Internet of the future: from freedom to centralization and back

History of the Internet: The Path to Neutrality

The internet was originally conceived as a decentralized network consisting of many independent servers that could exchange data without a single central node. The main idea was to create a resilient and distributed system that would be flexible and reliable enough to survive even in conditions of partial destruction. Later, Tim Berners-Lee developed the HTTP protocol, which greatly simplified the interaction between these servers and made data exchange accessible and understandable for all users.

However, Berners-Lee did not think about decentralization — his goal was to make information more accessible, to standardize its exchange. HTTP became the glue that connected the independent parts of the network, but the idea of fighting centralization was not on the agenda. The popularity and success of the HTTP protocol are explained by its simplicity and flexibility — it was a lightweight tool that could be integrated into any infrastructure and provided convenience for both developers and users. Simplicity made it the ideal choice for rapid dissemination, and flexibility allowed it to be adapted to any needs — from text exchange to multimedia transmission. As a result, HTTP became the foundation of communication on the internet.

The early internet was more like an anarchic paradise based on the ideas of freedom, self-expression, and independence. Here, everyone could communicate anonymously, without strict authorization and control mechanisms. Decentralized approaches such as FidoNet and the federated structure of email emerged, which were built on the principles of freedom and equality.

Even before the creation of the web, there was a federated structure of email, where mail servers were mostly private and not owned by large corporations. Email was truly decentralized.

People shared knowledge, created communities of interest, and all this happened without any centralized control and censorship. The principle of net neutrality played an important role, ensuring that access to all resources would be the same for everyone, and data would not be prioritized depending on its origin or type. This created an open and free space where everyone could be heard.

This time was characterized by the fact that users were not just consumers of content, but also its active creators. Everyone could create their own website, home pages, blog, share ideas.

The internet was wild and uncontrolled, and that was what gave it its special magic. It was like a giant library where everyone could be both an author and a reader, where there were no boundaries and restrictions. The internet became a space where creativity and self-expression were its heart and soul.

Ideas and information cannot belong to one person. They are part of the common human heritage and serve as a source of inspiration for everyone. The exchange of ideas and free access to information stimulate progress, create conditions for growth and development. This supports the philosophy of a free internet, where everyone can not only receive information but also contribute to its development. As Julian Assange wrote in his book "Cypherpunks": "All of human history, the history of culture, is the history of copying ideas, transforming them and further developing them, and if you call it theft, then you are one of those cynics."

Problems of the modern internet

Today, the internet more closely resembles a digital prison than a free information space. We live in an era of centralized services that control content, domain names, and virtually every action we take. The DNS system is strictly hierarchical and centralized, making domain name control another point of vulnerability for the internet. Social networks, where freedom of speech once reigned, have turned into tools of censorship and control. Total user dependence on services has become the norm. Now, between two people who want to exchange information, there is always an intermediary - a service interested either in commercial gain or in fulfilling the requirements of government agencies and other regulators.

Examples of this are everywhere. Blocking Twitter and Telegram in different countries, censorship on social networks, especially for political reasons, control of domain names, blocking accounts in financial services, tracking correspondence and user locations. Even if we assume that the service owners are completely honest and impartial, they are still vulnerable in one way or another: they can go bankrupt, they can be pressured by government agencies, they can change their views, and in the end, they are simply mortal. As a result, the stability and neutrality of such services are always in question. Even search engines today are becoming tools of control, changing their algorithms to limit access to certain information.

In addition, we are witnessing the growth of monopolies on the internet. Large corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon have become the entry point into the world of online services. These companies control vast amounts of data, which gives them the ability to manipulate information, collect user data, and influence public behavior. Every year, control is increasing, and users are losing their autonomy. The internet, conceived as a space of freedom, has become a tool of surveillance and suppression.

The Client-Server Paradigm Problem

There was a man named Heinz von Foerster — the godfather of cybernetics — who once created a set of rules, one of which states: "Always act in such a way that the number of choices increases". This rule applies to everything: politics, economics, technology, personal decisions – always do what expands, not narrows your options. However, today we are more likely to create technologies that often narrow our options, limit choice, and make us dependent on centralized structures. We must be aware of this and strive to create solutions that expand our options and reduce dependency.

One might ask: is it not the Client-Server paradigm itself that has led us to the current state? If the internet was initially a network of small home servers with personal blogs and websites, over time all this has transformed into centralized cloud storage and high-load centralized services. The client-server paradigm itself already implies that one large server serves millions of clients, thereby creating a centralized architecture and user dependency on servers. Technologies for direct client interaction, without intermediaries, are practically undeveloped.

Instead of each user being able to be their own server, possessing autonomy and control over their data, we have moved to a model where large companies rent out servers. Even if a user wants to create their own project, they are forced to rely on those who control the infrastructure. Thus, the system, which was originally intended for independent use by everyone, has turned into a system of centralized control.

The Role of the IT Industry

IT specialists today are focused on improving server infrastructure and solving high load problems, which actually exacerbates the problem even more. Instead of working on decentralization and network neutrality, they are building a digital GULAG, where millions of users are tied to centralized services. This leads to scalability and reliability issues being solved by increasing centralization, rather than creating distributed systems that could function independently.

And it is especially worth noting the development of surveillance systems, video surveillance, facial recognition, and biometrics. These technologies are being implemented under the pretext of increasing security and convenience, but in practice, they turn into powerful tools of total control. The creators of such systems are openly working on building infrastructure where every human action is recorded and analyzed. This is no longer indirect interference, but a deliberate effort to create a society where personal autonomy is gradually replaced by constant surveillance.

The IT industry prefers to take the path of least resistance, creating solutions that are convenient for corporate clients and major market players. The possibilities of creating alternative, decentralized solutions that could return control to users are ignored. Thus, engineers and developers, perhaps unintentionally, are building a system in which user freedom is gradually diminishing.

It is important for the IT community to recognize its role in creating centralized systems and understand how each choice for convenience or speed affects the building of infrastructure on which society becomes dependent. It is worth starting to think more about developing decentralized solutions that will allow people to maintain control over their data, interact directly, and minimize the influence of centralized structures.

Possible solutions to the centralization problem

There are several areas in which we can work: content publishing, messaging, finance.

The financial sector has been partially decentralized thanks to blockchain. Messengers are also trying to solve privacy issues, but not all of them are truly decentralized. For content publishing, there are decentralized networks such as IPFS and BitTorrent, which provide real decentralization but are only suitable for file sharing (static file exchange).

We must look for solutions that provide not only privacy but also independence. Decentralized finance based on blockchain is a good example of how to avoid dependence on centralized banking systems. There is a growing demand in society for decentralized social networks that allow people to maintain control over their content and avoid dependence on corporate platforms. Users are looking for ways to publish materials, blog, and interact on social networks without intermediaries. Similarly, independent communication solutions are in demand - decentralized messengers that provide not only encryption but also the absence of a single server controlling communication.

Finance: Blockchain as a solution

Finance is practically the only area where real decentralization has been achieved thanks to blockchain. It allows people to make cross-border payments without banks and intermediaries. However, even here not all blockchains are equal — many of them depend on developers and a limited number of nodes. For example, networks like Ethereum offer decentralized solutions, but they can still depend on the development team and large mining pools. This creates risks of centralization at the level of management and consensus. In addition, the scalability problem remains unresolved, which limits the efficiency of such blockchains under high loads.

Bitcoin is perhaps an example of a more independent and stable blockchain that continues to remain decentralized and not dependent on one person or group of people. Nevertheless, even in this case, there are risks of centralization, such as the control of large mining pools. We must work to make these systems even more decentralized and resilient.

Anonymous networks and VPN

Anonymous networks such as Tor or I2P solve the problem of anonymity, but do not solve the problem of centralization. They help hide the connection between the client and the server, but the server itself remains centralized and vulnerable. These networks are more focused on hiding the data route rather than creating truly decentralized systems.

VPN services, although they help ensure anonymity and access to blocked resources, also have their drawbacks. Public VPN services can be easily blocked or compromised, as they themselves are a single point of entry. Private VPNs, although more secure, can become a point of traffic de-anonymization. As a result, using a VPN does not guarantee reliable protection from control and surveillance.

Even using Tor and other transport protocols to anonymize traffic, users still depend on end servers that can be compromised or censored. Anonymity is an important aspect, but without decentralization, it does not guarantee freedom. It is necessary to create systems without a single controlling server to ensure true independence.

New Decentralized Protocols

New protocols, such as Noster and ATProtocol, open up prospects for decentralization on the internet. These protocols create an infrastructure for content publishing, blogging, and social networking without the need for central servers and large corporate platforms. Noster and ATProtocol allow people to maintain control over their data and exchange information directly, without intermediaries. This is a step towards an internet where everyone can manage their content and interact freely, minimizing external influence and control. However, it should be noted that these protocols are still managed as federated networks, which means the presence of certain central elements. Ultimately, they do not solve all the problems of centralization, as control can be maintained at the level of managing nodes.

IPFS and BitTorrent

IPFS and BitTorrent do offer a decentralized solution, but only for static data. They are not suitable for dynamic content, such as posting or commenting, where each change requires republishing the entire data structure. In such networks, each new comment or change requires re-distributing the entire file, making their use for dynamic applications extremely inconvenient.

Nevertheless, IPFS and BitTorrent are ideal for storing and distributing large static files, such as videos, books, or software. They provide true decentralization, and this is one of the first steps towards creating a freer internet. But to create a full-fledged decentralized environment, it is necessary to develop systems that can work with dynamic data.

Dynamic Storage: indiFS

I present to your attention my own solution to the problems mentioned above. One possible solution to the problem of content centralization could be dynamic distributed personal storage — indiFS (Individual Distributed Filesystem).

In short, it is a kind of versioned torrent file, a public database with a flexible tree structure.

Each node (peer) supports several personal databases. Thus forming a decentralized peer-to-peer network. Changes are published to the network, where nodes update their versions of the database by requesting data from each other. Unlike traditional centralized databases, indiFS allows users to control their data and share it without intermediaries.

Each node in the network can become part of this process, supporting various personal databases and updating them as new data arrives. This allows content authors to publish their data without fear that their work will be censored or lost due to server shutdown. The indiFS system provides a high degree of data reliability and security, as information is stored on multiple nodes.

indiFS Capabilities

Using indiFS allows authors to publish content without fear of censorship or data loss. Readers can get up-to-date information by requesting only the parts of the data they need. This opens up opportunities for creating decentralized personal websites, blogs, and other applications where data can be both public and encrypted for specific users.

In addition, authors can encrypt part of the data and provide access only to certain users. This makes it possible to create private communities and securely store personal data in an open network. The indiFS system can become the basis for new applications that will take into account not only security needs but also privacy and independence needs.

Future Prospects

Millions of such individual storages will make the internet truly decentralized. As a result, this will create a need for decentralized search engines, where search bots will publish their index files in open access. In turn, they can do this in the indiFS format, excluding the use of centralized servers. Such search bots will be able to be independent and anonymous, free from the control of corporations and governments. Without a physical location or public owners, they will be protected from external influence. Decentralized search engines will be able to independently determine their editorial policies, setting their own filters and restrictions, which will create competition between them and ensure a variety of approaches. This will benefit the entire network, providing more opportunities for choice and access to information.

Thus, instead of one centralized search engine, users will be able to choose between many independent indexes, each of which will have its own approach to filtering and ranking information. This will ensure greater diversity and choice, which in turn will make the network less dependent on centralized structures.

Readers will be able to choose preferred index lists in the settings of their client application, avoiding unacceptable content and ensuring personalized censorship without the involvement of third parties, states, and corporations. This will allow everyone to create their own information space, taking into account personal values and preferences, without imposing norms and standards that are alien to them personally.

What would the Internet be like if it were invented now?

If Satoshi Nakamoto or Tim Berners-Lee were creating the internet today, as critics of centralized solutions, they would probably focus on developing a decentralized architecture for data storage and communication between nodes, excluding the need for central servers. For such decentralized networks to become popular and accessible, protocols must be simple, flexible, and understandable to everyone (as was the case with the HTTP protocol), ensuring easy implementation and use.

The main focus in this case should be on creating protocols for direct interaction of nodes, without intermediaries. These protocols would ensure not only data transmission, but also their reliable storage and verification at each node level. Such an architecture would allow each person to control their data without relying on government structures or large corporations.

In conclusion

In the following articles, I will analyze in detail the technology of building a network based on decentralized versioned storages indiFS. We will delve into the technical details and consider how this system can contribute to the creation of a truly decentralized internet, where users maintain independence and full control over their data.

At the same time, there are a number of important questions: what will be the speed of such a network? How will personalized filters work? How will indexes and search engines be arranged? What is the motivation of those who support the nodes? I will try to answer these and other questions in the following materials, offering possible solutions and development scenarios.