IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Anna's Archive loses .org domain after surprise suspension

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Domain Suspensions and Censorship Circumvention

Discussion centers on Anna's Archive's .org domain facing ServerHold status due to copyright pressures (e.g., post-Spotify dump), with Wikipedia used as a resilient "DNS" for latest domains. Users debate registrar/ISP compliance and suggest alternatives.

"We recommend checking our Wikipedia page for the latest domains." —dmm
"It circumvents the purpose of the DNS block which is meant to prevent people from easily finding the site." —IshKebab
"Countries can pressure them for many reasons, fairly or not." —mmooss

2. Support for Anna's Archive as Cultural Preservation

Many praise AA's mission against "monstrous industries," invoke Streisand effect for boosted visibility, and urge torrent seeding despite risks.

"I for one support their efforts. The same way we store seeds in the vaults deep in the depths of the earth, we should do this for digital content too." —xandrius
"see streisand effect" —intheitmines
"if you've got some spare GB/TB on a computer/server, consider 'donating' it for culture preservation purposes" —xandrius

3. Advocacy for Decentralized Alternatives

Frequent proposals for .onion, IPFS, Yggdrasil, Nostr, Namecoin to evade centralized DNS/ICANN vulnerabilities.

"Better have a .onion. It's almost impossible to seize and you control the keys." —flipped
"Namecoin has had all the DNS issues fixed since 2011." —xtracto
"I recommend Anna's Archive get a Nostr account." —sanskritical

🚀 Project Ideas

Nostr Shadow Library Locator

Summary

  • A mobile/web app using Nostr protocol to publish and discover latest domains, .onion addresses, and IPs for shadow libraries like Anna's Archive, bypassing Wikipedia and DNS blocks.
  • Core value: Censorship-resistant discovery channel that's user-friendly for non-tech users, with zap-based incentives for reliable posters.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Researchers, readers, and supporters of open-access archives facing domain blocks
Core Feature Pubkey-based feeds for site status updates; auto-resolve in integrated browser or shareable links
Tech Stack Nostr.js, React Native, Tor proxy integration
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Donations via Lightning/Zaps

Notes

  • "Nostr is the only decentralized manner... that people can reliably use to have a latest content feed distributed." (sanskritical); HN users praise it over Wikipedia for persistence without servers.
  • High discussion potential on decentralization; practical for immediate AA use and broader anti-censorship tools.

Archive Torrent Insight Seeder

Summary

  • Desktop app for easy seeding of Anna's Archive torrents with metadata previews, content summaries, and progress dashboards to inform users what they're sharing.
  • Core value: Removes "I wish I knew what I was seeding" barrier, encourages mass seeding for resilience against takedowns.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Torrent users and archive supporters with spare bandwidth/storage
Core Feature Auto-fetch AA torrent lists, generate previews from metadata (titles, previews via OCR/thumbs), gamified stats
Tech Stack Electron, WebTorrent, PDF.js for previews
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "I wish I knew what I was seeding though" (haunter); aligns with calls to "helping torrenting and seeding the content of AA is vital" (xandrius).
  • Utility for preservation; sparks HN threads on P2P incentives and mutable torrents.

Decentralized Resolver Browser Extension

Summary

  • Browser extension that resolves shadow library sites via Namecoin, ENS, Nostr, and Wikipedia fallbacks, with one-click Tor routing and IP lists.
  • Core value: Automatic discovery of working mirrors despite DNS seizures, without manual hunting.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Tech-savvy users in censored regions or accessing blocked archives
Core Feature Query multiple decentralized DNS (Namecoin/Handshake) + social sources; auto-switch to .onion/IP
Tech Stack WebExtensions API, NamecoinJS, Nostr client, Tor SOCKS
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "completely decentralized domain name system" (jacquesm); revives "Namecoin has had all the DNS issues fixed since 2011" (xtracto) for modern use.
  • HN loves decentralization fixes; practical utility for AA and similar sites like Pirate Bay.

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