“The Galactic Network,” sounds like something out of Star Trek. Inter-Galactic governments all convening at a secretive location to determine the fate of the universe. Instead, this was the first name of the internet.

In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider of MIT wrote a series of memos depicting global machines connected to the point where people could communicate, view data, and access/participate in software programs. A far-fetched idea, when phones were scarce and inefficient.

However, Licklider had confidence. He formed a research group of MIT professors called, DARPA, and released the plan for the ARPANET. This was the first written statement that described, “packet switching,” communications between machines using packets rather than circuits which broke down data into smaller blocks. They were ultimately successful. The first "node-to-node" communication occurred between UCLA and Stanford. "LOGIN" was sent, the network crashed, but "LO" was received!

Spirit was high. Now, they could quickly send digital information to communicate and ignite intellectual discoveries and community expression. The idea of censorship and information security never crossed their minds because there was no need for it. After all, they had just laid the groundwork for a digital Utopia.

By 1992, the first design-friendly browser, called Mosaic, later Netscape, was released by a group of students and researchers at the University of Illinois. It allowed the general populous to search and interact with the web.

For the first time, users could see words and pictures on the same screen, navigate through pages, and click on links to see different information. That same year, Congress declared that the internet could now be used for commercial purposes. Different companies flocked to set up their own websites, e-commerce shops to sell directly to customers, and entrepreneurs darted in as they saw the opportunity to create something for their own. A tremendously exciting time, but also a moment that could be known as the beginning of data collection and when internet users were thrown into silos for market research and political speculation.

The internet was built for sharing ideas with no conception that our digital ID needed protection. The internet inventors imagined us working together to make the world a more connected place. Scientific achievements to pop up quickly without any sense of breached privacy as an issue.

Today, it’s not hard to see that this is a concern. When you search for an oatmeal walnut cookie recipe, different types of cookies will pop on every other page, and the government will know that you like oatmeal walnut cookies. Not too big a deal if the information is about cookies, but if it is something embarrassing or private, that information should not be known by an over abiding watcher.

The “web” was built to share data, not protect data. As a result, our current internet foundation has no mechanisms of protection. Instead different patches were developed to stop the leaks of increasing privacy breaches, identity stealing, and cyber attacks. But the truth is, when a house is built on a bad foundation, it is bound to fall apart. The foundation needs to be strong to ensure the safety of the home.

The foundation of the internet we know today is shaky. However, the new decentralized internet is on a strong technological foundation. It is a way for information to be shared faster and most importantly, more securely and privately.

Graphite Docs, a mobile word processing tool, like Google Docs, is built on a blockchain backed web browser. Every word that is typed on Google Docs, Google owns. They are restrained by some privacy agreements, but when it comes down to it, the content is on their servers, and they can do with it as they please. Usually, Google takes that data and curtails ads that fit in line with the writing to you. Instead, Graphite Docs allows you to own your content. You can still have other computers contribute to the piece, but now you give them permission to access the cryptographic key and make them a co-owner. Not Google, a centralized party. Privacy of your written work is preserved online. No more curtailed ads from writing that you didn't even know they were looking at.

Or look at Dtube, a distributed video watching site. As more participant/nodes add content and contribute to the network, the videos become much faster in remote locations. The data has less distance to travel from spread out nodes, instead of long-distance data moving from centralized CDN's and ISP's. Plus, the bombardment of advertisements does not occur. Your searches are private and you can even get paid to watch an ad on a particular video. Unlike, YouTube which takes every bit of your search data to cater as many advertisements as possible into your site vicinity without any benefit to you and only a small benefit to the content creator. Right now, video streaming sites such as YouTube and Twitch take up to 60% of the revenue that is generated from a video, leaving content creators little money for their hard work.

You can even plug your bank account number into a blockchain cryptographic backed application for paying your power bill, like WhyGrene Inc. is building. You will no longer have any concern that your bank account number will be hacked into or stolen. The key to that account is only in your possession. No longer will you be afraid of searching for cookies that could result in an influx of cookie advertisements or government knowledge of your cookie like. No longer will you be nervous about your bank account being breached, the classified information being hacked, nor advertisements popping up every moment.

Then there is Tenta, our secure crypto browser that lets people access today's internet securely while also providing the gateway to the new, decentralized internet that's being built. There are many server-side blockchain protocols and services but they remain inaccessible without a client-side application. As the new browser for the new internet, Tenta is the vehicle to bring internet users to the new decentralized web with a secure browser that's useful now, not years from now.

The decentralized internet that is being built by Tenta and others is a secure foundation for your digital livelihood. Our browser lets you access this new internet while allowing you to access the current one more privately and securely. Sharing, privacy, and security will soon all be synonymous with the internet.