The internet and ethical concerns of things like AI have been a hot topic on the Elixir Forum this past week, and a comment someone made reminded me of something Joe said a while back:
With the big five exerting more control than ever, new (AI) players entering the fray, and *increasingly draconian internet laws being passed all over the world more and more people want to take back control of the internet or to find an alternative - with the original promise of the net in tact and something fit for a modern free world.
So with the call for a new or freer internet being at an all time high, what kind of role do you think Erlang could play in its creation from a technical standpoint?
Maybe:
Peer-to-peer networks?
Local mesh networks?
Blockchain based domains with decentralized DNS systems?
Decentralised VPNs?
IPFS (InterPlanetary File System)?
Pluggable Transports?
Something else?
Is a free and open web important to you?
Can you think of ways in which Erlang can help?
If anyone’s interested here is the version of this thread on EF. With Elixir only having been around for about 10 years, I’d be curious to hear what the Erlang community thinks as Erlang has been around for decades - since pretty much the internet started!
Everybody has a story about how their technology can make for a better internet. Erlang certainly has credibility in that area. But is the “better” we want here really a technical problem needing technical solutions? I think the issues are legal, political, social, and (reluctantly realist old utopian here) financial? Louis Rossman has abundantly documented way too many cases in which IT has been used to makes things worse for consumers rather than better. There is nothing intrinsic to Erlang that prevents it being abused by governments and corporations to make the internet, and indeed the world a worse place.
Suppose we build a much better internet. How is it to be paid for? What stops a government from seizing or destroying it? What stops fans of the playground organising and “‘file” sharing over it?
I think Erlang people will make important contributions in this area, but Erlang as such is the wrong kind of answer.
Funny that you mention Rossmann, since he had spent a lot of time and money lobbying for political solutions, actually succeeded in getting various legislations passed, only to find out that these laws are either not enforced or largely do not work due to loopholes.
