[OTR-users] Freenet .7 - Call for alpha sites...

[Robert Guerra]

I thought i'd pass this along to this list , hoping some of you might  
be able to help with the alpha testing of the new .7 version of freenet.

regards

Robert


Freenet 0.7 is still a testnet, with no real anonymity, (with a built  
in back door to browse old logs, and a central server to which all  
nodes are reported) but if you don't mind that, feel free to come  
test it with us on #freenet on irc.freenode.net. It has a disk usage  
of well under 2GB, including the 512MB datastore.

What is the next step? Apart from debugging...
- Basic FCP.
- Download/upload manager.
- Updatable keys.
-- 

Details on how to install & configure a .7 server can be found here :
http://wiki.freenetproject.org/FreenetZeroPointSeven



Covert Communication in a Dark Network
http://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/fahrplan/events/492.en.html


A major new version of freenet

At Defcon 13, we presented our ideas for creating scalable networks  
where only trusted friends speak directly to each other. In this  
talk, we will elaborate on this, discussing further experiments and  
results, as well as our attempts to build such a network for real.

We believe that such networks, because they are covert and difficult  
to detect, are the only viable future for peer-to-peer communication  
in a time when it is under attack from all sides.

The problem with such "dark" networks, or Darknets, is that peers in  
general are connected only through sequences of friends knowing  
friends. In order to create a network that still allows global  
communication, one must find a way of searching efficiently for such  
paths between hosts. This is where we have focused our attention: if  
one can efficiently find such paths, then one can use the known  
techniques of distributed hashtables to make a working, searchable,  
network.

We have now begun our plan towards actually deploying a version of  
Freenet based on these principles: a file sharing network where only  
once trusted friends will know that one is even participating. Since  
it is to be the next version of Freenet, we also intend for it to  
offer anonymity and replication to protect against censorship.

In this talk, we will further elaborate on the ideas and the issues  
we are facing. We will discuss further experiments and results, as  
well as our initial experiences of attempting to create such a  
network for the real world. As before, we will present both the  
theoretical aspects of our research, which has its roots in deep  
mathematical results, and the practical aspects of what we are trying  
to achieve.


--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
Tel +1 416 893 0377 Fax +1 416 893 0374