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Maybe this is what isn’t clear: the FIBRE network nodes do not only connect to mining pools. They are connected to each other and to mining pools in addition to making regular connections to random peers on the network. Any block received from any peer will be relayed as quickly as possible to all other FIBRE nodes and thereby forwarded as quickly as possible to all peers of each FIBRE node. Due to the careful placement of the FIBRE nodes to minimize latency between each other, this has the potential to reduce the collective latency of any block propagating through the network.
You can check that the provided source code does not selectively fail to relay or delay blocks of some origins, although it’s hard to prove that FIBRE actually runs the publicly provided code, of course.
This is a good point. A miner could listen to as many relay networks as they like, while they can only mine in one pool.
If a miner is connected to a FIBRE network and the open network, they still might experience centralizing pressure if the FIBRE network picks certain blocks to not relay.
eg. Imagine a FIBRE network only relays blocks for Cheater Pool and doesn't relay anything when miners who are not a part of Cheater Pool find a block. People listening to this FIBRE network will be more likely to build on Cheater Pool blocks as opposed to others because they learn about Cheater Pool blocks very quickly when Cheater Pool finds them. Obviously, this wouldn't be a very useful FIBRE network, and I imagine most miners wouldn't waste their time with it for very long. But if Cheater Pool represented a significant amount of hash power (40%?) it might make sense for a miner to listen to that FIBRE network. Wouldn't this tend to increase the profitability of Cheater Pool?
Now, if there is another FIBRE network that is relaying blocks from all miners, and lots of miners are listening to it, perhaps this is not the case. But isn't it the case that any given FIBRE network can't listen to all miners, but only a subset? Those miners who a popular FIBRE network receives blocks from will tend to produce less stale work than those miners who that FIBRE network does not listen to.
Doesn't the centralization pressure occur at the level of those miners to whom the FIBRE network is listening? Instead of becoming a benefit to mine with the biggest pool, it becomes a benefit to be feeding blocks to the biggest relay.
(I am far out on my limb of knowledge here, so please forgive me if I'm just saying inane things)