The Beaker "New Web" Project

The Beaker "New Web" project is a wholesale replacement of each mechanic that drives the Web, from publishing to connection to economics.

Goals

• Disintermediation
  • P2P Identity. User identities should exist outside of services.
  • P2P Publishing. Users should be able to publish content without depending on a third-party service.
  • Open Network. Developers should be able to build on the user's network. There should never be a "walled garden" keeping developers out.
  • Getting Away from DNS. Censorship concerns plus bad UX make DNS unattractive. Can we reliably find information without it?
• Trust
  • Source Management. The Browser should help the user manage their sources of information and avoid bad inputs.
  • Consumer Autonomy. Policies around moderation and algorithm-design should be set by users. We should control which information we receive.
  • Ending Harrassment and Misinformation. Reputation and trust should be integral to the Web. The days when trolls are handled by a "thick skin" are over.
• Security
  • Privacy from Corporations. We must be able to search, browse, and communicate without being tracked by third parties.
  • Encryption Tooling. We should have the tools to create private P2P connections and to publish private data (at-rest encryption).
• Economics
  • Virtual Goods Economy. Creators should have tools to sell content and to innovate on post-SaaS business models.
  • Free App Deployment. Developers should not need to pay for a server. Applications should run on the users' devices.
  • Alternatives to Ads. Ad-driven platforms are incentivized to invade users' privacy and steal users' attentions. The new Web should be built on alternatives.