Dwarfs without Giants – Decentralized architecture and Internet services
Decentralization is central in the genesis of the Internet, its primary objective was to make heterogeneous and distant machines communicate without going through a unique point. Today, concentration dominates around macro-actors, these “giants” whose immense server farms see the main part of the traffic of the Web. Nevertheless, the original principle was not completely abandoned and in all the fields of application, developers are exploring decentralized alternatives. These “dwarfs” provide search engines, social networks and storage spaces that distribute resources and skills among the network members.
This book explores the forms of decentralized organization of the Internet; it shows how a network distributing the responsibility of its functioning in its margins, because it is organized according to a non- or weakly hierarchized – model, is able to develop in a highly structured contemporary Internet. Such a device raises the issues of market organization, technology efficiency, model sustainability, as well as privacy and personal data protection. As Geoffrey Bowker points out in his foreword, this book leads us to question the governance of the Internet, and in order to understand this key sociotechnical question of our time, we have to analyze the alternatives to current functioning. This is exactly what Nains sans géants (Dwarfs without Giants) does in a fine and informed way.
This pioneer book was rewarded by the Prix Informatique et Libertés of the CNIL (National commission for information technology and civil liberties).
Hence a second edition that emphasizes privacy issues and questions decentralized architectures in the light of the latest events, such as Edward Snowden’s revelations on the monitoring practices implemented by the American intelligence services.
2015 – 2nd edition – Presses des mines
Language: French