Paulo on Nostr: "Over the last half-century of networked computing, a pendulum has been swinging ...
"Over the last half-century of networked computing, a pendulum has been swinging betwee client-side and server-side computing. We went from mainframes and dumb terminals to powerful desktop computers to web apps and the cloud. Perhaps we will start to see a similar pendulum in this arena as well. We’ve gone from a world in which protocols dominated to one in which centralized platforms controlled all. Moving us back toward a world where protocols are dominant over platforms could be of tremendous benefit to free speech and innovation online.
Such a move has the potential to return us to the early promise of the web: to create a place where like-minded people can connect on various topics around the globe and anyone can discover useful information on a variety of different subjects without it being polluted by abuse and disinformation. Simultaneously, it could enable greater competition and innovation on the internet, while also giving end users more control over their own data and preventing giant corporations from having too much data on any particular user.
Moving to protocols, not platforms, is an approach for free speech in the twenty-first century. Rather than relying on a “marketplace of ideas” within an individual platform—which can be hijacked by those with malicious intent—protocols could lead to a marketplace of ideals, where competition occurs to provide better services that minimize the impact of those with malicious intent, without cutting off their ability to speak entirely.
It would represent a radical change, but one that should be looked at seriously."
Source: Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech
- MIKE MASNICK, 2019
https://knightcolumbia.org/content/protocols-not-platforms-a-technological-approach-to-free-speech
Such a move has the potential to return us to the early promise of the web: to create a place where like-minded people can connect on various topics around the globe and anyone can discover useful information on a variety of different subjects without it being polluted by abuse and disinformation. Simultaneously, it could enable greater competition and innovation on the internet, while also giving end users more control over their own data and preventing giant corporations from having too much data on any particular user.
Moving to protocols, not platforms, is an approach for free speech in the twenty-first century. Rather than relying on a “marketplace of ideas” within an individual platform—which can be hijacked by those with malicious intent—protocols could lead to a marketplace of ideals, where competition occurs to provide better services that minimize the impact of those with malicious intent, without cutting off their ability to speak entirely.
It would represent a radical change, but one that should be looked at seriously."
Source: Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech
- MIKE MASNICK, 2019
https://knightcolumbia.org/content/protocols-not-platforms-a-technological-approach-to-free-speech