The Internet Frontier

We all know the cowboy stories of the Wild West and the legendary American Frontier. It feels like those days are long behind us, with our lives now shaped by public institutions rather than the rule of the Colt or Mining Companies.

But as history typically repeats itself, that story is playing out again right before our eyes on a new Wild West – the Internet. What’s intriguing is not just how this new frontier mirrors the phases of the American Frontier, but how it also holds the key to solving our issues with internet platforms.

Let’s take a ride back through the history of the American Frontier.

In the context of this discussion we are interested in the following phases of its evolution:

1. The Wild West exploration started with the so-called pioneer stage, when law and order were enforced by citizens themselves, based on their group strength and on the Second Amendment.
2. After that, quickly enough corporations (railways, mining, and cattle companies) concentrated a lot of power in their hands: they organized and funded various militias and then the police, courts, prisons, and other basic institutions. They also issued proto-IDs. The Frontier became somehow safer. The frontier became somewhat safer, but it wasn't long before citizens realized that the "corporate sheriffs" were still bandits, serving their bosses rather than the society.
3. The third stage began with the arrival of the “civilized” State itself: it was able to better structure law enforcement and the judiciary, to issue valid passports, to ensure democratic procedures, etc.

These three stages seem to be perfectly natural when human society starts the exploration of some new territories or areas. Now, we are going to project these stages to the development of the Internet.

Indeed, quite similar stages can be observed in the recent history of a new virtual territory we call “the Internet”:

1. The Internet pioneers were totally free, and the TCP/IP protocol (instead of Colt) made them equal. People built their own sites, launched local boards and forums… and believed it would continue this way forever That was the time of Web 1.0
2. In the early 2000s, soon after the dot-com bubble, corporations finally took advantage of the Internet. We are really lucky they weren’t able to do it earlier: thanks to that, we still have a single Web (and not numerous private webs), and our emails remain vendor-independent. However, most of the services introduced in the 21st century became proprietary and totally separate: for instance, sending messages from one app to another still remains in the realms of fantasy. Platforms own or at least control our data. Corporations, such as Google or Facebook issue their own passports, have their own police which can put us to “ban”-jail. You may not suffer from it as a regular user, but popular bloggers may get their business ruined when Facebook bans them. It's commonly referred to as the Web 2.0 phase.
3. We believe that now this corporate stage of the Internet Frontier development comes to its logical end. Institutions, regulators, Tech startups, and the entire society keep trying to find the way forward. Most of them have realized that the power is in ownership of data and that this “way forward” lies via returning data to owners. Yet, no one knows how to do it, exactly. We only know that we need the third stage, which probably should be called Web 3.0. By the way, it doesn't necessarily have to involve blockchain. Instead, we might be better off following the ideas of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web.

How shall we do it?

To begin with, let's recognize that the essence of this new Internet frontier lies not in land, but in data. And it is precisely this data that has been seized by internet corporations. Therefore, the first step is quite clear: take back this data and return it to its rightful owners. But wait, what would Facebook be without data? Shockingly, it would still function exactly as it does now. The interface would look the same, but instead of dipping into its own database, it would fetch your data from your personal eVault (think of it like a web server on steroids). A small tweak, but with massive consequences.

For example, you could pop open any accommodation platform – booking.com, airbnb.com, expedia,com etc at any time and see the same hotels, flats and reviews – just in a different skin. Or you can send a message from Telegram to a friend who may choose to read it on Facebook today, and on WhatsApp tomorrow. You’d be able to hop between platforms as easily as you switch browsers today, all while viewing the same content. This isn't sci-fi; it's technically doable, and you can check out how it’s all going to work at postplatforms.org. It is the next level of Tim Berners-Lee’s project called Solid.

Amazingly, the platforms would benefit from this too. Why? Because they wouldn’t just have access to their own data – they’d be able to tap into data that used to be locked away on other platforms. Imagine Facebook suddenly getting access to hotel data and giving Booking.com a run for its money. Plus, this approach brings a ton of perks like long-term data preservation, better management of intellectual property rights, control over fake news and counterfeit products, and more.

But simply reclaiming data isn’t enough. The twist with the Internet frontier, compared to the American frontier, is that in the physical world, you can only have one object, while online, there can be endless copies. Take yourself, for example: in the world of internet platforms, your various (and often outdated) phone numbers and addresses are scattered across hundreds of data silos.

These platforms didn’t just take our data – they shattered our identities into a thousand overlapping fragments. So, if you want a complete, up-to-dated, and unified version of yourself, you’ll first need to piece those fragments back together and toss out the outdated bits.

Once you’ve done that, if you change your home address, your old friend will still be able to send you a package because there won’t be any more “old” addresses lurking around. That’s the promise of Web 3.0 Data Space.

Now, let’s talk about your identity. Just like 19th-century mining towns in America handed out proto-passports, platforms like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft now issue their own digital versions. Sure, it seems convenient – no more juggling endless logins and passwords. But the catch is, now they’re tracking where you go with these passports.

In the Web 3.0 Data Space, platforms should step back from the passport game. Frankly, they’re likely just as fed up with it as you are. They know you have different IDs on other platforms, which isn’t great for them either. Why try selling you a washing machine when you already bought one elsewhere? It’s much smarter to offer you laundry detergent instead!

Your first instinct might be to let governments handle e-IDs. Some are already doing it. Instead, here’s a smarter idea: you can issue your eID yourself, with a little help of digital notaries. It would work smoothly without the government getting involved. After all, governments have bigger fish to fry, like building roads.

Now we can deal with this “Facebook ban” issue, the “digital detention” we discussed in the previous section. Clearly you cannot appeal to Facebook, it’s like complaining to the warden of your prison.

Enter Web 3.0 Data Space to the rescue. Here’s how it works: the moment Facebook bans you, all your followers can instantly jump to other platforms and keep up with your content. Facebook will soon be deserted. Therefore, no digital prisons in the future Internet! Actually, Web 3.0 Data Space will significantly shrink the need for prisons in the real world as well. How?

To combat this, Web 3.0 Data Space has another trick up its sleeve. In this new digital world, e-reputation will be everything – anyone, anywhere can evaluate your actions, posts, likes, and more (we’ve got a whitepaper on e-reputation if you’re curious). We’re betting this system will nip problems in the bud before they escalate to the point of punishment, as people will get immediate feedback from society and can tweak their behavior accordingly. This could drastically reduce the need for punishments and prisons altogether.

It’s clear that the shift to a new phase of social relations in the internet world is overdue. But this transition will be leaps and bounds ahead of what we saw during the American frontier. What’s unique about this is that some key social functions won’t be handed over from corporations to the government, but directly to the people. We’re talking about functions like registration (whether it’s property, vehicles, businesses, or marriages), issuing passports, evaluating citizen and business activities, organizing votes, controlling fake news, distributing grants, and so on.

This new world is going to be far more exciting.

Want to know how it will all work?

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