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add centralization-is-bad section #95

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pes10k Jun 29, 2023
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Expand Up @@ -340,3 +340,22 @@ <h3 id="render" data-export="" data-dfn-type="dfn">
and will create user agents to represent those preferences on the web user's behalf.
</p>
</section>

<section>
<h3 id="centralization" data-export="" data-dfn-type="dfn">
The web is decentralized
</h3>
<p>
The web is a platform designed to be used and operated by as wide
a range of individuals and orgaizations as possible.
We will not create web technologies that encourage centralization,
by favoring large or powerful organizations, to the deteriment of smaller
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organizations. We include in this concern both technologies
that explicitly promote centralization (e.g., systems that relying on
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a single or small number of "trusted parties" to collect or pre-process data),
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The DNS is hosted by a 'small number of "trusted parties"'. Are you suggesting that the Web shouldn't use it?

There are only three browser engines; does that represent a 'small number of "trusted parties"'?

Does this mean that Google Safe Browsing is centralized?

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The DNS is hosted by a 'small number of "trusted parties"'. Are you suggesting that the Web shouldn't use it?

No, i dont intend or think DNS would be covered by this wording. I can stand up a DNS server at home and it'll work just as well. But it would be very bad for a web standard to say "step 3: talk to Google, CF or Comcast's DNS servers".

There are only three browser engines; does that represent a 'small number of "trusted parties"'?

No I didn't intend browser engines to be covered here. I'm happy to revise the text to make that clearer. A browser engine isn't a trusted party, its auditable (or at least an implementation could be auditable, even if not all are). But, it would be bad if a standard was written to require talking to software or a service that was designed to be unauditable ( widevine…), for example.

Does this mean that Google Safe Browsing is centralized?

Google safe browsing is absolutely centralized. I think it'd be very bad to have a W3C standard that required talking to Google Safe Browsing servers to work correctly. Its a useful and valuable system, and I'm glad it exists, but it doesn't seem like a good model for building open standards for the Web.

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re DNS, @mnot I realize I might have misunderstood your comment. Were you referring to root servers, or resolvers? My comment was about the latter, but on second thought I see you might have meant the former.

If you meant root servers, yea, thats a tricky one, I take your point. Its unappealing, but maybe its least bad. I could try and emphasize "unless necessary" or "unless no other alternatives exist" or similar (though i appreciate that direction has its own downsides too)

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Indeed, I meant the root servers.

and technologies that would promote centralization in more subtle ways (e.g.,
systems that are prohibitively expensive to run, or systems that providing more
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utility as the number of participants increase).
</p>
</section>