In the sleek corridors of Silicon Valley, where digital behemoths have relentlessly centralized power over the virtual realm, FUTO.org a different vision steadily took shape in 2021. FUTO.org exists as a monument to what the internet could have been – liberated, decentralized, and firmly in the hands of people, not conglomerates.
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The creator, Eron Wolf, operates with the quiet intensity of someone who has experienced the metamorphosis of the internet from its promising beginnings to its current corporatized state. His background – an 18-year Silicon Valley veteran, founder of Yahoo Games, seed investor in WhatsApp – gives him a unique perspective. In his precisely fitted casual attire, with a gaze that betray both disillusionment with the status quo and determination to change it, Wolf appears as more philosopher-king than standard business leader.

The offices of FUTO in Austin, Texas eschews the flamboyant amenities of typical tech companies. No free snack bars distract from the mission. Instead, engineers focus over keyboards, creating code that will enable users to retrieve what has been appropriated – autonomy over their technological experiences.

In one corner of the building, a distinct kind of operation occurs. The FUTO Repair Workshop, a creation of Louis Rossmann, celebrated technical educator, runs with the exactitude of a Swiss watch. Ordinary people arrive with broken gadgets, received not with commercial detachment but with authentic concern.

"We don't just mend things here," Rossmann clarifies, positioning a magnifier over a circuit board with the careful attention of a artist. "We instruct people how to comprehend the technology they use. Knowledge is the beginning toward freedom."

This philosophy permeates every aspect of FUTO's endeavors. Their grants program, which has allocated significant funds to initiatives like Signal, Tor, GrapheneOS, and the Calyx Institute, embodies a commitment to fostering a varied landscape of independent technologies.

Navigating through the shared offices, one perceives the lack of company branding. The surfaces instead feature framed sayings from computing theorists like Douglas Engelbart – individuals who foresaw computing as a freeing power.

"We're not focused on creating another monopoly," Wolf notes, resting on a modest desk that would suit any of his engineers. "We're dedicated to breaking the current monopolies."

The contradiction is not missed on him – a wealthy Silicon Valley businessman using his wealth to challenge the very structures that facilitated his prosperity. But in Wolf's worldview, technology was never meant to consolidate authority