The same Dat that Max Ogden started? I always liked that guy.
It was called Dat Protocol once, then they rebranded. Paul Frazee tried building a decentralized social network called CTZN using it but don't think that took off. Paul has also heavily contributed to the SSB ecosystem, and now works at Bluesky if I am not wrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL44nU_eAhM
The better thing to do would be to use a simpler protocol for private sharing of files etc (like the Signal protocol) and announce your preferred servers using nostr. Kinda like how live streams, audio spaces, and git stuff work over nostr
Discussion
Yes. That same Dat Protocol was renamed to Hypercore and was governed by the Hypercore Protocol Org. Now it's governed by Holepunch, a company that's "backed by" Tether, so it's a subsidiary I guess, just like John Carvalho's Synonym.
Fun fact: John Carvalho's comments on some podcast that they will do a decentralized Twitter alternative some day (probably was thinking of using Hypercore back then) made me realize it's possible, and then I discovered nostr.