Building a better Internet is a task that concerns all of us, engineers, developers and also users. This is why we are all invited to express our demands, and participate with our opinions in the great technological debate. Because in this moment of ‘Internet renaissance’ the future of human relations is at stake.

A necessary debate…

The reflexion can no longer be postponed. A deep debate about our rights and freedoms on the web is necessary, that is, how to respect and defend them when we interact on the Internet. Blockchain technology can offer solutions for the abuses we have been suffering in terms of privacy, and fundamental rights and freedoms, so far.

But in order to defend our rights on the web, we first need to identify ourselves as owners of those rights and freedoms… and that should be the first topic for a debate: Identity.

At this beginning of the course, I have been thinking of organizing a discussion forum to discuss these issues, starting with Identity. If there is any reader of these lines who is interested, please contact me, here or through my LinkedIn profile. I am very interested in the opinion of lawyers, philosophers, thinkers, and of all those users who feel like participating in this exciting technological turning point.

To build a better Internet…

On my side, this fall I will be helping grow the community of Blockstack in Madrid. Blockstack is an ecosystem for the development of applications that respect the rights of users, more exactly a decentralized network that was created to give the user control over his identity and his data on the web. It was founded in Princeton University in 2013. Since then, thank to a brilliant team, it has progressed at a steady pace. Today, there are more than 200 applications built on Blockstack that respect the rights of users because it can not be otherwise, as technology itself prevents abuse … While Google uses the motto “Don’t be evil!”, Blockstack considers that no company on the Internet should be allowed to decide whether to be evil or not. And this is the reason why why its app mining program was named “Can’t be evil!”

Blockstack is opening a new computer age, and my first step, to support Blockstack from Madrid, has been to start a MeetUp group: Blockstack Madrid. This is the starting point to propose events for developers, including workshops, and encourage them to participate in the upcoming Internet.

The Meet Up group is already underway with a first event scheduled for September 17 at 7:00 p.m. at LOOM Huertas, Calle Huertas 11, in Madrid city center. In this first meeting I will introduce Blockstack with Mark Hendrickson, Product Manager of Blockstack, (remote). We will review what makes Blockstack special, and the opportunity it represents for developers.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how Blockstack does in Madrid, and how the creativity of Spanish developers can take advantage of this ecosystem full of opportunities. In that sense, I feel fortunate to provide such a useful and wonderful information, and from CryptoPlaza powered by LOOM be able to make my contribution to decentralization.

Nowadays, respecting our freedoms and rights on the web is essential for a true human progress, and it is our responsibility with future generations.

Thank you for reading these lines. And if you are in Madrid on the 17th, come the MeetUp!

All the best!

Georgina G.-Mauriño

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