To create a gateway on your domain, you should run your own Eppie node and set MX record to point to that node. Otherwise, there’s no MX record. It’s a p2p trustless network
> Do I have to run my own node - on a server in my basement, or on a VPS?
Yes, as soon as Eppie is launched.
> Do I have to trust your infrastructure?
Eppie is a trustless network. All nodes are equal. So, no, you don’t have to trust it. Take a look at our GitHub: https://github.com/Eppie-io
> Do I have to go through another, existing provider?
No you don’t.
> I'm trying to get a simple answer to these questions since my original post.
We appreciate your willingness to get to the bottom of it.
Eppie’s addressees are pseudo-anonymous. That is a user keeps their anonymity as long as they don’t use same address for different correspondents and don’t allow an address to be associated with other services in a Public Registry.
At this stage of development, we are not planning to build our own anonymous network, but Eppie will allow users to utilize existing technologies, like Tor and I2P, or configure a proxy server to anonymize their Eppie traffic.
These are valid considerations, we do keep them in mind. But we still hope to the majority of users setting up Eppie is much easier compared to private mail server. But hey, would you subscribe for early access to see for yourself?
Domain names are indeed unlikely to be taken away. But Eppie provides you the actual cryptographically guaranteed ownership of your address and data. For a considerable number of internet users this is enough of a reason to give it a try. These are our early adopters, and then we'll see where it gets us.
Full interoperability at this point is impossible without compromising our core feature. But there are millions of users already using this kind of technology, and we believe the decentralized ecosystem and the demand will be growing. And we try our best to make the transition easy.
We never intended to have this functionality. If a user wants to put their message to some server, they have normal email. Everyone has it, and everyone will keep using it in the near future. Let’s say we added a convenience to use one client app for both conventional and decentralized emails.
You are correct with regard to traditional email. Eppie is a next generation technology, it is only partially compatible by means of these features:
- One-way gateway from the conventional email to our decentralized network. So you can still receive emails from conventional email to your decentralized address.
- Eppie can work as a client to conventional email when you need it.
- Eppie can use conventional email addresses for decentralized message delivery, so no data lands on any server (both participants must be Eppie users)
Phrasing is important. There are few different pieces of functionality we are talking about here:
1. Eppie is a client to a p2p network based on its own protocol for decentralized messaging between Eppie users.
2. Eppie can also work as a conventional IMAP/SMTP email client. Obviously, you need to connect your centralized email account.
3. While doing so, you can optionally choose to move your data from that server to Eppie. Whether that email provider actually removes it from its storage is not under our control.
4. You can also use conventional email addresses for decentralized messaging. For this to work both users need to be Eppie clients.
5. When you message some [email protected] and they are not using Eppie, your message is sent over a traditional email network and does land on provider’s server, in which case it won’t be private anymore.
Russian is commonly used in a few countries where email privacy is literally a life-saver. It is also our native. The team is originally from Belarus. We know these things by experience.
With time we’re going to add more languages.
The beauty of trustless network is that nobody has to trust anybody. The codebase is open on Github https://github.com/Eppie-io and we are conducting independent security audit at launch.
Well, yes it is. We started with an idea, built a prototype, and came to this startup community to find some guidance hopefully. We are planning an Open Beta in a few months.
You create your account in the decentralized Eppie network aka web3 email, where you can transfer your old mailboxes along with all your contacts, emails, attachments, etc., while using your old addresses to communicate. From this moment on, your account and data are unblockable, untrackable, uncensored.
There aren’t too many people capable of jumping through all the hoops, but yes, if you go as far as self-hosting your email, your data is under your control, not Google’s. The address though is still not yours.
What do you mean by “Email is already decentralized”? Global email network is a Federation, and it’s a good thing. But as a user of email provider you are a client to a server in a centralized network. Eppie is “more decentralized” because it is a p2p network, there are no servers.
As for fighting spammers, the problem is there, it is not our main priority, but in Eppie you can generate as many addresses as you want. The user controls whether to make an address public or share it only with trusted contacts. And Whitelist is also in our backlog.
ProtonMail integration demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkkGY5V0QLw