Internet for people, not profit — Mozilla
Mozilla (the creators of Firefox) and the National Science Foundation are offering two million dollars for someone to create a new decentralized internet that is free and open to everyone.
This challenge comes part of the "Wireless Innovation for a Networked Society" challenges. The challenges include getting the internet to communities off the grid, with proposals like a backpack with a computer and WiFi router inside.
The large amount of this prize signifies how difficult this task may be, but it isn't impossible at all. On the contrary, many people have set up their own small-scale "internets" over the years.
The internet itself did begin decentralized and by nature it is supposed to be free for all to use, but since it began really picking up big corporations have taken over control of large parts of it. This, coupled with the fact that there are still millions and millions of people worldwide who do not even have access to the internet (with many more still stuck with horrible quality connections). This new decentralized internet must be free for all and easy to access.
Infrastructure will of course be the biggest obstacle. Everything from the server station to the wire leading to your home costs money, and therefore whoever plans to take on this challenge will have to have a solid solution to this issue.
Mozilla hopes its new push will lead to a more accessible internet for everyone.
