Originally submitted to the National Science Foundation in 2023/2024, reposted here for posterity
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Modern companies demand that users offer up their personal data. This has caused catastrophic breaches (Cambridge Analytica, 2018), which have undermined democracy and led to “a considerable lack of trust in social media: 45% of US internet users say they do not trust any of the social media companies” (Statista, 2021). In light of data protection regulations, identity solutions are becoming increasingly important as third-party cookies and tracking mechanisms are deprecated (IAB Europe, 2021). With the advent of blockchain technology, a truly decentralized ecosystem can emerge. Currently, peer-to-peer communication is out of reach for the average consumer. A decentralized Domain Name System (dDNS) built using muNode and blockchain technology opens the door for these users. dDNS is a vital, complex issue that others have dismissed in lieu of easy wins using existing server farms. Decentralization must begin at the user level. The majority of users do not have the tools or skills to enter the decentralized ecosystem. muNode is an innovative router which provides that solution. As a plug-and-play device, it will require minimal technical know-how beyond plugging in a router and creating a user account. muNode will allow its owners to remotely manage their personal data and interactions via the World Wide Web. Users will be able to connect to their homes via a virtual private network (VPN) based on Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, providing blanketed ad and tracker blocking akin to Pi-Hole. Further, it will provide the ability to selectively grant permission-based access to slices of personal data via the Solid Pod protocol for personal and commercial use. Use cases include generating value through ownership of a staking/validating Ethereum provider. Another involves leasing access to personal browsing data captured in the user's muNode Solid pod via Chromium APIs. Users can discretely share their medical records with clinics and hospitals of their choice by leveraging their Solid Pod data and the Fast Interoperable Healthcare Resources (FIHR) protocol. Finally, hosting one's social media data will be possible, protecting it from the whims of feudalistic CEOs that turn their website into an ostensibly walled garden at the drop of a hat. muNode will give users complete control over their digital life. Today's personal home servers, such as media storage (Plex) and video security systems (Wyze), are either sheltered to only local network access, require technical knowledge to configure for external access, or are owned by the cloud provider (Ring) which subverts any sense of data ownership. muNode provides a configurable plug-and-play solution that is fully owned by the user. During the R&D phase, muNode will demonstrate the ability and benefit of decentralized applications that have heretofore been hosted on centralized hardware (AWS, Azure, etc). Currently, there are no decentralized platforms on which to host them. muNode seeks to provide that platform.
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muNode's solution aims to be financially and technically accessible to the general public. The Phase 1 grant will support the refinement process necessary to reach a fully functional development platform. Phase 2 will further refine this proof of concept device into a commercially viable, plug-and-play product. The decentralized world is still just a dream hosted primarily across a few commercial server farms. The decentralized community will only be realized when becoming a participant implicitly supports decentralization. muNode will make this a reality with an innovative router connecting users to the Ethereum blockchain, a personal Solid Pod, and the internet. muNode will empower users to control access to personal data, enhancing privacy and offering potential passive income. The integrated Ethereum client benefits both owners and the public by expanding the decentralized network. A challenge involves secure communication from a muNode. How do random devices trust each other? Obtaining an SSL certification is a big step for the common user. Data permissioning is another hurdle. muNode must establish how users can share social media data publicly while protecting their medical records and vice-versa. We have Phase 1 divided into four work packages, consisting of three main goals and one stretch. To solve the domain registration security problem a muNode will be configured with a script, yet to be engineered. This script will obtain a free SSL certificate via Certbot using the device's public IP address and user-registered domain. This process is made more accessible by the dDNS, to be developed in work package 3. The hurdle of data privacy is solved within the Solid service, an existing open-source decentralization technology that stores data as Extensible Markup Language. It allows users to grant access to discrete slices of their information. Seamlessly integrating Solid into muNode requires further development. Work package 1 will focus on completing the backend and frontend software. Golang and NodeJS will be used for backend services with ReactJS for the UI. The muNode will be running Debian, with containerized Docker images for each service. Work package 2 will refine the prototype hardware. Our target chip architecture is ARM64 for cost and energy efficiency. The prototype is the ARM-based Raspberry Pi 4 with a 1TB Samsung SSD. The off-the-shelf hardware totals about $200. This cost can be lowered in later phases with dedicated hardware. Work package 3, in parallel with WP2, will focus on engineering the dDNS. This will use blockchain technology to sync a DNS registry to each muNode allowing users to freely and easily register a domain name for their home IP address. Work package 4 is for designing and engineering discrete hardware to run muNode. The hardware will provide only the components needed to run the muNode, unlike the more expensive and expansive Raspberry Pi.
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Since its inception Web 3.0 has existed in the cloud. At times, over 51% was controlled by three private companies: Foundry USA, ANTPOOL, and F2Pool. To unlock Web 3.0's potential, the hardware must be in the hands of the users. muNode LLC will operate a B2C business model, marketing to home-based data storage users and privacy advocates. Of the estimated 5.3 Billion internet users globally (Statista, 2023) with the US at 90.9% saturation of users on the internet (World Bank, 2020) the muNode serviceable market will initially focus on an estimated 46.7M US-based Pi-Hole users. muNode will provide a cohesive, accessible solution to a problem these users are facing. DIY solutions require substantial technical expertise rendering them unsuitable for public consumption. Free, commercial solutions often have hidden costs thru in-app purchases or metadata scraping. Truly free and open source software (FOSS) often is carried by the thankless labor of individuals (CoreJS). Our initial target audience who have an understanding of the technical problems muNode solves will share the burden and bolster the market for future user adoption via articles, vlogs, and other media. muNode will generate revenue via direct sales, aiming for $200/unit at 10% profit, based on industry standards and prototype hardware. A potential future stream includes support for large-scale commercial clients at relative industry rates.
US addressable market: $5.9B US serviceable market: $934.4M Global addressable market: $102.4B Global serviceable market: $1.6B Global CAGR: 10.48% (2023-2028) (Yahoo Finance, 2023; Precedence Research, 2023; Statista, 2022-2023)
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muNode will be pre-sales until proof of concept and prototyping has concluded in a version one device. muNode sets the stage for a paradigm shift in the data economy. Today, tech companies harvest and profit from user data. When users control their own data, that profit will be redistributed to the people. muNode will open marketplaces to connect these businesses to the people they wish to serve.