The Decentralized Internet Is Bigger than Decentralized Money

When people think about decentralization and blockchain technology, cryptocurrency and digital money transfers are some of the first things that come to mind. However, there is much more to a decentralized internet.

The decentralized web, in its ideal form, is a peer-to-peer, distributed web with no central servers. Instead, users on the decentralized network will act as nodes with their computers, providing computing power and storage space.

Due to the distributed nature of a decentralized internet, it will be very difficult to attack or take down websites since there is no central point of failure. In addition, hackers will have difficulty breaking into the system since decentralized protocols require deploying a scattered network of safe servers.

Decentralized networks are helpful for more than just data security. Another goal is to ensure a user has total control over the information they supply. Given the present state of the internet, the fact that user data is concentrated in the hands of a select few increases the likelihood of a data breach. This also makes it easy for the government to monitor and regulate certain activities.

Tomi is working on building an Alternative Internet Network to act as the new free internet

Tomi, an anonymous project led by eight big names in crypto, unveils tomiNet, a secure and encrypted protocol empowering journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to surf the web free of government and corporate surveillance. In addition, the network leverages DAO governance to foster community-driven censorship of the more illicit activities that run rampant on the most prominent alternative internet networks today.

Tomi is building an Alternative Internet Network, the tomiNet, controlled by a DAO community known as 'Pioneers.' The 80+ team members have been working on this under the radar for a year now, and the project is completely decentralized with no venture capitalists (VCs). 

The system is like a parallel universe where IP addresses are encrypted (to allow free speech), and access to information is unblockable due to Tomi’s Independent tDNS protocol, instead of ICANN DNS, under the government's control.

Additionally, tomiNet learned a lot from the DarkNet in terms of security and anonymity BUT is nothing like the DarkNet in terms of content and usability. TomiNet is fully controlled by the community and won't allow terrorists or extreme criminal activity to take advantage of its tools, as the DAO can block them.

Just like GovNet, tomiNet also has governance, but instead of bureaucrats or dictators, its network is governed by a community of 'Pioneers.' Every Pioneer holds an NFT membership card and Tomi governance tokens. With them, they can make proposals and vote with a POS mechanism. More tokens = more weight. Tomi has significant value for 2B people in places like China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other places which sadly can't access information freely.

Tomi team is anonomous

If Satoshi Nakamoto's real name were known, would Bitcoin's creator be banished to the fringes along with Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Alexey Pertsev? Or would he be right up there with Elon Musk and Balaji Srinivasan as one of the best-known entrepreneurs of our time? Unfortunately, we'll never know because Satoshi wanted the world to judge the creation rather than the creator. Tomi's founders agree with that approach.

The tomiNet kicks off a clean slate for the Internet, one where Google and Facebook don't have power over people's identities, Amazon doesn't crush small businesses and host more than a third of the world's data, and government and corporate surveillance is impossible. The tomiNet threatens businesses, fiat currency systems, and power and data brokers around the world. As such, there are many reasons why the 80+ Tomi team members feel their safety may be at stake and choose to follow Satoshi's footsteps in remaining anonymous. 

The Project

The tomiNet is almost fully built and synchronized with its alternative blockchain DNS service (tDNS). Users will be able to download the tomiNet browser or create a browser that points to tDNS, buy .tomi domain names, and vote on the DAO that governs the network. Through tomiNet's browser, users surf the network with a built-in VPN that allows them to access uncensored information in countries that censor and hide IP addresses. 

The network is governed by a community-led DAO, which votes on decisions via "Pioneer" NFTs and Tomi tokens about running tomiNet and censoring content that doesn't meet the network's "blacklist" community guidelines. Terror and other forms of violence are among the categories on the blacklist to be voted down by the DAO. 

The Tomi team holds weight equal to average users in voting about the community guidelines and censorship. 

However, it will hold enough tokens to have a stronger influence over the technological direction of the project in the initial stages. The tomiNet is structured in a way that creates a path for the citizens of the new web to out-vote the core developers and technological leadership within three years. That's intentional on the part of Tomi, which doesn't seek the kind of power held by the leaders of projects such as Ethereum or Cosmos.

Data control by large corporations and why decentralized networks are best

Big corporations have access to sensitive user data stored on their servers, and this data includes browser history, emails, phone numbers, location data, and more. In many cases, this data is sold to other corporations for marketing purposes, with browsing preferences being sold mainly to help improve advertising.

However, personal data such as email addresses and phone numbers are sometimes sold to other companies. One of the reasons why users receive spam emails and text messages is due to signing up for a platform or service and failing to read the terms and conditions. Some platforms state in their terms and conditions that they will pass on user data, including email addresses and phone numbers.

Many organizations' business plans rely on collecting personally identifiable information about their customers and the subsequent use of that data for ad targeting, which creates privacy issues. Individuals using a decentralized network have a higher chance of avoiding storing their data in giant technology businesses' data centers. In addition, users in this rapidly expanding ecosystem have complete insight into what is being done with their data and where it is being kept. 

Furthermore, since the network is open source, users of a decentralized network would be able to report issues, implement solutions, and create new tools for the benefit of the network as a whole. This would be beneficial to everyone. The biggest and most important contrast between centralized technical platforms and decentralized computer networks is how control is performed. If anything goes wrong, data uploaded and traded on centralized platforms have no option but to pass via the company's data centers. This creates a potential point of failure.

As mentioned earlier, decentralized networks do not have a single point of failure since the nodes that power the network are distributed over a network of people worldwide, each of whom adds storage capacity to the system. As a result, decentralized networks are more secure, and the network's durability is enhanced since the number of possible failure points has been reduced. Each node would have to shut down for the network to become unworkable. If one of these participants is compromised, the other participants can fill in the gaps left by the affected node.

Conclusion

The decentralized web is about much more than peer-to-peer money. Decentralized, censorship-free, and privacy-focused websites and platforms will make up the new web.