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= Peer-for-Peer =

P4P, short for Peer-4-Peer (which in turn is short for Peer-for-Peer) are a family of networks which build on principles of local-first, peer-2-peer, open-source, routing agnostic (offline-first) and mutual-aid principles. The above is a lot of terms which in and of themselves carry a lot of meaning, yet when combined they enable censorship-resistant, resilient and adaptive, sustainable and energy-efficient communication infrastructures.

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== Core principles of Peer-4-Peer Networks ==

=== Mutual-Aid ===

Mutual-aid networks mean that they aim to be collaborative, through open-source licensing models, avoiding lock-ins such as walled gardens and enable interoperability between networks, communities and protocols.

=== Peer-2-Peer ===

Peer-to-peer networks let computers talk directly to each other instead of going through a central boss server. Every participant both gives and receives information. This makes the system more flexible, harder to break, and easier to grow.

=== Local-First ===

Local-first communication networks keep your data on your own device or nearby computers first, instead of sending everything to a big central server. The system still works even when the internet is slow or completely gone. Sharing with others happens later, when a connection is available.

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=== Routing Agnostic ===

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Routing-agnostic networks don’t care //how// or //when// messages travel, only that they eventually get there. Information can wait, take different paths, or hop between devices until a connection appears. This means the network keeps working even during outages or bad connections.

= Internet.. but without internet =

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P4P networks emerged around 2010, merging qualities of distributed ledgers (such as blockchain) with version control (such as git) and torrent-like data sharing. The term P4P however is more recent yet can trace it's roots back to a scuttlebutt post in 2020.

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In the absence of a unified name for this particular family of protocols, the term Peer-4-Peer (P4P) emerged from a gathering at [[offline-place>>path:/xwiki/bin/create/About/https%3Aoffline.place/WebHome?parent=About.WebHome]] in Berlin in 2024, at an event which went by the same name (P4P). The event brought together P2P, offline-first and local-first enthusiasts (Z, Elfen 2024).

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== Underlying Ethos ==

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The term "Peer-for-Peer" reflects the mutual-aid ethos inherent in these networks, a concept rooted in the natural law proposed by Kessler in 1880 and further developed by Kropotkin (1902). This ethos is reflected both in the architecture of the networks through peers connecting directly to other peers–without intermediaries or centralized control, and in support of one another–it's also exhibited in the licensing, as Open-Source and for the commons.

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== Qualities of P4P networks ==

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* Local data synchronization: Data does not require the internet to synchronize and can instead be transferred via Bluetooth or mesh networks (local networks of routers).

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* Decentralized data storage: Primary data is stored on the user’s device, with secondary storage distributed across other nodes in the network, rather than centralized on a server.

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* Offline functionality: Applications remain fully operational with minimal loading times even without an internet connection, due to their local-first nature and delay tolerant capabilities.

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* Collaborative: In line with the mutual-aid ethos, peer-for-peer networks are just that, built for the collective by the collective and licensed in line with collective purposes and values.

== Impact ==

The potential impact of P4P networks are tremendous for global infrastructure both from a resilience perspective and in terms of values. Many of the P4P network designs offer inherent privacy and digital sovereignty for the individual nodes and networks. Due to their resilient qualities as distributed networks (Baran, 1964) and agnostic stance in relation to routing (physical hardware transport layer) they are also particularly suited for times of instability. P4P is not a path forward, but rather P4P is many paths forward for communication, with space for interoperable networks and the multitude of an ecosystem.

== References ==

Elfen, Zenna. 2024. //P4P: Steps Toward More Adaptive Internets: Charting Open-Source, P2P and Local-First Networks//. June 21. [[https:~~/~~/doi.org/10.17613/NAJ7D-6G984>>url:https://doi.org/10.17613/NAJ7D-6G984]].

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// //Calvin, K., Dasgupta, D., Krinner, G., Mukherji, A., Thorne, P. W., Trisos, C., Romero, J., Aldunce, P., Barrett, K., Blanco, G., Cheung, W. W. L., Connors, S., Denton, F., Diongue-Niang, A., Dodman, D., Garschagen, M., Geden, O., Hayward, B., Jones, C., … Péan, C. (2023).// IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. (First). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [[https:~~/~~/doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647>>url:https://doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647]] //

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\\// //Baran, Paul.// 1964. On Distributed Communications: I. Introduction to Distributed Communications Networks. RAND Corporation. [[https:~~/~~/doi.org/10.7249/RM3420.>>url:https://doi.org/10.7249/RM3420.]] //

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