HackMDCreating Autonomous Futures in the Post-Web [draft]
Author: Black Sky Society
The internet was not originally built with the autonomy of its users in mind. Its roots trace back to the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), a project by the U.S. DoD, created primarily as a tool for swift communication and knowledge sharing among universities and research institutions. As the internet evolved from its academic origins into a commercialized platform, user autonomy was often overlooked, leaving significant control in the hands of ISPs and major tech companies. Web3, i.e. the union of cryptocurrency with the internet, promised a more decentralized and equitable digital landscape that avoids the monopolistic and privacy-invasive practices of Web 2.0.
Yet, incessant legal obstacles, multi-million dollar hacks and the threat of pervasive surveillance have instilled skepticism about Web3’s vision of a better internet. These existential threats to crypto, combined with the challenge of compliance for protocol developers, accentuate the fact that laws and regulations are inherently local, whereas the internet is global. Consequently, designing next-generation Web architectures aiming to empower communities is a daunting task. Furthermore, building these protocols on top of Web architecture not originally designed to work with cryptocurrencies is akin to fitting a square peg into a round hole. These struggles often divert the greater Web3 community’s attention from privacy and sovereignty as essential system components.
While we could propose a Web4, Web5, or Web6 to counter these issues, we believe the root of our troubles may lie in the foundational infrastructure of the Web itself. Hence, we propose a new path to address the deeper problems of the Web as whole. Our aim is not just to rethink network technologies, but to venture into unexplored territory: the Post-Web.
Six Principles of the Post-Web
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Privacy & Security: User privacy is upheld by minimizing data and metadata exposure, ensuring end-to-end security, and fine-grained personal control over information disclosure. Financial transactions must be private and shielded by default. Users can decide where, when, and to whom, their information is disclosed, while remote services handle only encrypted content without access to sensitive details, such as user location.
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Local-First: Develop protocols that can be implemented locally first and connected in a bottom-up, confederated manner from the bottom up. Applications should operate offline and asynchronously when feasible, enabling access to cached content like wikis, messages, and forums, while allowing users to search and discover information on their devices, within their communities and groups as well as globally, using privacy-preserving protocols. Focus on designing robust tools effective in real-world, local contexts before considering global standards and remote services.
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Sovereign Identities for All Agents: Organizations, individuals, and non-human agents alike can exercise full control over their identities and associated data. By employing context-dependent pseudonymous cryptographic systems, it is possible to establish privacy-preserving trust relationships without relying on biometric data. While there will be no unified identity system, standards are in place to facilitate interoperability and portability across various protocols.
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Organizational Cybernetics & Rights Portability: Recognize organizations as unique digital entities possessing the ability to adapt and self-regulate. Utilize interoperable cryptographic capability-based security models for outlining organizational structures, roles, and access rights, enabling efficient interactions and portable rights across multiple applications. By emphasizing organizational agency, interconnected digital ecosystems are fostered, enabling organizations to adapt and thrive within a network ecology.
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Efficiency, Scalability & Resilience: Protocols are designed to use resources efficiently, minimizing overhead and maximizing throughput. They are scalable, capable of adapting to growing user bases and network demands, ensuring consistent performance. Resiliency is key, with built-in fault tolerance and recovery mechanisms that maintain system stability and prevent data loss, even in the face of unexpected failures or network disruptions.
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Pluralism, Interoperability, and Community Governance: Post-web culture encourages a diverse ecosystem of protocols, applications, and tools developed by various teams, and also facilitates the use and exchange of multiple cryptocurrencies and tokens, both locally and globally by ensuring interoperability through common protocols, data formats, or transport layers. Its ethos embraces community-driven funding and decision-making processes which distribute power across diverse stakeholders and jurisdictions, thereby enhancing the system’s resilience and adaptability to evolving needs and priorities.
Additional Considerations
- Hardware: In envisioning a Post-Web future, the relationship with hardware plays a crucial role, as software ultimately relies on hardware to function. A comprehensive understanding of the interplay between hardware and software is essential for creating a more resilient, secure, and privacy-preserving ecosystem.
- Communication Infrastructures: It will also be necessary to evaluate and potentially rethink the existing telecommunications infrastructure, including elements such as SIM cards and cell towers. The current system designs often compromise privacy, and addressing these issues will be integral to the development of a Post-Web environment.
- Financial Privacy: The Post-Web paradigm favors shielded-by-default system designs, as that aligns with the first principle of Privacy & Security. When developing new crypto financial protocols, the focus should not be solely on capturing Ethereum liquidity since every new shielded system will inherently do that in one way or another. Instead, it is essential to devise strategies for onboarding individuals who have yet to self-custody any crypto, expanding the reach of decentralized financial solutions.
Closing Remarks
Post-Web offers a unique perspective on the future of the internet, emphasizing privacy, resiliency, antifragility, and sovereignty and approaches this by defining principles related to technical architecture. This vision diverges significantly from the prevalent Web3 perspective. Additionally, by prioritizing pluralism, this narrative stands a greater chance of enduring and thriving in the face of challenges, such as state control and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), rather than merely competing with other protocols.
In developing these principles, we have drawn upon insights from work and thought within the Anoma, Cosmos, DarkFi, DWeb, Espresso, Ethereum, Filecoin, Holochain, LoFiRe, Mel, Penumbra, SSB, Urbit, and Zcash ecosystems. It is important to note that the principles presented above are in a draft stage.
