[vezycash]

IMO, there are two key barriers to a decentralized internet (other factors are minor in comparison.)

(1) IPv4 (2) Bandwidth limits

IPv6 makes NAT unnecessary. With IP scarcity gone, IP addresses might become permanent like phone numbers.

ISPs are currently making money off fixed IP addresses. Market forces would change that eventually.

[lolive]

The need for a search engine seems, imho, to be the major argument versus (full) decentralization. Another formulation for that: there is a (valid) need for (some kind of) centralization. (and from there, you all go back to full centralization, first because of search, then because of convenience, at last because of laziness).

[vezycash]

P2P File sharing services like LimeWire, kazaa, torrent... had acceptable search experience before being sued to oblivion.

Even if lawsuits didn't kill p2p networks, Virus / safety concerns would have. Imo, trust is a bigger issue than discovery, hence need for curation - centralization.

The reputation system of thepiratebay makes it my primary torrent site.

Laziness, convenience is more of a trust than a search issue.

Many uploads are viruses/adware/ransomware masquerading as movies, books, games...

This necessitates multiple downloads - it's frustrating. I remember downloading several gigs of rar and encrypted .avi movies files, only to be greeted with a message asking me to fill a survey to get password.

Yify - a reputable source eliminated this concern for movies.

If decentralization works out, I believe specialized search engines will emerge.

But note, trust is the bigger issue than search or content discovery for decentralization. If not, iTunes store, app stores and other walled gardens would have long failed.

[imtringued]

I wonder if it is even possible to decentralize search. An authority needs to create an index and letting the authority query that index is far faster than downloading gigabytes of data on every single machine that wants to search the decentralized internet.