# Rethinking the Internet

**Understanding the Three Layers of the Internet**

![](internet_3layers.png)

The Internet is made of 3 layers: 

1. **Compute & Storage:** This layer houses applications and is predominantly centralized, operating from vast data centers.

2. **Network:** The network layer facilitates the movement of information, whether it's wireless, via cables like fiber, or through satellite links. Today, information often travels long distances, with a few companies controlling over 80% of the internet’s network capacity.

3. **Applications:** These are hosted in large data centers, relying on the centralized compute and storage layers. This centralization makes the system vulnerable.

**Current Challenges**

Digital information primarily flows through extensive fiber backbone networks, as shown here:

![](global_net.png)

The internet’s design causes inefficiencies, such as when two people in Zanzibar use a service like Zoom. Their data travels all the way to European data centers where Zoom's servers are hosted and back, leading to slow performance, decreased reliability, and increased costs.

![](network_path.png)

**Issues with Autonomy and Sovereignty**

Our current internet model compromises autonomy and sovereignty. Most data is stored in large data centers controlled by a few major corporations, effectively turning users into products.

![](we_are_products.png)

Moreover, the internet is replicated many times across various applications, each requiring its own full infrastructure. This approach is unsustainable and inefficient.

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