The Distributed Press Archive Automator offers a decentralized, user-friendly and relatively low-tech way to archive and store web content that should be preserved and maintained as part of our collective digital record. The Automator builds off our existing decentralized publishing stack, combining it with a payment interface loaded via an uncensorable frontend, to create a seamless, protocol-based workflow for archiving websites.

Around the world, governments are restricting human rights and silencing opposition partly by purging digital information from official websites. Simultaneously, funding cuts are threatening the ability of social activists and human rights organizations to maintain their website and online resources when they close. The Archive Automator offers a practical solution by leveraging decentralized publishing and storage protocols to preserve critical information. Our low-cost payment system is designed to be financially accessible while also generating enough revenue to maintain a network of nodes for long-term storage integrity.

This work extends the proof of concept for an uncensorable frontend - a donation page - that was developed through the GC22 grant: https://k51qzi5uqu5dki3fy4lgrg46aix3ojpje20n51f4o9070u4lhpfjbtn2zvfc7q.ipns.w3s.link/

Documentation for the work is available here

About Distributed Press

The Archive Automator builds on the existing Distributed Press stack.

Distributed Press is a publishing tool designed for the distributed web, aimed at empowering publishing organizations and authors globally. With Distributed Press, you can effortlessly publish and host content across multiple distributed networks and P2P protocols, including IPFS, ActivityPub, and Hypercore. This innovative tool enhances any Content Management System (CMS) by integrating peer-to-peer (P2P) and decentralized protocols for efficient content distribution and archiving. We also offer a suite of tools for interacting with the Fediverse via ActivityPub.

Why does this matter? By combining distributed web protocols with uncensorable front ends, Distributed Press offers significant benefits:

• Self-Sovereign Content: Maintain control over your content and ensure it remains accessible across the decentralized web.
• Resilience: Reduce link rot and avoid 404 errors with robust distributed web technology.
• Censorship Resistance: Bypass censorship and make your content accessible to a global audience.
• Broaden User Reach: Seamlessly connect with a global network of decentralized websites, potentially increasing engagement.
• Overcome Connectivity Issues: Connect with audiences in areas with limited internet access through efficient P2P discovery and localized storage solutions.

Make your content more resilient with distributed web technology.