PiperNet Decentralized Architecture

Context

After the COPPA incident destroyed PiperChat and the "Box" hardware pivot proved uninspiring, we needed a new direction. The fundamental problem with all previous architectures was centralization—single points of failure, regulatory targets, and data ownership concerns.

Richard proposed building a "New Internet" that embodies our Anti-Hooli principle at the protocol level.

Decision

Build PiperNet: a fully decentralized peer-to-peer network that eliminates centralized cloud providers and ISPs.

Architecture Overview

Core Components

1. P2P Mesh Network

   • Data sharded and distributed across millions of devices
   • No central servers or data centers
   • Each node stores encrypted fragments

2. Distributed Ledger

   • Tracks shard locations across the network
   • Consensus mechanism for data integrity
   • Immutable audit trail

3. Middle-Out Compression Layer

   • Reduces bandwidth overhead for shard transmission
   • Critical for unstable peer connections
   • Enables efficient IoT participation

4. Incentive Layer (PiedPiperCoin)

   • Users earn PPC for providing storage/bandwidth
   • Developers pay PPC to host applications
   • See ADR-005 for tokenomics details

Technical Specifications

Data Sharding

def shard_data(data: bytes, redundancy: int = 3) -> List[Shard]:
    # Compress with Middle-Out
    compressed = piper_compress(data)

    # Split into encrypted shards
    shards = []
    for i in range(0, len(compressed), SHARD_SIZE):
        shard = Shard(
            data=encrypt(compressed[i:i+SHARD_SIZE]),
            hash=sha256(compressed[i:i+SHARD_SIZE])
        )
        shards.append(shard)

    # Replicate for redundancy
    return replicate_shards(shards, redundancy)

Node Requirements

Consequences

Positive

• +No single point of failure
• +Censorship resistant
• +User-owned data
• +Aligns with Anti-Hooli principle
• +Regulatory arbitrage (no central entity to sue)

Negative

• −Complex consensus mechanisms
• −Vulnerable to 51% attacks (see INC-003)
• −Unpredictable node availability
• −Higher latency than centralized solutions

Risks Realized

• INC-003: 51% Attack attempt by Hooli
• INC-004: AI optimization led to encryption-breaking discovery

Migration Path

1. Phase 1: Beta network with 10,000 nodes
2. Phase 2: Public launch with mobile app
3. Phase 3: Developer SDK release
4. Phase 4: Enterprise integration APIs