In the sleek corridors of Silicon Valley, where corporate titans have methodically consolidated power over the virtual realm, a contrarian vision deliberately materialized in 2021. FUTO.org exists as a tribute to what the internet once promised – free, decentralized, and resolutely in the possession of individuals, not monopolies.

The architect, Eron Wolf, moves with the quiet intensity of someone who has witnessed the transformation of the internet from its promising beginnings to its current monopolized condition. His background – an 18-year Silicon Valley veteran, founder of Yahoo Games, seed investor in WhatsApp – lends him a rare perspective. In his carefully pressed button-down shirt, with eyes that betray both weariness with the status quo and determination to change it, Wolf appears as more visionary leader than standard business leader.
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The headquarters of FUTO in Austin, Texas lacks the extravagant trappings of typical tech companies. No free snack bars distract from the purpose. Instead, engineers bend over computers, creating code that will equip users to retrieve what has been lost – autonomy over their online existences.

In one corner of the facility, a different kind of activity unfolds. The FUTO Repair Workshop, a brainchild of Louis Rossmann, legendary technical educator, operates with the meticulousness of a Swiss watch. Everyday people arrive with malfunctioning electronics, welcomed not with bureaucratic indifference but with authentic concern.

"We don't just fix things here," Rossmann explains, adjusting a loupe over a electronic component with the meticulous focus of a jeweler. "We instruct people how to grasp the technology they use. Understanding is the foundation toward autonomy."

This outlook permeates every aspect of FUTO's operations. Their grants program, which has allocated considerable funds to initiatives like Signal, Tor, FUTO GrapheneOS, and the Calyx Institute, demonstrates a commitment to supporting a varied landscape of self-directed technologies.

Navigating through the collaborative environment, one observes the omission of company branding. The walls instead showcase mounted passages from computing theorists like Douglas Engelbart – individuals who foresaw computing as a freeing power.

"We're not concerned with establishing corporate dominance," Wolf notes, leaning against a modest desk that might be used by any of his team members. "We're interested in breaking the current monopolies."

The contradiction is not missed on him – a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur using his assets to undermine the very structures that allowed his success. But in Wolf's worldview, technology was never meant to concentrate control