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When it comes to portraying technology and the internet, Hollywood has been known to struggle. Often hacking is equivalent to randomly guessing passwords, and the cloud is a magical internet space that can make or break you depending on what a screenwriter needs to happen. Knowing this, it may be tempting to dismiss Silicon Valley’s dream of a new internet as another example of television wildly speculating about the world of tech. However, as is always the case with this HBO show, Season 4 has done its research. The desire for a decentralized internet is a real one, and it’s more relevant now than ever before.
As with everything in Silicon Valley, the dream of a new world wide web comes back to Richard (Thomas Middleditch). In the first episode of Season 4, Richard crawls back to Russ Hannerman (Chris Diamantopoulos), desperate to get more funding for Pied Piper’s new video chat app. In the middle of his pitch, Hannerman calls our awkward hero out. Clearly this isn’t a project Richard wants to do. If Richard was able to invest unlimited time and resources into one project, Russ asks in a much more crass way, what would that be? It turns out the answer is a new web.
Richard’s idea involves marrying the overwhelming computing power of billions of cellphones with his compression algorithm. “If we could do it, we could build a completely decentralized version of our current internet with no firewalls, no tolls, no government regulation, no spine,” he says, finally more excited than we’ve seen Richard in over half a season. “Information would be totally free in every sense of the word.”
From a plot perspective, it’s a smart idea. Richard has always been at his most engaging when he’s at his lowest, and few things can set him back further than having to rebuild a company from the idea up. However, it’s also an idea that’s gained attention in many tech-savvy circles. If Richard was able to create a successful decentralized internet and somehow make it profitable and popular to the average person, he could become the next fictional Steve Jobs — a direction Silicon Valley as a show seems to be steering toward. So what’s the deal? What exactly is Richard’s seemingly crazy new idea, and how close are we to making a “new internet” a reality?
What’s a centralized internet vs. a decentralized internet?
The web as we know it now is a centralized internet. Basically, any data users have on the internet has to pass through a mandatory centralized point. This point can either be a server, like in the client-server models banks use, or a hub, which is what most social media sites and web hosting sites use. Put another way, in a centralized internet model, all of your data has to run through companies, which makes accessing your data easier and faster. However, that ease comes at a cost. Because so much data is running through these centralized locations, it’s easier for an outside person or company to view your personal information, whether you want them to or not.
The decentralized internet model is a potential fix for those privacy concerns as well as a return to how the web was originally created. Rather than relying on centralized servers or hubs to store data, a decentralized web relies on peer-to-peer connections. Not everyone is uses their data storage, bandwidth, and processing power at the same time. Instead of relying on companies to store your data, this version of the web would break down your data into microscopic chunks and scatter it among other people’s unused storage spaces. However, no one but you can access your files. When you want to see your photo or video again, you are the only one who has the digital key to reunite all of the pieces of your data. Of course, you wouldn’t see all of these background events happening, but a decentralized web does promise to better protect your information.
Why do people want a decentralized internet?
It all comes down to one argument: privacy vs. convenience. As the web exists in its current state, a shocking amount of online communications flow through a handful of corporations. This centralization means that companies such as Google and Amazon always have your data ready to share with you immediately, but there are also risks. Because so much of the web’s information is stored on these cloud-computing softwares, these companies become a clear target for hackers. The current system also means that there are widespread and potentially disastrous repercussions when someone messes up. Back in March, one Amazon Web Service engineer’s error led to a 48-hour outage that affected much of the U.S. web. However, most people’s aversion to a centralized internet has to do with ads.
When you use a service such as Facebook or Uber, you agree to a terms of service. Most people don’t waste their time on the legalese, but many of these agreements give companies the right to look through your information and sell it to other companies. If you’re wondering why you’re seeing a hyper-targeted ad for Face/Off after only joking about Nicolas Cage once, that’s why. There’s a lot of money to be made in selling your information, and not much profit in protecting it. It’s also not just third-party companies. Thanks to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, it’s fairly easy for the government to gain access to your personal information, communications, and locations in a centralized system. This freaks a lot of people out, hence the push for a decentralized web.
Does a decentralized internet have anything to do with net neutrality?
Indirectly, but yes. Net neutrality boils down to the idea that the internet should be a free and open place. Google’s homepage should get the same rapid-fire loading times as a fan-made Sherlock site that only has 100 visitors a month. There are people — mostly advocates for corporations and politicians — who believe that the web should exist as a pay-for-access model. The more money you pay, the faster your sites load, which is excellent news for successful corporations and a terrible reality for homemade sites. A decentralized internet would remove a lot of the power companies currently possess and made the web less, as former New Yorker writer Joshua Kopstein once described it, an online equivalent to electric companies.
Why hasn’t a decentralized internet happened yet?
A new internet model faces the same concern almost every new business in Silicon Valley faces — adoption. There is a group of internet savvy people who care deeply about this issue and are willing to fight for it. Richard and his friends would certainly fall into that category. However, the average user doesn’t know enough about the inner workings of the web to know or even care about companies’ expanding control over an industry that is quickly becoming a resource. When most people only really care about whether they can access the files they need, it’s hard to explain this nuanced argument. It’s like when Richard barged in on a focus group to explain Pied Piper. Once they figured out what he was talking about, they liked it. However, when the average person only has a passing knowledge of the web, it’s an uphill battle.
There are actually two companies that are racing to produce a decentralized internet — Ethereum and Synereo. You can read about their strengths, weaknesses, and stories on Engadget.
Could Richard actually have the answer?
So, now that we’ve slogged through all the tech speak and finally know what Richard is talking about, can our awkward hero actually be the solution to decentralized internet? If Richard’s compression algorithm is as amazing as everyone says, the answer is yes. As a was pointed out on Reddit, the solution Richard proposes to Russ about is likely a mesh network. Aside from funding and the adoption issues that were mentioned earlier, one of the main problems of this network is load speeds. In its current form, a mesh network can’t compete with the load speeds of a centralized network, and nothing will infuriate a user more than a slow-loading webpage. However, if Richard’s algorithm is as killer as it seems, it could fix that problem and potentially make this a marketable, if not difficult, idea.
Need a TL;DR version? Richard’s idea for a new internet is entirely possible, and Richard could absolutely be the one to build it. Always trust Silicon Valley to do its research, even it we’re all too distracted by Jared’s latest disturbing story to notice.
