For those who wait a decentralized web is in our immediate future – anyone who has, say, recently noted the measurable ways in which great tech oligarchs play an active role in shaping our democracy, perhaps – good news: on Tuesday, Brave browser focused on privacy launched an update that makes it the first to introduce point-to-point protocol for hosting web content.
Known as IPFS, does InterPlanetary File System, the protocol allows users to upload content from a decentralized network of distributed nodes, rather than a centralized network server. It is new – and widely proclaimed – technology and may eventually supplant the Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) that dominates our current Internet infrastructure.
“We are excited to be the first browser to offer native IPFS integration with today’s Brave desktop browser launch,” said Brian Bondy, CTO and cofounder of Brave. “The integration of the open source IPFS network is an important milestone in making the Web more transparent, decentralized and resilient.”
The new protocol promises several advantages inherent to HTTP, with faster web speeds, reduced costs for publishers and a much less chance of government censorship between them.
“Today, Web users worldwide are unable to access restricted content, including, for example, parts of Wikipedia in Thailand, more than 100,000 blocked sites in Turkey and critical access to COVID-19 information in China,” said the IPFS project leader Molly Mackinlay said Engadget. “Now, anyone with an Internet connection can access this critical information through IPFS in the Brave browser.”
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On a email to the vice, IPFS founder Juan Benet said he finds it worrying that the Internet has become as centralized as before, leaving open the possibility that “Disappear at any moment, bringing all the data with them – or at least breaking all the links.”
“Instead,” he continued, “We are pushing for a fully distributed web, where applications do not reside on centralized servers, but operate across the network from users’ computers … a web where content can move through untrusted intermediaries without giving up control of the data, or putting it at risk. “
After the invasion of The Capitol on January 6 by a right-wing crowd, an Fierce debate was sparked between publishers and platforms about what types of content should be allowed to see the light of day. IPFS would, in part, democratize the internet by fight control out of the hands of a few – which means that decisions like these for permanently snout president Donald Trump on Twitter or rip off Parler of your hosting service would be much more difficult to do unilaterally in the future.
Version 1.19 of Brave is available for download from today.