Defending Decentralization, Like a Twice in a Millennium Chance

An early bitcoin developer, Taaki addressed a crowd of more than a thousand coders that had gathered to discuss "Web 3.0" - or the restructuring of internet infrastructures with an emphasis on decentralization.

A concept which originated from ethereum co-founder and Parity Technologies founder Gavin Wood, Web 3.0 has evolved into a tech base that encompasses a wide range of decentralized technologies, ethereum and beyond.

Web 3.0 is intended to replace the existing online infrastructure with software that is decentralized from the start.

"It's different this time around, and we have a chance to use these tools in a way that empowers and protects people," Patrick Nielsen, CTO of Web 3.0 startup Clovyr, said.

According to him, the Web 3.0 community is at a crucial turning point.

According to Haplin, decentralized, open-source technologies have a historical tendency to fall prey to capture by corporations that implement the tech - thus further centralizing the Web.

According to Halpin, Web 2.0 technology underwent a corporate capture of its own, and the leaders of the projects "Lacked the backbone to push back and fight for users rights." For example, Halpin drew attention to digital rights management - a heavily criticized copyright-enforcing technology that led him to quit the W3C following its implementation as a Web standard.

Halpin called privacy protection "The largest technological task facing the Web 3.0 community."

"Blockchain technologies have a fighting chance because they have an economic model built into how you use and work on the technology," he stated.

While there are subtle disagreements about what the term "Web 3.0" actually means, Zamfir said in an interview that ideology can be boiled down to "Emancipation."