Futuristic Vision Document
Our internationalised society has enjoyed decades of virtually unrestricted access to information and intense exchange. We don’t take for granted the technological platform that enabled the way of life we recently lived; on the contrary, we believe that efforts to limit the wide communication amongst people are likely to succeed.
This paper lists the systems and principles that render a better way forward for ethical honest uses of information technology throughout the wider population. It outlines the most critical technological layers and the guiding principles for their architectural designs, aiming to create a fully free and mainstream technological ecosystem.
Free Cryptocurrency gained recognition, understanding, trust and acceptance from a significant number of people, prompting institutions follow suit. Unfortunately, as seasoned technologists we recognise that free cryptocurrency relies on layers of technology that are not as free as they appear. Its success relies on layers of free technology that either do not exist or have not achieved mainstream adoption.
As free cryptocurrencies rendered fiat currency obsolete, and free media replaced legacy media, it is essential to develop and adopt more free technologies to complete this transition. If we fail, the technological platform being built will ultimately oppress us.
We argue that the proprietary technologies currently in use cannot be trusted as off-the-shelf solutions. Therefore, we propose establishing the necessary systems and, for each system, defining the requirements that must be met to elevate them to the status of leading, widely adopted technologies.
A common requirement for any initiative is the presence of realistic incentives that ensure economic viability. While we advocate for solutions that promote freedom, we do not propose free-of-charge solutions. Instead, we support a balanced approach: reasonably priced services and solutions offered by moderately sized suppliers, in contrast to the massive corporations currently dominating the market with closed systems.
We categorise platforms into those downstream from cryptocurrency and those upstream from it.
On the downstream side, all applications operate on:
- Silicon, Microprocessors and Computer Hardware
- Boot Systems and Firmware
- Operational Systems
- Computer Networks
On the downstream, there are well-established and proven free initiatives supported by active communities that allow users to run their wallets and ledger nodes on secure platforms.
The main challenge within these layers is expanding their adoption. Solutions that eliminate backdoors and data harvesting are typically embraced only by a small fringe of the population - those with sufficient technological expertise and time to transform off-the-shelf solutions into free tools.
We need a concentrated effort to raise awareness about the importance of free systems for these layers to drive their adoption. Our goal is to reach a state where a sufficiently large user base supports these tools, making them economically viable. This task is simple and straightforward: people must prioritize securing their technological platform and cryptocurrency ledgers.
When it comes to computer networks, nation states may attempt to hinder connectivity though mechanisms like great firewalls, but these can always be bypassed. On the other hand, freer independent communities and charter cities should have technological solutions that allow them to decide which traffic to isolate within their networks, which to include in a 'Schengen Network' of trusted remote communities, and which to connect to the broader internet.
On the upstream side, we have:
- Digital Marketplaces
- Messaging Systems
- Social Media and Forums
These tools suffer from technological diversion (or fragmentation). They won’t convert universally, but a champion in adoption will emerge, enjoying “winner takes it all” privileges. In this realm, it is possible for free applications to be the ones to 'take it all'. The following principles must guide the architectural design of these applications:
- Free and Open Source code and protocols
- Aggregation Capabilities
- Seamless Offline Local Copying
- Free Access and Attribution
- Trust and Reputation Mechanisms
- Peer-to-peer Architecture
- Optimal User Experience (UX)
- Computer-aided Work
A lot has been said about free software and peer-to-peer technologies, and there is already good adoption along with supportive communities. The success of free software will depend on increasing its adoption and rejecting non-free, closed-source applications.
As technologies continue to diverge and new Marketplaces, Messaging Systems and Social Media initiatives emerge, we foresee that free applications will become the mainstream standard once they achieve sufficient interoperability, primarily through aggregation capabilities and seamless local data copying and sharing.
Aggregation capability is the ability to operate within a single user experience (UX) while querying and collaborating with other existing systems. The standard platform should handle accesses to different systems for an already authenticated user, enabling seamless activity across platforms. Users should be able to perform actions - such as advertising or purchasing on marketplaces, sending and receiving messages, and publishing - on multiple platforms. This includes the option to chose between emerging platforms and proprietary ones.
Seamless offline copying is a fundamental principle of free software, ensuring that data belongs to the user. Users should be able to access and edit their data at any time without relying on expensive or proprietary tools. Beyond offline copies, file formats should be simple and easy to edit. Ideally, any low-tech, text based system should allow users to modify their own data effortlessly. Additionally, users should have the ability to share selected excerpts of their data within the platform's UX using intuitive tools to filter and grant permissions.
While proprietary technologies remain the standard, emerging free software competitors face the uphill battle of reverse-engineering formats and protocols, as well as developing data scrapers. Given constant updates to proprietary software, keeping up with these moving targets is no small task. However, once a free platform establishes itself as the standard within in a domain, it enables the definition of open formats and protocols. At that point, proprietary tools will either have to adapt or risk becoming obsolete.
Regarding platform access, the standard must carter to: - Anonymous Users - Pseudonymous Users - Users attributed to their civil existence
The capability for these user attributions must be integrated into systems that achieve widespread adoption. Such free access must be supported by increasingly robust cryptographic keys securely stored and periodically rotated. Full control of these keys must remain in the hands of the users. Public education is essential to ensure users understand the importance of safeguarding their their digital existence and not compromise it through weak practices in managing their keys.
Reputation and trust systems are essential for enabling varying degrees of interaction with new contacts while benefiting from recommendations and trust transferred from existing, trusted networked users. Marketplaces, Messaging Systems and Social Media should offer contact book capabilities with assignable trust levels, which can be saved offline and integrated across different systems. Activities such as buying and selling products must rely on trust mechanisms that are both easy to use and work well. This way, the tools needed can be easily used by the mainstream ethical honest majority.
With attribution and trust capabilities in place, peer-to-peer applications can be used by the ethical honest majority at great profit. It is a shame the decentralized packet-switching characteristic of the lower layers of the internet was used to deliver centralised applications. That approach was justifiable when the networks were slower, but when fast networks became norm, we did not migrate the application layers to peer-to-peer. The majority of users must chose decentralised applications to reduce gigantic technology suppliers power. Failing to make peer-to-peer user ruled the standard on marketplace, messaging systems and social media would jeopardise the success of free cryptocurrencies.
When it comes to UX, that’s where the competition is truly decided. Any technology aspiring to become a standard must give users the best experience across all computers, smartphones and silicon-based devices, both now and in the future.
There is no reason why free platforms cannot offer the best UX, but achieving this remains a significant challenge. UX must balance economical viability, accommodate diverse user styles and preferences, and rely a skilled and efficient technical team to deliver and maintain it. It is important to identify what users prefer and how quickly respond effectively. Active, documented and functional communities are key.
It is important to distinguish between computer-aided work and computer-driven work. The growing reliance on large proprietary databases and AI systems will increasingly push users toward computer-driven workflows, often at the expense of personal autonomy and potentially leading to widespread harassment of the population. Regulatory efforts to curb the power of these systems are unlikely to be effective in addressing the fundamental issues.
The tools we propose should allow computer-aided work, where computer systems and AI do not initiate key activities but remain under user control, allowing individuals to apply heuristics according to their own preferences. Users should have the ability to define training datasets, ensuring the customization of AI aligns with their needs. When heuristics rely on remote servers or networked resources, simple and effective audit mechanisms must be implemented to maintain transparency and accountability.
We propose this vision with a set of principles designed to create tools that can be widely adopted by the majority of users, becoming the de-facto standards for the wide ethical honest majority. Tools abiding by these principles aim to compel gigantic technology suppliers to adopt formats and protocols that limit their control while granting users greater freedom. The successful adoption of these principles will allow free cryptocurrencies to extend their benefits to a larger number of people, ultimately enhancing global freedom.
v1.1 2025-01-16 Bruno Schroeder
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