Censorship

BCH Microblog ‘Member’ Shows the Future of Reddit-Like Forums

16/09/2019 by Idelto Editor

BCH-Based Microblog Member Shows the Future of Reddit-Like Forums

Since the Bitcoin Cash upgrade in May 2018, software developers have unleashed a slew of microblogging protocols that utilize OP_return transactions. One application called Member is a BCH-based browser that makes use of these types of transactions and the extra space added to the data carrier size. While still in its infancy, the Member platform has matured into a censorship-resistant Reddit but with geolocated posts, reputational ratings, and native BCH tipping.

Also Read: At Least 19 Central Banks Give Way to Monetary Easing As Economy Slows

The Member Client Continues to Grow

Years ago, Reddit was an interesting online place that allowed many groups to connect, share news and content, and discuss in a forum-like atmosphere. These days, Reddit is synonymous with mass censorship and deplatforming as the corporate entity has banned a variety of subreddits this year. The crypto community caught wind of Reddit censorship last year when the company removed the subreddit /r/darknetmarkets. Reddit users can’t even trust the company’s founder and CEO Steve Huffman who was forced to apologize when he got caught altering pro-Trump related thread comments.

BCH Microblog 'Member' Shows the Future of Reddit-Like Forums — Reddit censorship has increased significantly in recent years.

Bitcoin supporters have seen severe forms of censorship on the subreddit /r/bitcoin as the owner and moderator Theymos and his minions deleted thousands of comments from visitors and suppressed the conversation during the block size debate. Last May, a former moderator who worked alongside Theymos told Bitcoin.com’s podcast host Matt Aaron how he was removed from the group of administrators after he failed to toe the line. Censorship like this has driven the BCH community to foster censorship-resistant microblogging communities like Memo. In tandem with Memo, another application called Member could push the Reddit-like forum concept to new heights using the BCH chain.

Member has been around for some time now but the application has matured a great deal since news.Bitcoin.com reported on it last year. The application’s creator, a developer called Freetrade, describes the platform on Github, calling it a BCH blockchain browser. “It reads and allows users to create actions in the Memo/Member protocol — The client is an HTML5/JS BCH blockchain browser app with no outside js dependencies and it can be run from a website, or from a local file system,” Freetrade’s Github repo details. “Currently it connects to the Member server to get content, and uses Bitbox to get utxos and broadcast transactions.”

Getting Acquainted With the Member App

In order to use Member, you need to have an account with the social network and microblogging app memo.cash where all posts are permanently recorded to the Bitcoin Cash chain. You can sign up for Memo here and it’s a good idea to fund your Memo wallet with a small fraction of BCH so you can post on memo.cash and the Member platform as well. To access Member, go to the website and press the “Login” tab at the top right side of the screen. You can also sign up directly from the Member Login page by pressing the “Create New Account” tab.

Member will tell you to connect your wallet address to get started so you can post. After pressing “Ok,” Member will direct you to a page that shows your new BCH address so you can send a small fraction of funds. If you already have an account or started by signing up for memo.cash using the link mentioned above then Member asks you to paste your Memo private key (compressed WIF format, starts with ‘L’ or ‘K’) into the Login window. After these steps are complete, you are free to explore the Member app but also to create posts, upvote, tip people BCH, and initiate a geolocated post.

To create a new post on Member, simply press the “New post” tab on the upper left side of the user interface. The platform will open a window that allows you to customize a new post with a title and text. You can also post a memorandum or post directly to the memo.cash feed. After creating a post, other Member users can reply to the thread just like a traditional Reddit post and they can “like” the post as well. Moreover, you can be tipped bitcoin cash as Member offers a native BCH wallet that allows for tipping users. If you observe Member’s main feed, it’s set up similarly to the front page of Reddit and there’s a large variety of threads and discussions hosted on the feed. Additionally, you can check the most recent posts on the Member feed by pressing the “Posts (new)” tab on the upper left side of the screen.

Geolocated Posts, 2,000 Characters, and a Reputation System

You can also tether your location coordinates to a custom message using the Member app. At the top left side of the screen simply press the “Map” tab and the website will take you to a map of the world. Like a traditional geolocation map, your browser will ask you if you want to give the Member map your location coordinates so you can get a visual look at your area. The choice is optional but if you do, you can tie a special message to your location that’s written on the BCH chain. Essentially you or anyone can tether a message to any location in the world for less than a U.S. penny at any time. Just click the map with your mouse pointer to select the message location, write it and post it to the Member map. After a few minutes of exploring the Member app’s features, the platform is relatively easy to understand and use.

Member’s creator Freetrade has been hard at work adding more services to the application like reputational ratings and increased character limits for messages. The software engineer recently made it so Member users can reply with much longer character limits. “Member now allows 2,000 character replies by chaining transactions together — Member also treats topics more like subreddits,” Freetrade told BCH supporters on September 15. This announcement got the /r/btc community on Reddit pumped due to their intolerance of censorship. “Wow, now we’re talking,” a BCH proponent opined after Freetrade revealed the 2,000 character extension. “Reddit is slowly dying because of censorship and abuse from admins — If we could create a decentralized alternative on BCH that would be huge,” he added. In addition to the character extension, Freetrade has introduced a web of trust infrastructure to the Member platform. The new idea allows you to rate other Memo profiles using the Member app by giving them a public trust rating. Freetrade has shown that as the reputation system matures, robust trust graphs could be created.

There’s been a lot of development within the BCH ecosystem and Member’s improvements have bolstered a microblogging and censorship-resistant Reddit-like experience. As with most peer-to-peer and decentralized blockchain applications, Member needs to gather more users over time. Memo and Member have seen a lot of lively users since they were created and both have grown a great deal. While projects like Blockpress have fallen to the wayside and are now defunct, the Memo and Member apps have remained strong after the long crypto winter and the blockchain split in November 2018. One difference between the two clients is the Memo protocol browses both BCH and BSV blockchains but the Member app only browses the BCH chain. Freetrade continues to work on making the Member client more robust and has put together a list of certain elements of the project he could use help with.

What do you think about the Member client? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Member, and Pixabay.

Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? Download one for free from us and then head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can quickly buy bitcoin with a credit card.

The post BCH Microblog ‘Member’ Shows the Future of Reddit-Like Forums appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Youtube Censorship Drives Uptake of Crypto-Powered Video Platforms

05/08/2019 by Idelto Editor

If the prospect of greater privacy and financial sovereignty doesn’t lure the masses to crypto networks, perhaps the ability to speak freely will. Lately, a lot of people who couldn’t give a damn about peer-to-peer cryptocurrency have taken a shine to peer-to-peer networks that run on the same censorship-resistant principles. As social networks run amok, deplatforming users for the slightest provocation, decentralized alternatives start to look increasingly alluring. If Youtube, Facebook, Twitter et al continue on their current path, they may become the architects of their own downfall, accelerating the exodus to web3.

Also read: Crypto Social Media is Breaking Free: How 10+ Blockchain Platforms Pay You to Post

Youtube Censorship Is a Boon to Crypto-Powered Video Platforms

There’s an information war raging out there on the web with everything at stake. On social media, news sites and video platforms, an almighty fight for freedom of expression is being waged. If the tech companies and media titans prevail, subjective truth will be censored, dissenters deplatformed, and human history retold by the victors. Meanwhile, the “bad guys” – normal folk who dared to voice controversial opinions or share edgy memes – will be written out of the history books altogether.

so my life has just crumbled right infront of my eyes. i cant even explain how much this hurts.

@TeamYouTube please can you take another look at this. my channel “Fainted” has been terminated. please i voice act funny posts pic.twitter.com/V0tKdYjOR0

— fainted (@faintedsad) August 3, 2019

When Alex Jones was deplatformed by Youtube, Twitter, Google Play, and Apple in the same weekend, with Facebook shortly following, critics warned this was only the thin end of the wedge. If it could happen to the nutty but harmless Jones, they prophesied, it could happen to anyone. It turns out they were right. One year out from the multilateral ousting of the Infowars.com founder, and the information war raging across the web has started to claim collateral damage. But just as life flourishes in the unlikeliest of places, be it the darkest ocean trenches or the highest mountain peaks, the free speech blitzkrieg has spawned resistance from a string of pro-crypto and anti-censorship companies including Gab, Verasity, and Bitchute.

Censorship is a slippery slope, and once tech companies begin pandering to the demands of the (typically left-leaning) banhammer brigade, pretty soon everyone’s a target. There was once a time when social media platforms such as Twitter adhered to the free speech provisions enshrined in the U.S. constitution, which meant that anything was fair game, save doxxing or threats of physical violence. It shows how far the needle has shifted in the last five years that free speech alternative Gab is now viewed as radical for adhering to that same policy. Meanwhile, Facebook has employed 15,000 moderators who consult “a maze of PowerPoint slides spelling out what’s forbidden,” making the dominant social network a “powerful arbiter of global speech.”

Youtube Censorship Is Fueling Demand for Crypto-Friendly Alternatives

While Silicon Valley is going for broke on going woke, inside the cryptosphere (an amorphous conglomerate of blockchain, crypto and web3 companies with no official industry body, geography or hierarchy) an antidote is being brewed. Cryptocurrency began life as a means of P2P exchange, but increasingly adversarial conditions have forced it to evolve into a system for the digitally disenfranchised. Gab founder Andrew Torba is right when he refers to bitcoin as “free speech money.”

Gab has stayed loyal to BTC through its development of the Dissenter browser and its browser plugin of the same name, that enables free comment on media websites that hate the very notion of uncensored speech. Meanwhile, Brave – the software Gab forked to create its free speech web browser – is also going strong, having just surpassed 40 million downloads. The attention-based ad model that Brave pioneered has since been developed by other crypto companies, providing additional incentives for fans to ditch the censorship-happy tech giants and switch to less partisan alternatives.

Twitter is using AI to instantly detect a meme and lockout anyone who is posting it. Scary stuff. Expect this to happen throughout the entire election cycle on every platform…… but one. You can find out what the meme was only on Gab. https://t.co/mVgxMKZR8k

— Gab.com (@getongab) August 3, 2019

Verasity Incentivizes Migration to Friendlier Platforms

Verasity is a crypto company that’s doing for video what Brave has done for web browsing. Its attention-based solution enables video publishers to serve rewarded content to their viewers. Verasity aims to drive adoption of crypto-friendly Youtube alternatives by providing means for creators to monetize their content across multiple platforms. What does this have to do with free speech exactly? Well, as Verasity points out, convincing viewers to switch to new platforms is no mean feat. It cites Pewdiepie, who got only 0.25% of his Youtube followers to transition to blockchain-based alternative Dlive. Providing an easy means for content creators to monetize from the intrepid souls that journey with them provides a safety net, reassuring vloggers that there are viable alternatives to the Youtube ad revenue model.

Nevertheless, as Junseth notes in “Why an Alternative to YouTube Isn’t an Easy Proposition”:

[The tech giants] can de-platform anyone or any business by kicking them off their platform and/or by refusing to sell the website’s inventory. This means that in order for there to rise up a platform that can successfully compete with YouTube and be as profitable as YouTube, they will have to first start a programmatic ad marketplace, and then monetize their videos with it … Because … Google can reduce the price of hosting … it would be nearly impossible to host content as cheaply as they do.

Verasity is not alone in its quest. A string of other competitors is rolling out the red carpet to deplatformed influencers who’ve been deemed persona non grata on the Google-owned Youtube. (That’s the same Google that’s been going to extraordinary lengths to boot Gab off its Play store, because a subset of the free speech network’s users have been known to deploy mean words.) Bitchute, while not strictly a crypto-powered video platform, uses the same P2P torrenting technology that made Bittorrent and Bitcoin so effective. And then there’s Dtube, which notes that “Because of the decentralized nature of IPFS and the STEEM blockchain,” it “is not able to censor videos, nor enforce guidelines.” Bitcoin cash proponents also have access to Cinema.cash, an anti-censorship video platform that enables content creators to get paid in BCH.

Come at the King, You Best Not Miss

For all its crimes, Youtube remains the dominant video network by a country mile. It generated $138 million in Q2 of this year alone – a remarkable increase of 220% YoY. Not everything that matters can be measured in dollars, though. When this week’s U.S. mass shootings sparked calls for further censorship (this time of the 8chan messageboard where one of the killers is believed to have shared their manifesto), Gab.com put it best to a Buzzfeed reporter:

The future of communication and the flow of information on the internet is decentralized and open source. The days of centralized data silos like Facebook, Twitter, and Google are over. The press needs to wrap their heads around this fact and fast, because the future is already here today and it cannot be stopped. Not by you, not by us, not by governments, and not by Silicon Valley.

Which platforms do you think stand a chance of capturing market share from Youtube? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Are you a developer looking to build on Bitcoin Cash? Head over to our Bitcoin Developer page where you can get Bitcoin Cash developer guides and start using the Bitbox, SLP, and Badger Wallet SDKs.

The post Youtube Censorship Drives Uptake of Crypto-Powered Video Platforms appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Crypto Social Media is Breaking Free: How 10+ Blockchain Platforms Pay You to Post

04/08/2019 by Idelto Editor

Social media has become so embedded in most people’s everyday lives that it’s hard to imagine life — or even a span of a few hours — without it. While the social media revolution is huge, there’s another revolution within that revolution, driven by users into cryptocurrency, privacy, and immutability: incentivized, blockchain-based social media.

Also Read: US Regulator Plans to Outsource Running Cryptocurrency Nodes

Steemit as Pioneer

Coming on scene as a pioneer in July 2016, Ned Scott and blockchain developer Dan Larimer’s Steemit boasted to be a first of its kind blockchain-based social media platform, allowing users to earn rewards via Steem for posting, curating, and commenting. Many users compared the site’s style to a kind of “crypto Reddit.”

Larimer, the creator of the Bitshares DEX, DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake Algorithm), and the current CTO of Block.one (EOS developer), built the site with co-founder Scott on the Steem blockchain, a Graphene-based, DPoS chain. While the site enjoyed initial, highly sensational success — with one well-known and controversial libertarian podcaster raking in $15,000 for a short “introduce yourself” post — user interest has since flagged significantly. A series of seismic management and corporate structuring shifts (including Larimer leaving the project in 2017), coupled with the crypto winter of last year, saw many loyal users searching out greener pastures.

One thing that Steemit did help establish, however, was the potential of blockchain technology to provide relative censorship resistance and successfully reward users for engagement. Neither the platform nor other users could deplatform anyone by reporting or flagging a post (a huge problem currently for many giants in the field like Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube). And when the first payouts came in the summer of 2016, a massive wave of excitement ensued. However, troubles with spambots and abuse of voting power would prove to be significant challenges down the road.

Steemit ‘Spin-Offs’

Seeking to improve on the shortcomings of the Steemit project, newly-launched (April 2019) Narrative.org has become a home to crypto bloggers interested in a less “wild west” and more centralized approach. Narrative is supposedly more resistant to the abuses which would come to plague Steemit. Multiple account creation is difficult due to KYC policy, and communities are organized around niches (tags) owned by users who can reap monetary benefits for ownership, and elect moderators (a feature not yet implemented on the beta version site) to keep spam from overwhelming the network. A central tribunal exercises executive decision-making power and moderates mostly democratic community activity.

Another notable “spin-off” of Steemit (in this case, admittedly, directly inspired via a pizza purchased with Steem rewards) is Japan’s first blockchain-based social media site, ALIS. Similar to Narrative, ALIS focuses on niche interest groups (like crypto enthusiasts and Japanese manga readers). Though current financial regulations present hurdles for the group, CEO Masahiro Yasu and company maintain their vision of helping users “find trustworthy articles and people quickly” in lieu of depending only on spammy Google search results and unreliable mainstream media. Quality content and curation are rewarded with the ALIS token.

BCH Joins the Party

Emerging on April 15, 2018, on-chain social media site memo.cash was launched on the BCH network. With features like native tipping and SLP token creation, Memo is a unique and multi-faceted way to interact with the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. The platform was notably mentioned in July by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, when he suggested that the Bitcoin Cash network might provide a temporary scalable data layer for Ethereum:

The BCH community seems to be friendly to people using their chain for whatever they want as long as they pay the tx fees (eg. https://memo.cash)

Though not as visually ornate as some blockchain-based platforms, users are drawn to the functionality and innovative aspects of the platform. The ability to authentically timestamp important information and make it virtually immutable, for example, is an important feature to many. This particular application has been suggested to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as a means by which to allow verifiable editing of Tweets.

Honest.cash

Another platform built using the Bitcoin Cash blockchain is Honest, which was launched in November, 2018. In keeping with the theme of free speech, the site affirms that:

The internet should reward quality thinking and be a place for an uncensored discussion.

Direct voting via a user wallet allows bloggers to receive BCH for their posts when other users upvote, or, like Steemit and Narrative, when successful curation occurs. While the site is still growing and completing its V2 migration, community members and the honest.cash core team and creator, Adrian Barwicki, are active in development and support via the Honest Cash Telegram chat.

Comparative List of Popular Crypto Social Media

Decentralized, incentivized blockchain and crypto-based social media offer alternatives to popular platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Linkedin, and Patreon. Here is a list of some of the most popular sites:

Bitchute: P2P, web torrent video sharing platform. Monetization available via Bitbacker, Coinpayments and others. Main user interests: politics/activism. Alexa ranking: 4,024. Similar to: Youtube.

Steemit: Steem blockchain-based social media platform. Earn Steem and Steem Dollars (USD soft-pegged asset) to post, comment, and curate. Main user interests: advice, finance/economics. Alexa ranking: 5,255. Similar to: Reddit.

Dlive: Lino blockchain-based video sharing platform. Formerly built on the Steem blockchain. Earn Lino points to post and engage. New home to Pewdiepie. Main user interests: gaming (livestreaming), animation, analytics. Alexa ranking: 5,748. Similar to: Youtube.

Minds: Open source social media platform. Earn Minds ERC20 tokens for contributions. Main user interests: politics/activism. Alexa ranking: 9,611. Similar to: Twitter/Facebook.

Dtube: IPFS-based, Steem blockchain dapp. Video sharing platform. Earn Steem to post and curate. Main user interests: news, visual arts. Alexa ranking: 24,832. Similar to: Youtube.

Earn: Coinbase’s targeted microtask earning platform/app. Earn crypto by replying to emails or completing small tasks. Main user interests: economics, technology. Alexa ranking: 59,172. Similar to: n/a.

Narrative: User-governed social media platform for bloggers. Earn NRVE tokens to post, comment, curate, moderate, and own niches. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: 129,990. Similar to: Medium.

Scorum: Sports and betting-focused blockchain-based platform. Earn SCR coins for content creation and curation. Main user interests: sports, gambling/betting. Alexa ranking: 138,365. Similar to: n/a.

Voice: Block.one EOS-network-based social media platform. Earn Voice tokens for contribution. Identity-focused user validation. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: 204,857. Similar to: n/a.

Memo: BCH blockchain-based social media platform. Earn BCH via posting. Data is stored direct to blockchain using OP_RETURN. Main user interests: Bitcoin Cash, blogging. Alexa ranking: 369,947. Similar to: Twitter.

Sapien: Democratized, Ethereum-based news platform. SPN tokens serve as stake in the network facilitating interaction. The site aims to combat unreliable or “fake” news. Main user interests: news. Alexa ranking: 430,729. Similar to: n/a.

Indorse: Ethereum-based coding evaluation and assessment recruiting platform. Earn IND tokens for activity on the network. Main user interests: coding, recruiting. Alexa ranking: 523,854. Similar to: Linkedin.

Bitbacker: Crypto-based fan-funding platform. Garner support for projects and posts from your fanbase. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: 1,159,103. Similar to: Patreon.

Obsidian: PoS blockchain with an encrypted mobile messaging app/platform. Earn ODN tokens for securing the network. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: 1,442,289. Similar to: n/a.

Socialx: Photo and video sharing blockchain-based platform. Earn SOCX coins for contribution and licensing. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: 2,030,873. Similar to: Instagram.

Honest: BCH blockchain-based blogging platform. Earn BCH for content creation and curation. Main user interests: n/a. Alexa ranking: n/a. Similar to: Medium.

Local.bitcoin.com: P2P, encrypted trading platform. Offers non-KYC, P2P trading of BCH. Main user interests: cryptocurrency. Alexa ranking: n/a. Similar to: Localbitcoins.com.

(Information based in part on Alexa rankings and data from August 3 and 4, 2019)

It’s Anybody’s Game, But the Game Is Here to Stay

The aforementioned Larimer of Steemit fame, along with Block.one CEO Brendan Blumer, has now jumped into the social game once again with his new platform Voice, whose launch was announced June 1. During a recent Telegram Q&A, however, when potential users voiced privacy concerns about strict KYC policies of the platform, Larimer didn’t seem overly receptive:

It should prove interesting to see how the new site develops and fares against the others with drastically different philosophies and mission statements.

However different these platforms may be, it’s an exciting time for social media enthusiasts, crypto lovers, bloggers, developers, journalists and entrepreneurs alike, with the proliferation of this new generation of social media providing unique opportunities in cryptocurrency and security for users.

What are your thoughts on blockchain-based social media? Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Fair use.

Did you know you can also buy Bitcoin Cash online with us? Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely.

The post Crypto Social Media is Breaking Free: How 10+ Blockchain Platforms Pay You to Post appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin’s Survival Depends on an Uncensorable Internet

02/07/2019 by Idelto Editor

In an age of unprecedented censorship, surveillance and rampant deplatforming, Bitcoin stands out as a beacon of hope. Its decentralized ledger enables value to be transmitted to anyone, anywhere without fear or favor. Whether you’re a Mongolian goat herder or a Miami drugs baron, your money is good when it’s sent as bitcoin. But Bitcoin alone is not enough. For it to function fully, it requires an uncensorable internet, from base layer to application.

Also read: Side Effects of Economic Growth: Is Snowden Right to Say Bitcoiners Shouldn’t Be Bankers?

The Quest to Create an Uncensorable Web

When mobsters want revenge on a well-protected target, they’ll settle for a softer target instead – their family. In the eyes of many politicians and bankers, Bitcoin is such a target. It has “no bullets, no bombs, no ships, no fighter jets, and no soldiers,” and has never harmed anyone, yet some want it dead. Since Bitcoin can’t easily be killed, its enemies will attack the soft targets that surround it: crypto exchanges, wallet providers, custodians and any other Bitcoin companies that can be subpoenaed and shuttered.

Take away the infrastructure that supports the cryptosphere, such as websites and apps, and the Bitcoin blockchain would keep faithfully chugging on. But without the ability to easily access it, to a vast swathe of the world’s population it would essentially be dead. We already inhabit a world where people are prohibited from trading on Localbitcoins or using exchanges like Bittrex and Coinbase on account of sanctions the U.S. has placed over an Iranian dispute that has nothing to do with Bitcoin. It’s easy to envisage a scenario where bitcoin starts threatening the dollar’s hegemony and authorities seek to criminalize crypto ownership.

Even if that dystopia never materializes, there’s a desperate need in the here and now for cloud computation, app stores, domain registries and web hosting that can’t be censored. These tools are already under development by companies driving the Web 3.0 movement. In this paradigm, there is self-sovereignty of data, websites are hosted on distributed networks, and information flows as freely as bitcoin. We’re some distance away from a fully decentralized web, but there are already signs of how this new digital world may look.

From Unstoppable Crypto Networks to an Uncensorable Cloud

There’s a misconception that a decentralized internet is at odds with enterprise, and that wealth generation requires preservation of the centralized status quo. Nothing could be further from the truth. Web 3.0 isn’t anti-business: it’s just a shift away from the current business model in which data is the primary currency, and free access the candy doled out to acquire it. In reality, “A decentralized cloud network provides secure and private telecommunication services with incredible levels of quality and scalability for business enterprises,” observes Dr. William Nguyen, founder of decentralized cloud network Beowulf.

“Using a globally distributed network of miners,” he explains “a decentralized system allows for better localization and facilitates almost infinite network capacity. A keystone feature is its cost-effectiveness; any unused computing resources anywhere in the global network are utilized to cut down up to 80% of the setup and operation costs for users. This decentralized cloud network is fully transparent, as all telecommunication transactions are recorded on the blockchain and can be fully audited by any party.”

This sentiment is echoed by Storecoin founder Chris McCoy, who is at pains to emphasize the business benefits of creating a distributed cloud network that utilizes many of the characteristics of crypto networks including tokenization to facilitate micropayments and reliance on end users to provide computational resources rather than corporations with their hyper-datacenters. “Developers will build en masse if the dcloud is more profitable than AWS/centralized cloud,” ventured McCoy. “Users don’t care whether a system is centralized or decentralized – they just want problems to be solved (e.g. cheaper, faster, makes them feel good, and/or solves a real problem for them). The dcloud enables end users to get paid for their data footprint in addition to having problems solved.”

Immutable Apps and Unkillable Websites

A censorship-resistant, pro-privacy internet is one in which no single actor, from three-letter agencies to state-sponsored hackers, is able to dictate access or exfiltrate data en masse. At present, the internet is at the mercy of global busybodies such as the U.S., which can shut down websites on the clearnet and darknet on a whim, and criminalize transacting with people whose only “crime” is to reside in a different country. Creating an uncensorable web that can’t easily be warped by powerful actors is a complex and multifaceted task. One solution is to utilize blockchain-hosted apps and web pages which, according to Sam Williams, “are an essential component of a decentralized web, offering immutability and verifiability among other benefits.”

The Arweave CEO notes that traditional blockchains are unsuited to this purpose on account of “very limited scalability, slow speeds, and high transaction costs making on-chain hosting extremely expensive for developers.” Arweave’s solution is to engineer “incentive models to overcome these constraints, offering lightning-fast access speeds, along with inexpensive and truly permanent on-chain app and page hosting.” In this system, the user only pays once to add apps, pages, or data, “eliminating the need for paying recurring fees to traditional, centralized web hosting providers.”

The number of solutions geared around making the internet harder to censor is steadily growing. URL Pages allows an entire web page to be stored in a URL, eliminating the need for hosting and allowing for virtually uncensorable publishing. Handshake is a decentralized internet naming authority that works with DNS. It means that projects can assume a single Handshake name that will direct to their website, even if it’s forced to change DNS. Not only does this make the web harder to censor, but it minimizes the threat of DNS spoofing attacks.

Better for Bitcoin, Better for Everyone

An internet that can withstand attacks from the most sophisticated and well-funded adversaries is one in which information cannot be stopped and ideas are allowed to permeate and be openly debated. What companies like Gab are doing for free speech with their Dissenter browser, other companies are doing for the base layer and middleware, creating a Web 3.0 stack that is better for Bitcoin, and better for everyone who believes in the principles on which it was founded: free expression, free trade and free flow of information without borders or boundaries.

Do you think Web 3.0 will shape the future of the internet, or will it struggle to gain traction? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry.

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VPN Providers Defy Order to Connect to Russia’s Internet Censor

16/06/2019 by Idelto Editor

VPN Providers Defy Order to Connect to Russia’s Internet Sensor

Russian regulators have once again moved to expand oversight of the online space in an attempt to ensure compliance with various restrictions Moscow is trying to impose. But as in other cases, their efforts have been met with resistance. Over a dozen VPN platforms, popular among crypto enthusiasts and other privacy-conscious users, have refused to join the state-run system for blocking banned websites. Some of them have already announced they are moving abroad. The game of cat and mouse continues, with Roskomnadzor vowing to block nine of the refusers within a month.

Also read: Russian Prosecutors Fail to Block Crypto Website

VPN Services Move Out of Country

In March this year, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, Roskomnadzor, demanded from 10 VPN service providers to connect to the Federal State Information System (FSIS). The register keeps information about websites, the access to which has been restricted after they were blacklisted by Russian authorities. Roskomnadzor wants to confirm the VPN services do not allow their subscribers to access these sites.

The telecom watchdog sent out notices to Tor Guard, Vypr VPN, Open VPN, Nord VPN, VPN Unlimited, IP Vanish, Hide My Ass!, Hola VPN, Express VPN, and Kaspersky Secure Connection. Seven companies have refused to collaborate, including four that have moved their servers out of the country, and another two have not responded at all. Six more platforms, which have not been notified by the agency, also indicated they won’t connect to the FSIS. So far, only Kaspersky has agreed to cooperate.

VPN Providers Defy Order to Connect to Russia’s Internet Censor — Roskomnadzor

Alexander Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor, stated last week that nine VPN platforms which have not fulfilled the watchdog’s requirements, may be blocked within a month for not complying with the law that prohibits the provision of services facilitating the bypassing of government restrictions. “It seems Roskomnadzor has recently compiled a second list of VPNs and asked them to filter traffic,” Sarkis Darbinyan, lead legal expert at Roskomsvoboda, a Russian NGO fighting internet censorship, told news.Bitcoin.com.

Darbinyan also shared that another provider, Avast Secureline VPN, has just announced it’s withdrawing from the country in connection with Roskomnadzor’s actions. The company believes compliance with such requirements would violate its own principles and the right to freedom of the Internet. And because it won’t be in a position to bring any benefit to its Russian users, Avast informed them they will not be able to renew their subscriptions in the future.

The Battle for the Runet

A database maintained by Roskomsvoboda contains over 173,000 websites, forums, messengers, news outlets and other online platforms that have been banned at some point. The restrictions have been mandated by various state institutions including several government agencies, ministries and the Prosecutor’s Office. Many of them are still offline but some, like the crypto exchange aggregator Bestchange.ru, have been taken out of the blacklist.

Another encouraging example comes from the case with the blocking of a VPN service provider called Hidemy.name. The platform was taken offline by a ruling of a regional court in the Russian Mari El Republic in 2017. The owner of the website sought help from Roskomsvoboda and in May of this year, the organization’s legal team managed to successfully challenge the court’s decision.

Sarkis Darbinyan noted that Russian judicial authorities did not dig deep enough into how VPN technologies work and the lawyers were able to identify many procedural violations. This led to the cancellation of the original ruling and the unblocking of Hidemy.name by Roskomnadzor. However, “this battle is not over yet, so we will continue to fight for the rights of Russian users to VPNs and to protect companies that provide such secure and safe services,” Darbinyan commented.

According to amendments made to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” in late 2017, VPN providers and anonymizers are expected to register with Roskomnadzor and connect to the FSIS within 30 working days. One of their key obligations is to limit access to internet resources that are banned in the Russian Federation.

The same applies to search engines and the Russian internet companies Yandex, Sputnik, Mail.ru, and Rambler have already complied. Earlier this year, Google was sanctioned for failing to meet this requirement. Roskomnadzor now claims the internet giant has already paid the 500,000 ruble (approximately $8,000) fine imposed by a Russian court and is now filtering searches in accordance with the FSIS rules.

Roskomnadzor’s Next Move

If Russian regulators find that the law has been breached, they may adopt a decision to restrict access to the VPN providers who have violated its provisions. Roskomnadzor is now expected to take measures aimed at blocking the VPN services which have refused to comply with its requirements as well as those that have not replied to its notices. It remains unclear, however, what the watchdog’s next step will be.

Various approaches have been employed in the past regarding other non-compliant companies. For example, it took the watchdog almost a year to act against Telegram, the messenger founded by the Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov, which enjoys great popularity in the crypto community. Other messaging platforms such as Blackberry, Imo and Line were banned much faster.

“It does not look like Roskomnadzor and Russian ISPs [Internet service providers] are really technically ready to block VPNs. For sure, they can block websites where users can download apps. That’s the easiest thing to do. But they absolutely cannot make Apple and Google remove a mobile app. Of course, the most difficult thing for them would be to actually block an application and break connectivity with the servers of these operators. And they understand it,” said Darbinyan. The activist added that this will become a huge problem for Russian regulators after the epic failure to block Telegram.

Government agencies are now trying to improve their blocking capabilities. “The Main Radio Frequency Center, an entity subordinated to Roskomnadzor, requested in March the development of an automated blocking system. It should be available by December 2019. The system will monitor how search engines, VPN services, proxy servers and anonymizers comply with the requirements of Federal Law № 276-ФЗ [the one that affects VPNs]. Maybe after supplying learning DPI [Deep Packet Inspection] tools to all ISPs to recognize VPN traffic by patterns, they will be more effective,” Roskomsvoboda’s representative pointed out. “It looks like it is going to be a long game of cat and mouse,” Sarkis Darbinyan said and elaborated:

Let me remind that most of the VPN services that have received notifications from Roskomnadzor already have a fairly rich experience in working in China and bypassing the Great Firewall. So they can easily adapt to work in Russia in these new circumstances.

The implementation of advanced technical means to control the Russian online space is part of package of measures introduced with the new “Digital Economy National Program” legislation, also known as the Runet law. It was adopted in April by the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, and according to its sponsors, its goal is to protect the Russian segment of the Internet from external threats turning it into a “sovereign” space. Critics say it will not only limit internet freedom but also affect negatively many businesses that rely on the World Wide Web, including crypto platforms.

As news.Bitcoin.com reported, some of the law’s key provisions include the building of a system that will channel Russian internet traffic through government-controlled routing points as well as granting unlimited powers to Roskomnadzor – the agency will be able to cut off non-complying internet providers at will. It’s been estimated that the system will draw more than 30 billion rubles (almost $500 million) from the state budget, an amount that has raised some eyebrows. But, financial costs and security concerns aside, the question many Russians are asking themselves is if the Runet will after all remain ‘Internet’.

Are you using a VPN service? What’s your opinion about Moscow’s requirements toward VPN providers? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

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