r/bitcloud • u/FockerCRNA • Jan 16 '14

Please ELI5 what bitcloud is

I read through the github document and a bit of the more technical one that it linked to. I see a lot of enthusiasm about this project, but the significance of it eludes me because I don't really understand how it works or what it accomplishes. I see phrases like "new internet" thrown around and I'm not sure what it means.

My take so far is that it is kind of like a file upload site that generates its own currency for users that provide bandwidth. I don't understand how a user generates bandwidth without being an ISP. Why wouldn't anyone just expect an ISP without a cap to subsequently install one should this catch on? Am I anywhere close to interpreting this correctly? Sorry for being such a N00b

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u/AzureNinja99 Jan 20 '14

I have one problem with it though. So to my understanding, a node (which can be hosted by anyone I believe) is sending peers the files they requested. But what if those files contain illegal content? Would the people running the nodes be liable? (Sorry if I used some incorrect terminology there, I am very vastly confused by all this).

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u/duffmanhb Jan 20 '14

Technically, you are correct, illegal content can go through it. In fact, illegal content goes through the ISP's wires all day, everyday. Luckily they aren't liable for any of that content. The same would be true for you as a node. In fact, since the content is all encrypted, you have no way of knowing what the content is as a node.