Open Grant Proposal: VPP - Virtual Protest Protocol on IPFS/Filecoin

**Project Name:**
VPP - Virtual Protest Protocol

**Proposal Category:**
`Storage` and `Developer and data tooling`

**Individual or Entity Name:**
Individual

**Proposer:**
Otoya AIZAWA / fishspr0038@yahoo.co.jp

**Project Website:**
https://will-of-america.net

**Project Repo(s)**
GitHub: https://github.com/voice-of-japan
Repository status: Private until OTF Security Lab audit completes. Will be published as AGPL-3.0 open source in Q3 2026. Code access available to Filecoin reviewers under NDA if required for due diligence.

**(Optional) Filecoin ecosystem affiliations:**
None

**(Optional) Technical Sponsor:**
None

**Do you agree to open source all work you do on behalf of this RFP under the MIT/Apache-2 dual-license?:**
Yes. All VPP code will be AGPL-3.0, which is OSI-approved and compatible with open source requirements.

# Project Summary
Current online protest platforms are centralized and easily censored. In Myanmar 2021, Facebook pages organizing protests were seized by the military. Servers hosting petition sites are DDoS'd or legally compelled to reveal user data. Activists face death for digital assembly.

VPP solves this by moving protest infrastructure to IPFS/Filecoin. The MVP will-of-america.net proves ZK Proof-of-Personhood can enable anonymous, Sybil-resistant voting. But it still runs on centralized servers vulnerable to takedown.

This grant funds full decentralization: protest content pinned to IPFS, encrypted votes stored on Filecoin, and libp2p gossipsub for DDoS resistance. When a nation-state blocks DNS or seizes servers, VPP remains accessible via IPFS gateways and ENS. Zero-knowledge circuits ensure users prove residency without revealing identity to anyone, including us.

OTF Security Lab #22265 will audit the crypto. NGI Zero 2026-06-2f0 funds core development. Filecoin integration ensures VPP survives state-level attacks and becomes permanent public infrastructure for free assembly.

## Impact
**Pain points addressed:** Centralized protest tools fail under repression. 2.7 billion people live under authoritarian regimes where digital protest = prison. Existing tools either leak identity or get blocked. VPP + Filecoin fixes both.

**Benefits if we get this right:** Filecoin becomes the storage layer for human rights. First major civic use case beyond NFTs/storage deals. 100k U.S. activists = 10TB+/year of protest data on Filecoin. Drives mainstream users to IPFS gateways during political crises. Proves decentralized storage works when lives are at stake.

**Risks of not getting this right:** Activists keep dying in street protests because no safe digital alternative exists. Authoritarians win the narrative that "decentralization is only for crypto speculation." Filecoin misses its chance to be critical internet infrastructure.

**Success looks like:** voice-of-nation.net launches for Myanmar/Hong Kong running 100% on IPFS/Filecoin. Accessible during internet shutdowns via community gateways. 50k+ verified anonymous votes on Filecoin without a single identity leak. Other NGOs fork VPP for their causes. Filecoin cited by UN as enabling digital assembly.

# Deliverables

### Milestone 1: IPFS Pinning Infrastructure - $20,000 - Month 1-2
1. IPFS cluster for protest content with 3x replication
2. ENS + IPNS integration for human-readable access
3. Gateway performance testing: 10k concurrent users
4. Documentation for NGOs to run own nodes

### Milestone 2: Filecoin Vote Storage - $20,000 - Month 3-4
1. FVM smart contracts for encrypted vote storage
2. ZK proof verification on-chain
3. Client integration with Lighthouse/Web3.Storage
4. Cost analysis: sub-$0.01 per vote at 1M scale

### Milestone 3: libp2p DDoS Resistance - $10,000 - Month 5-6
1. Gossipsub mesh for protest coordination
2. Pubsub topic encryption using MLS
3. Load testing: survive 1Gbps attack
4. Mainnet launch: will-of-america.net fully on IPFS/Filecoin

# Maintenance and Upkeep
Post-grant: OTF and NGI cover ongoing audits. Community DAO governs pinning costs via donations. We commit to 24mo maintenance. All code AGPL-3.0 with public issue tracker.

# Budget Breakdown
**Total Request: $50,000 USD**

1. **Engineering $35k**: 1 IPFS/Filecoin engineer x 6 months. IPFS cluster, FVM contracts, libp2p.
2. **Infrastructure $10k**: Pinning service costs, Filecoin storage deals, load testing.
3. **Security $5k**: Third-party review of IPFS/FVM integration. OTF covers core ZK audit.

OTF $15k covers ZK audit. NGI €50k covers core protocol dev. Filecoin $50k specifically funds decentralization layer. No overlap.

# Team
**Otoya AIZAWA** - Lead developer. Built VPP MVP. Background in privacy-preserving systems and MLS protocol. Solo currently. Will hire 1 IPFS engineer post-funding. Coordinating with OTF-vetted auditors. No prior Filecoin grants.

# Other Funding
Applied: OTF Security Lab #22265 $15k for audit - pending. NGI Zero 2026-06-2f0 €50k for core dev - pending. No funds received yet. Filecoin grant has no budget overlap with other applications.

# Additional Information
VPP is the first protocol combining ZK Proof-of-Personhood with IPFS for political speech. This is Filecoin's chance to be the backbone of digital democracy. In 12 months, we either have uncensorable protest on Filecoin, or activists keep dying in streets.

No public repository files, tests, or entry points are identified; the repository is private pending an audit. Start by reviewing the three milestone deliverables and confirming the public codebase and acceptance criteria; done would require the listed IPFS/Filecoin/libp2p infrastructure, testing, documentation, and mainnet launch.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.