# Does the W3C Still Believe in Tim Berners-Lee’s Vision of Decentralization?

**URL:** <https://forum.solidproject.org/t/does-the-w3c-still-believe-in-tim-berners-lee-s-vision-of-decentralization/4741>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [October 13, 2021, 7:15am UTC](https://forum.solidproject.org/t/does-the-w3c-still-believe-in-tim-berners-lee-s-vision-of-decentralization/4741 "2021-10-13T07:15:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aschrijver](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/forum.solidproject.org/aschrijver/32/463_2.png) [@aschrijver](https://forum.solidproject.org/u/aschrijver)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2021, 7:15am UTC](https://forum.solidproject.org/t/does-the-w3c-still-believe-in-tim-berners-lee-s-vision-of-decentralization/4741/1 "2021-10-13T07:15:16Z")

</div>

Just came upon [this HN submission](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28848996) about the objections by Big Tech + Mozilla (together dominating the browser landscape) that have been filed at the W3C against the [DID proposal](https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/) (which interests me for non-blockchain use cases) and how that may erode @timbl vision of The Decentralized Web:

> **[Does the W3C Still Believe in Berners-Lee’s Vision of Decentralization?](https://www.evernym.com/blog/w3c-vision-of-decentralization/)**
>
> The W3C is facing a critical decision about the future of the Web that may come down to a vote on how much decentralization really matters.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aschrijver](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/forum.solidproject.org/aschrijver/32/463_2.png) [@aschrijver](https://forum.solidproject.org/u/aschrijver)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 6:58am UTC](https://forum.solidproject.org/t/does-the-w3c-still-believe-in-tim-berners-lee-s-vision-of-decentralization/4741/3 "2021-10-14T06:58:03Z")

</div>

> [@RubenVerborgh](#):
>
> So I find the post intellectually dishonest in the sense that they equate the future of DID to the W3C’s vision on decentralization, which is simply not correct.

Yes, I agree on this. I posted the article here, because some standard processes in the VC efforts have overlap with Solid in terms of objectives, and them following a different kind of process in which they have to deal with some dominating stakeholders directly (whose influence and actions are interesting to the whole industry at large).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![josephguillaume](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/forum.solidproject.org/josephguillaume/32/1072_2.png) [@josephguillaume](https://forum.solidproject.org/u/josephguillaume)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.solidproject.org/t/does-the-w3c-still-believe-in-tim-berners-lee-s-vision-of-decentralization/4741/4 "2021-10-15T08:50:56Z")

</div>

> [@RubenVerborgh](#):
>
> they equate the future of DID to the W3C’s vision on decentralization

I would say they equate objections to did by browser vendors/big tech to objections to decentralization.

If they are right, then the browser-independent approach that Solid has adopted is either a good bet, or will eventually also run into opposition from browser vendors/big tech if it undermines their position. If the trend towards tightening cross-site security continues, that already seems like a threat to Solid.