The internet has grown increasingly centralized over the past few decades, with a handful of corporations now controlling most of its infrastructure. This privatization of the public square threatens freedom of speech and democracy.
23 years ago, we created Freenet Classic - the first distributed, decentralized peer-to-peer network. Freenet Classic pioneered technologies like cryptographic contracts and small-world networks and still has an active community of users and developers today.
The internet has evolved significantly since its early days and so have user expectations. To meet these current challenges, we are developing a new version of Freenet for 2023, initially known as "Locutus." In January 2023, the Freenet Board of Directors announced that the original Freenet will be renamed to "Freenet Classic" and Locutus will be renamed to Freenet.
This new Freenet will make it easy for developers to create and deploy decentralized alternatives to current centralized internet services such as instant messaging, social networking, email, and online stores. These decentralized applications will be user-friendly, scalable and secured through the use of cryptography. Freenet will empower users by giving back control.
| Milestone | Projected |
|---|---|
| Decentralized messaging system can be tested locally | April 10, 2023 |
| Messaging contracts and component complete | May 1, 2023 |
| Peer-to-peer network simulator and integration tests | May 29, 2023 |
| Minimum viable release, decentralized apps running over test network | July 17, 2023 |
| We have a web browser customized for use with Freenet | August 7, 2023 |
| Contracts are prioritized by balancing resource usage with value created | September 4, 2023 |
Projections are generated automatically from Pivotal Tracker. These are estimates only and may change. Look here to see a detailed roadmap.