DECENT is a Decentralized Content Distribution Platform that is Open-Source and utilizes Blockchain to ensure security and its intentions is to revolutionize data distribution on the Internet. DECENT plans to launch a prototype in Q1, 2016 which will explain the protocol’s functionalities and various usage possibilities.
The biggest advantages of DECENT over Bittorrent are complete anonymity both on a payment layer and content consuming layer, decentralized P2P micropayments and direct relationship between author and consumer (one-to-many data model). In comparison to Bittorrent, content on DECENT is encrypted . Even publishers (seeders) don’t know what they are seeding. Unless you explicitly wish to reveal your identity, you stay anonymous. Author’s reputation depends on the rating he/she receives from the content consumers and it is saved in the blockchain. Thus the lifetime reputation for each author and each piece of content is ensured. As an author, you can start publishing for free, build a reputation and later begin to charge for your digital content (articles, books, music, video etc.)
The company behind DECENT has already secured a €500k funding from Element Capital LLC, a US Chinese Fund, and has teams of collaborators in Ukraine, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Australia.
Igor Chepkasov, one of the team ambassadors, recently wrote:
DECENT is here to guard Free Speech and give the power over the media back to people. Implementation of Blockchain technology to provide maximum anonymity and peer to peer sharing network to eliminate any kinds of third parties or middlemen is the main goal. As an open source protocol, DECENT platform allows everyone to build their own applications on the top of its protocol. The aim is to offer the possibility of sharing and receiving genuine digital content worldwide in the exact way and form as it was aimed to.
As an independent decentralized network owned by its users DECENT allows media sharing and ensures freedom of speech in order to provide borderless information and data flow while avoiding manipulation, censorship and any third party influence. As an open source platform it also enables everyone to build their own application on top of the DECENT protocol.
The main goal is to provide opportunities for people whose voice is normally censored, manipulated or simply are tired of involving third parties in order to get published.
Decent is also unique thanks to the micropayment system which is combined with strong encryption of the content and several advanced cryptographic technologies (e.g. shared secret sharing, proof of retrievability, ZKP) via Blockchain theory. Only authorized users can and will get access to the content. Served via P2P network DECENT platform is not centrally hosted, so the data cannot be manipulated and they can never be blocked.
DECENT is anonymous. The authors and their audience are identified only by their ID and protected by advanced cryptography. Unless they wish to, users cannot be associated with any given content. This is guaranteed with our unique distribution models.
In terms of security DECENT is designed to ensure the authors get paid for all of the viewed content as well as consumers are only charged when they get access to the content they paid for. The author can decide to share the content for free or for payment. In addition, our recommendation engine will help users to filter out content that is for some reason malicious or does not meet the quality standards.
See their Whitepaper here.
