https://thedefiant.io/ether-goes-deflationary
For example, as we all talk about often on HN, Google often cancels services, services that might have millions of people using them.
You could imagine someone developing a "service" (in this case, a smart contract) running inside Ethereum which could not be turned off by a centralized authority. You could imagine someone designing a service that permits the developer to continue charging fees even if they have no control over the underlying VM, and even if they don't want to support it at all.
Yahya notes that it "used to be that hardware had control over software." You turn off the machine, and the software is off permanently. This means, until now, whoever owns the hardware has full control over the software in the end. Everything has to run in a datacenter somewhere.
In a CS Operating Systems class you learn that everything is virtual machines all the way down. Isn't Ethereum the first VM which cannot be turned off by an owner, and does not that change SaaS as we know it?
All this is highly speculative, of course, no services exist like this yet. But, in a few years, isn't this something that could change a lot of economics for software companies?
Putting aside all the concerns about energy usage and scammy things like NFTs, isn't this an idea worth pursuing?
Isn't Ethereum the first VM which cannot be turned off by an owner
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/10/14/censored-ethereum-b...
No more logins or passwords. Apps that can’t be shut down, and can be forked or customized at will. No more meddling busy-bodies deplatforming whoever offends their sensibilities or rejects their “religion”.
I’m pretty sure nobody realizes yet just how powerful this concept is. And it’s getting close to public release.
Short of US-government sanctions, there is very little that can be done to tear down a permanent contract.
Even Tornado Cash still works and can be accessed and analyzed[1][2], the US government could not remove it or secretly embed a back door so their only option was to criminalize anybody who touches it, even honest users, something that is now being challenged in courts[3].
[1] https://twitter.com/liamzebedee/status/1578127982173908992
[2] https://dune.com/poma/tornado-cash_1
[3] https://www.coincenter.org/coin-center-is-suing-ofac-over-it...
We’ve seen time and time again that platforms with no moderation tend to do two things:
1) Attract “objectionable” content.
2) Repel the vast majority of people who object to such content.
Hence the general view that [insert platform depending on personal views] is a “cesspool”.
In an extreme example, let’s go with “won’t someone please think of the children”. Imagine the news story the first time a web3/crypto/whatever “uncancellable service” hosts the exploitation videos of a kidnapped child who was sold in to sex slavery.
I know these kinds of “think of the children” scenarios are much maligned on HN but the vast majority of the world isn’t HN. In this scenario 99% of the population wouldn’t dare deal with the service, tech, etc in the example above.
Ask anyone walking down the street about the “dark web”. If they’ve heard of it at all almost every person will say it’s that thing for criminals, CP, drugs, etc and they’re scared of it and don’t want anything to do with it. Meanwhile here on HN it’s fairly routine for someone to pop in the comments and talk about exclusively browsing with tor… The HN bubble is real.
Plus, regardless of how you feel about things like Tornado Cash I don’t see a lot of people advocating for the repeal of CSAM laws (as one example) so you have a completely different level of enforcement there. Outside of some serious fringe I’ve never even really seen them debated.
Truly uncancellable and/or unmoderated services are a complete non-starter for 99% of people walking down the street.
You’re describing “dark web 2.0” and the adoption (if any) will likely look exactly the same.
Yes I understand tor is used by activists under oppressive governments, etc and that’s fantastic. The difference for this discussion is tor hasn’t received tens of billions of dollars of investment like the web3 ecosystem has with the promise it’s going to completely change the world.
If the bubble, hype, etc reflected the realities I’ve described in this post I wouldn’t be skeptical. I’m skeptical because many of the fundamental concepts (like being uncancellable) are completely incompatible with mass adoption and everything we know about people and platforms.