
Kim Dotcom reveals more about his blockchain-inspired alternative Internet - ascorbic
http://mashable.com/2015/10/29/kim-dotcom-meganet/
======
dogma1138
Wouldn't this be akin to creating an alternative to the world wide web and not
the internet? It's still needs the internet or any other similar global
network to work not to mention that beyond being excessively wasteful I don't
really see the point of having a "proof of work" based network rather than
other distributed peered networks like Tor or Maelstrom.

Also considering his constant legal troubles and his general some what self
destructing personality I have very big doubts that anyone would actually fund
this guy.

That note aside I don't really see the value of all of those wannabe "internet
replacement" services, I for one would rather see investment going into self
arranging, self healing multi-protocols mesh networks that you could
seamlessly re-build local networked infrastructure in such events as natural
disasters or complete government/infrastructure meltdowns.

A solution that will able you to construct an autonomous peered mesh network
across Ethernet, WiFi, Radio, and P2P links like IR and Microwave which can
provide internet and WWW like infrastructure when established networks fail or
are intentionally shut down can actually be rather useful, while these
attempts seem to try to re-invent what already exists and that is internet
lock down/censorship bypass, heck even if a government shuts down their
internet uplink completely as long as the local networks are intact you can
still make Tor and the likes of it work, at least as far as hidden services go
and it only requires a handful of exit nodes to have an internet uplink to
restore internet services as well.

------
radarsat1
Aside from ad hominems though, what does HN think about the idea of a
blockchain-driven internet? Genuinely curious.

~~~
styles
I think that like anything, it's exploitable. Just see the example of bitcoin
where a mining pool had over 50% of the computing power. If the internet was
driven by a block chain, with enough money and time, you could "control it".

[http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-miners-ditch-ghash-io-
pool-5...](http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-miners-ditch-ghash-io-
pool-51-attack/)

~~~
darawk
Owning 50% of the mining infrastructure is not an exploit. The system is
designed with that in mind - anyone in control of that much hash power has no
incentive to use it, because the value of the currency would instantly
evaporate. They in fact have strong incentives to avoid putting themselves in
that position - because it devalues the currency (which they have invested so
heavily in), and makes them a target for attack. And that is exactly what we
saw when ghash hit 50 percent.

Anyway, it's a false choice. I'll take the hyper-public well described risk of
a 50% 'attack' over the risks of counterfeit paper currency manipulated in
secret by unelected officials any day. Similarly, it'd take much more time and
money to control a blockchain based internet than the one we have now, and if
it were exploited in that way, it'd be substantially more likely to be known
by everyone, which in itself is a deterrent to exploiting it in the first
place.

All that being said, there are probably reasons that other architectures on
which to build an overlay network are better than this - but 'exploitability'
is not one of them.

~~~
Nursie
I don't think you can dress up the 50% thing as a deliberate design point. It
may be a self-mitigating weakness, but still...

~~~
omginternets
>It may be a self-mitigating weakness, but still...

I think this is a strange way of looking at things. What non-trivial protocol
doesn't have known design limitations?

Moreover, what could you possibly hope for in addition to a self-mitigating
limitation, i.e: a theoretical limit that doesn't matter in practice?

~~~
Nursie
>> I think this is a strange way of looking at things. What non-trivial
protocol doesn't have known design limitations?

It's still a weakness, not a feature, and when a blockchain is not a monetary
thing the pressures and incentives to run infrastructure will be different,
it's hard to say that a 50% attack won't be possible or desirable in that
circumstance.

>> Moreover, what could you possibly hope for in addition to a self-mitigating
limitation, i.e: a theoretical limit that doesn't matter in practice?

It's not theoretical though, pools have got there with BTC. There are
incentives not to obviously mess with the currency at that point but perhaps
subtle ways to operate to your own benefit could happen at that point.

------
zuckerei
Not sure what to think about the Kim Dotcom projects. They all seem to be
short lived. What about that mega.co.nz thing he launched lately? I read that
he sold it and distanced himself from the new owner already.

~~~
onre
IMO he is more of a shady celebrity businessman than a hacker or innovator,
mostly known for his flamboyance.

~~~
system16
Is the obligatory comment attacking his character on every thread about him
really necessary? How about discussing the solution he is actually proposing?

~~~
res0nat0r
It's relevant because everything he's done up till now isn't anything
technically innovative, just mainly ways for him to make money and promote
himself as some kind of Internet hero, which is is not. This project will be
more of the same nonsense.

------
pfraze
> To fund the project, Dotcom said the company will be conducting a seed round
> in January. Once the prototype is ready, he will also undertake a massive
> equity crowdfunding campaign.

He wants to do what Ethereum and Maidsafe did -- create a crypto-asset, drive
up demand by publicity, and then sell it.

------
jokoon
It's not so much of an idea. Many are already thinking about it. Like always
the devil is in the execution.

I'm more interested into how he will manage to develop it, meaning how much
investment he can built up, and what kind of talent he can attract.

~~~
woah
It's not an idea. He has no theoretical underpinning. He would have to luck
out and hire someone smart enough to actually make something resembling his
promises, and then let go of his ego enough to let them do it. Not going to
happen, and no amount of capital will help.

------
JacobH
Not sure how he plans to get this to work without IP addresses at some layer.

