DLT vs. HTTP: CloudFlare's Quest to Decentralize the Internet

On Sept. 17, a vital United States-based content delivery network CloudFlare introduced a new decentralized content gateway via InterPlanetary File System, a peer-to-peer network run by thousands of computers bypassing the conventional HTTP system.

Basically, CloudFlare plays the role of an intermediary between the website and the visitor.

As per data stated on their website, the company serves around 8 million internet properties and "Powers nearly 10 percent of all internet requests." According to the Wire, Cloudflare customers vary "From individual bloggers who pay nothing for basic security services to Fortune 50 companies that pay up to a million dollars a year for guaranteed 24-hour support."

The situation escalated further in 2013, when Cloudflare was called "Terrorists' little helper" by a Kernel journalist for refusing to drop a Chechen news site Kavkaz Center.

In March 2017, the Southern Poverty Law Center published an article claiming that Cloudflare had been optimizing content delivery for "At least 48 hate sites across Europe." A similar article was published by ProRepublica in May 2017.

In response to the latter piece, Cloudflare reportedly updated its abuse reporting system to allow people to more safely file complaints about the material on its sites.

In August 2017, Cloudflare decided to go against its net neutrality principles for the first time: After a neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer wrote a hate-filled column dedicated to a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville and went as far as to suggest that Cloudlflare's top management shared their ideology by covering them, Prince decided to deny them service, setting a precedent.

New product: What is IPFS?The policies mentioned above explain why creating a new decentralized content gateway seems like a logical step for Cloudflare.

"Just like when Cloudflare launched back in 2010 and changed the game for web properties by providing the security, performance and availability that was previously only available to the internet giants, we think the IPFS gateway will provide the same boost to content on the distributed web."

To lure in new clients, CloudFlare is promoting their gateway by granting a free SSL certificate to any website connected via their new service, offering to secure it from "Snooping and manipulation."