with mai ishikawa sutton
Since 2016, the Internet Archive has convened a global community of developers, organizers, academics, and social entrepreneurs to share ideas and approaches to building a decentralized web (DWeb). Members of this DWeb community decided to collaborate and develop a set of principles to define their shared values. The group’s aim was to affirm that they were building network infrastructure for the sake of addressing concrete challenges, especially those faced by the most marginalized and oppressed. What resulted was a document that has guided the community since 2021.
But what’s the purpose of such a statement? How is it not antithetical to a “decentralized” movement for people to agree and convene around a set of ethical norms? How do principles and declarations help ensure that technologies and organizations are explicit about acknowledging who designs, controls, and benefits from a decentralized web?
This session will examine the DWeb Principles as a case study, examining one approach taken by a community to crystallize its shared vision for distributed network infrastructure. We will compare the document to other principles and statements around “internet freedom,” “digital rights”, and “decolonized technology,” and explore the purpose that such declarations serve for their communities. And lastly, we will analyze technologies and organizations from both the World Wide Web and Decentralized Web through the lens of the DWeb Principles and students’ personal values.
- Understanding approaches to digital community organizing as it relates to the DWeb.
- Critical analysis of the DWeb movement’s values and philosophical underpinnings, and the assumptions and ideologies that undergird this community.
- Acknowledgement of the implicit and explicit biases embedded in approaches to build and maintain network infrastructure.
- A computer or device with Zoom installed, with camera and microphone.
- A free Miro account.
- Read DWeb Principles
- Read sutton, mai ishikawa (2021, February 18). Behind the scenes of the decentralized web principles | Internet Archive blogs.
- Read Ehmke, Coraline Ada. (2021, September 3). The Sacred Geometry of Respect, Trust, and Equity | Internet Archive Blogs.
- Slides: Values and Philosphical Underpinnings of DWeb
- Instructions and setup for Miro board exercise (PDF)
- Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct Coraline Ada Ehmke
- Uniting tech and activism: How Dweb Camp is elevating decentralized technology Lia Holland Shareable
- DWeb Camp 2023 Coalition-Building Across the Tech Stack Val Elefante SexTech with Val
- Big Time Public License Flexible license for open-source projects
- Background on Darknet Markets Silk Road, AlphaBay, etc. on Wikipedia
- The Ethical Source Principles For the Open Source Community by Organization for Ethical Source
- The Sacred Geometry of Respect, Trust, and Equity By Coraline Ada Ehmke Internet Archive Blogs
- The Battle for the Soul of the Web Kaitlyn Tiffany The Atlantic
- Ecological Awareness for the Decentralized Web Kelsey Breseman Internet Archive Blogs
- DWeb Meetup May 2021 — NFTs: Hope or Hype of Art? Mai Ishikawa Sutton Internet Archive Blogs
- Community Rule A governance toolkit for great communities Published by Media Economies Design Lab
- The Tor Social Contract Alison Tor Blog
- Behind the Scenes of the Decentralized Web Principles By Mai Ishikawa Sutton Internet Archive Blogs
- Dweb Principles Stewarded by Mai Ishikawa Sutton & John Ryan
- Distribute Commons, Not Commodities Nathan Schneider Internet Archive Blogs
- Invisible Internet Project (I2P) on Wikipedia
- Aphex Twin Announces New Album SYRO Via the Deep Web by Evan Minsker Pitchfork