Digital Serfism is Dead: The Decentralized Web is Alive

“The way we code the Web will determine the way we live online. So we need to bake our values into our code. Freedom of expression needs to be baked into our code. Privacy should be baked into our code. Universal access to all knowledge. But right now, those values are not embedded in the Web.”

— Brewster Kahle, Founder of the Internet Archive (from Locking the Web Open)

Problem: Almost the entirety of the Internet is, ultimately, beholden to whoever owns the pipes. Under this structure, not even bitcoin, as it stands, can escape the clutches of the “Digital Gods of the Copybook Headings.”

But fear not, dear digital serf.

The technology to fight the technocratic nightmare exists and is slowly gaining ground in the quest to corner and kill the centralized Info-Babylon.

The problem with over-centralization is it inevitably ends up creating arbitrary and, sometimes, bloody repression. It impedes the flow of crucial information. It stunts chaos and creative destruction, leading to bulging malformations and widespread (and largely unnecessary) crises.

Good news: We don’t have to reinvent the wheel to kill arbitrary centralization.

The origins of the Internet are decentralized. Originally, anyone could contribute parts to it by collaborating directly with their peers. The real struggle we face today, then, is to build a neo-archaic form of Web through redecentralization.

There are, as it stands, a few potential leaders in this ongoing race to (forcibly) decentralize the centralizers — Webtorrent, Zeronet and MaidSafe. 

All of these networks aim to subvert the censorship and inefficiencies of centralized websites (and the server farms which serve them) by using “torrent” technology.

A torrent, if you’re not familiar, is a file which can be downloaded from multiple places simultaneously through an anonymous distribution network, while, at the same time allowing others to download small chunks of the file from you (without having access to your personal information, of course).

Each user who holds the file sends you tiny bits and snippets of it until you have the whole thing, whatever that file may be.

This way, the overall burden on the network is spread among those who already have the file you want to download. This is opposed to the traditional method of concentrating multiple downloads of the same file to one centralized server, which, added up, equals to an unfathomable waste of power and time.

As with many great technologies, to put it bluntly, torrent technology began as a way to make illicit activities safer and more convenient.

Normally, for example, torrents are used for pirating games, software, music and movies. But the potential for this type of technology extends well beyond just downloading the latest programming piece from Hollyweird.

“The BitTorrent technology for distributed file storage and Peer to Peer (P2P) transfers,” Giulio Prisco writes on the CryptoCoinsNews blog, “was one of the biggest developments in Web technology since the Web itself, and opened the way to a distributed, fully decentralized Internet.”

That’s right. Torrents are the master keys to a more secure, more resilient, more free, more anonymous and more decentralized Internet.

Enter WebTorrent.

“WebTorrent,” says the organization’s website, “is the first torrent client that works in the browser. YEP. THAT’S RIGHT. THE BROWSER.”

WebTorrent allows users to connect together directly to websites to form a distributed, decentralized, anonymous, peer-to-peer Internet.

This type of Inter-network requires no data centers to operate and solves the scalability problem which normally poisons the (centralized) websites  which try to keep censorship-free and privacy-intact principles. Actually, with WebTorrent, the scalability problem is flipped on its head. The more users that hook into each individual site on the network, the better the site (and, ultimately, the network), will function.

“Imagine,” WebTorrent’s website explains, “a video site like YouTube, where visitors help to host the site’s content. The more people that use a WebTorrent-powered website, the faster and more resilient it becomes.

“One of the most exciting uses for WebTorrent,” the site goes on, “is peer-assisted delivery. Non-profit projects like Wikipedia and the Internet Archive could reduce bandwidth and hosting costs by letting visitors chip in.

“Popular content is served browser-to-browser, quickly and cheaply. Rarely-accessed content is served reliably over HTTP from the origin server.”

This type of browser-to-browser communication allows surfers and website creators to cut out the middleman, giving them the power to communicate and browse on their own terms. No more client/server (AKA serf/master) relationship. Instead, the Internet becomes simply a network of peers, all contributing their tiny bits of power to those sites they support the most — through tiny little digital votes called bits.

“WebTorrent,” the site reads, “is the first step in the journey to redecentralize the Web.”

Webtorrent also has a worthy competitor called ZeroNet, which operates on the same P2P principles. 

For brevity’s sake, here’s the short-list of the advantages and values of ZeroNet, according to its website:

• We believe in open, free, and uncensored communication.

• No censorship: After something is published there is no way to remove it.

• No single point of failure: Content remains online even if only one peer is serving it.

• Impossible to shut down: It’s nowhere because it’s everywhere. Content is served by any user who wishes to.

• Fast: ZeroNet uses BitTorrent technology to deliver content faster than centralised servers.

• Works offline: You can access the site even if your internet is unavailable.

• Secure: Content ownership is secured using the same cryptography that secures your Bitcoin wallet

And last but not least, there’s MaidSafe…

Through its SAFE (Secure Access For Everyone) Network, MaidSafe “turns the tables on companies, putting users in control of their data, rather than trusting it to organizations.”

Apart from the aforementioned P2P technology, where files uploaded into the network are broken into small chunks, encrypted, and flung across the network (a process called self-encryption), with MaidSafe, there’s strong incentive to commit your unused power to strengthen the network: money.

“To access the network,” the MaidSafe team explains, “users will create an account username (no personal details required) and allocate a section of their hard drive to the network. They are then rewarded in cryptocurrency for their part in helping to operate the network.”

By nature of the network, no third party can access or delete your data on the SAFE network.

The MaidSafe team writes:

The distributed nature of the network provides your data with physical security, meaning that no third party can access or delete it, as can happen with existing centralised solutions. The feature called Opportunistic Caching automatically creates more copies of popular data closer to where it is being requested, so popular websites and other data feeds will actually speed up as they get more visitors, rather than slow down and crash as they do on today’s web.

The network is programmed to keep duplicate copies of each piece of data at all times. As users turn their computers off, the network makes more copies and stores them on other machines, ensuring that users always have access to their files.

This constant movement of data (called churn) is a key part of the security that the SAFE Network offers because there is no central point for hackers to target as the data locations keep changing.

Decentralization is slowly prying open the jaws of the Web. Decentralization is not asking for permission. Decentralization cannot be stopped.

The evolution, therefore, will be decentralized.

To get ahead of the curve, check out and get familiar with WebTorrent, ZeroNet and MaidSafe.

Here’s to locking the web open,

Chris Campbell
Managing editor, Laissez Faire Today

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