Decentralized Internet Systems

Tamas Kocsis is an experienced, self-taught web developer who is devoted to the idea of creating a people-powered version of the Internet and his talk on the alternative web briefly touches upon his motivation, obstacles and overall experience.

Essentially, the reason why the speaker embarked on such a sizable, time-demanding project is because he was worried about the future of the Internet itself. Online platforms are managed through a potentially very dangerous system. To access a site, one needs to go through "multiple middlemen" -- otherwise referred to as gatekeepers. These are the domain name server, the hosting company, as well as a web-hosting service. The problem with these gatekeepers is that they are not only vulnerable to attacks, but they also make censorship and surveillance of information easier.

During his talk on the alternative web, Tamas Kocsis gives a worrisome example of a disproportionate accumulation of power that is hard to see-thorough from the perspective of the user. Although cheaper and more efficient for developers and service operators, the Cloud-based backup system makes it possible for "giant corporations [to obtain] unlimited control over the hosting services."

Tamas Kocsis centers his TED talk on the alternative web around his ZeroNet concept which is "open, free and uncensorable." These people-powered Internet platforms empower the user by omitting the middleman. The network is secured through public-key cryptography that allows only the owner to modify the site. Kocsis' decentralized web is essentially a venture into making the Intenet more user-focused, actively stripping magnanimous companies from their disproportionate power and addressing freedoms such as the tightly government-controlled Internet access in China or the overregulated new copyright protection law from the European parliament that seeks to "block content based on rules controlled by big corporations."