At the end of last year, I wrote about DIY "cloud" services; how to get started with your own web server, blog, e-mail server, chat server, VOIP server. Add to that distributed services for social networking and micro-blogging like Dispora and Identi.ca; free software for file sharing like GNUNet; and even free and intendant dark / mesh nets. The trend is clear, there is strong momentum towards free software and alternative services.

Now there is also a public face to this, in the form of a new initiative: The CitizenWeb Project.

"The CitizenWeb Project is a mission to fight for a free, open, and above all a decentralized Internet. In order to achieve this, it aims to empower everyday internet users with the information and resources they need to take matters into their own hands. We seek to spread the word about how to secure yourself online and how to declare “digital independence” in this age of the Google hivemind and Facebook privacy nightmares. While these services may be convenient, they carry very dangerous implications for our freedoms. This is only getting worse with time, as the corporations behind these services become entangled and indiscernable from government services and real-life social obligation. And it is only getting worse for the most sensitive users: journalists, activists, muckrakers and whistleblowers.

There are viable alternatives to these invasive and ubiquitous services. The CitizenWeb Project is therefore focused on giving the tools to each individual user to become an independent “citizen” of the Web — to decentralize their social networks and platforms, to become the TRUE owners of their data, and to communicate and network in security."