The Next Internet Protocol: Decentralized Syndication

Since its inception, the Internet has been a decentralized network of protocols designed to enable global connectivity and innovation. Protocols like TCP/IP, SMTP, DNS, and HTTP have each played crucial roles in shaping the digital arena. However, one critical piece has long been missing—a decentralized content syndication and discovery protocol.

The Problem with Centralized Content Syndication

As the Internet grew, content discovery became a challenge. Early on, users shared links via forums and mailing lists. Search engines and centralized platforms later stepped in, offering tools to aggregate and index content. Platforms like Google Reader and social networks simplified publishing and discovery but centralized control of content. This consolidation led to issues such as censorship, profit-driven algorithms, and a loss of user ownership over data.

The Rise and Fall of RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) emerged as an open solution for content syndication. Users could subscribe to feeds and aggregate updates from different websites. However, RSS had limitations:

• Discovery required manual input; users had to know which feeds to follow.
• Global aggregation was cumbersome without a unified discovery mechanism.
• Centralized tools like Google Reader dominated and, when shut down, left the ecosystem fragmented.

The lack of a cohesive, decentralized vision for content syndication ultimately limited RSS’s longevity.

Enter RSDS: A New Vision for Decentralized Syndication

RSDS (Really Simple Decentralized Syndication) proposes a fresh, scalable approach to global content syndication. It aims to address the shortcomings of past efforts like RSS and modern centralized platforms like Bluesky. Key principles of RSDS include:

• Self-Hosted Content: Users host their content and provide references (URLs) to decentralized platforms. This model minimizes storage requirements for network nodes, allowing scalability without excessive resource consumption.
• Domains as Decentralized IDs (DIDs): Domain names serve as user identifiers, providing resilience against spam and hijacking. The public key for each user is hosted on their domain, ensuring posts can be verified as authentic.
• Proof-of-Work Timestamps: RSDS leverages Bitcoin's proof-of-work blocks to create decentralized timestamps for posts. This mechanism ensures chronological order and prevents spamming by limiting posts per domain per block.
• Simplicity in Hosting: Posts are simple web pages, eliminating the need for complex infrastructure. Non-HTTPS URLs are supported, ensuring easy and low-cost entry for users to participate.
• The Right to Be Forgotten: Unlike Bluesky’s permanent Merkle-tree structure, RSDS allows content deletion. Users can remove posts from their servers, with changes propagating across the network.
• Content Licensing Support: RSDS incorporates publishing licenses, enabling content creators to specify republishing and AI training rights. This feature is essential in an era of generative AI and data commoditization.
• Flexible Data Hosting: RSDS divides content into time blocks tied to Bitcoin hashes. Network nodes can choose which blocks to host, enabling flexibility and scalability while allowing customization to filter harmful content.
• Resilience Against Spam and Bloat: Costs associated with domain ownership, post limits per time block, and independent domain blocklists help mitigate spam and ensure network integrity.

A Path to Commercialization

For RSDS to thrive, commercialization opportunities must exist. Derivative products, such as monetized reader platforms, could provide user-friendly interfaces and advanced features for browsing syndicated content. These platforms could charge subscription fees or run ads, ensuring the system’s sustainability while maintaining decentralization.

Why RSDS Matters

RSDS represents a shift toward reclaiming the decentralized ethos of the Internet. By prioritizing user ownership, scalability, and resilience, it has the potential to fill the gap left by centralized syndication and the decline of RSS. Whether it can overcome challenges like adoption and implementation remains to be seen, but its foundational principles offer a compelling blueprint for a truly decentralized content network.