A conversation with Juan Benet, inventor of IPFS and Merkle Web

For our first meetup, we are pleased to host a talk and conversation with Juan Benet and his team.

Juan is the inventor of IPFS (http://ipfs.io/), a new content-addressed hypermedia distribution protocol that aims to make the Web safer, faster and more open.

IPFS is best imagined as a radically improved BitTorrent that enables the development of completely distributed applications. It merges 3 battle-tested technologies - BitTorrent, Git version control and SFS (Self - certifying File System) to result in a system more powerful than the sum of it's parts.

Some advantages of distributed applications and IPFS:

1. Distributed applications work even when connection to the Internet backbone is lost. Example - Cars that drive autonomously and share parking spot plus traffic information must function even if the entire internet stops working.

2. Better content distribution networks - peer to peer without any central party (like, say, Apple Music!) integrated with micro-payments for artist compensation.

3. IPFS distributed applications can be structured for complete user data ownership and enable creators to build applications while incurring near-zero infrastructural cost.

4. A naming system that enables anyone to create a namespace and build secure websites without needing to purchase certificates from Certificate Authorities like Verisign.

etc. etc.

Juan's talk and our conversation will focus on:

1. The vision behind IPFS.
2. Demonstrations of the technology.
3. Applications and how to start thinking in terms of IPFS.

To derive the maximum out of this meetup, please listen to the videos on http://ipfs.io/ for some background.

We look forward to an excellent inaugural event for the meetup group and welcome anyone (technical or non-technical) to join.

It is possible for people to join in remotely using Google Hangouts. There are 6 open spots, so email meher.roychowdhury@gmail asap.