchain.

In DWeb users should pay for access to this or that information as on the decentralized Internet the business model at which the user just browses the advertizing based on the data collected about it will effectively not work more often. For example, if the user wants to listen to the song which someone recorded and placed in DWeb, he will have to pay with cryptocurrency an access key.

On the decentralized Internet the majority of passwords will also disappear. Each user will have only one really long and nonrestorable password which will work everywhere in DWeb, for connection to any applications. On the other hand, in case of loss of this password access to everything will be lost.

The decentralized applications

For September, 2018 DWeb does not function yet, but the programs and applications working on the decentralized model are already created. There are, for example, a decentralized OpenBazaar marketplace, an analog of documents of Google under the name Graphite Docs, similar to Instagram the Textile Photos application, messenger Matrix and DTube service, on functions similar YouTube. Exist already also decentralized social networks — Akasha and Diaspora. Also experimental browser Beaker Browser^[1] is created].

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