Darknets

WillPC  (willpc@hushmail.com)

The Beginning of the End

In the beginning, there was the Internet.

Everyone happily connected to it, and swapped information freely, without concern for privacy or safety.  But soon, this began to change.

The (((fascist regime))) began to pass legislation, shackling once-free information, and spying on the once-free people.  The lightnets were shut down by law enforcement or legal action.

Even the decentralized networks, such as BitTorrent trackers, fearing attack, began to become seclusive and private.

The Technology

This new wave of totalitarianism calls for the next generation of file sharing technologies, darknets.

Thus far, there have been, roughly speaking, three generations of file sharing technologies, each with a fundamental flaw leading to its demise.

The first generation was the centralized and semi-centralized lightnets, such as Napster and even the World Wide Web.  However, due to their centralized nature, they were shut down by criminal charges or legal action of some kind.

The second generation consisted of decentralized networks, such as Gnutella and BitTorrent.  Although the decentralized networks are a great improvement over the centralized networks of yesteryear, they, like their ancestors, are flawed.

Decentralization was created to combat the legal attacks which destroyed networks like Napster.  However, many things were overlooked in their design, namely anonymity and encryption.  In the wake of ISP monitoring and RIAA lawsuits, decentralization is not enough.  Individuals are being targeted, in order to spread fear.

The Resistance

The third generation of file sharing software is the most important: darknets.

A darknet is a private encrypted virtual network for a small group of people.  The goal of a darknet is a small, completely encrypted network, completely invisible to anyone who doesn't know about it.  Not even your ISP can tell what files are being moved through the heavily encrypted darknet.

Motivations for a Darknet

There are several advantages to darknets.

In a small network, with only trusted users, IP farming techniques used by the RIAA and similar organizations are useless.  Darknets are heavily encrypted, so they are immune to ISP monitoring tools.

Darknets can be "bridged" by users who belong to multiple darknets (see Small-World Theory).  Because darknets are small networks set up by groups who know each other, key distribution becomes a non-issue.

Darknets fix the vulnerabilities suffered by their predecessors, but not without expense.  Darknets have one weakness: people.

The security of a darknet is based on trust of those using it.  Before you invite someone into your group, ask yourself if you really trust that person.  Also, set strict rules regarding members inviting new people into your darknet.

One lapse of judgment could compromise the security of your darknet.  With a tight-knit group of people you trust, and weapons-grade encryption, darknets are the safest, most robust file sharing available.

Building a Darknet

There are a number of ways to build a darknet.

Unfortunately, there isn't much software available to do it.

Freenet (freenetproject.org) and WASTE (waste.sourceforge.net) can both be used to create darknets.

However, both of these create decentralized darknets.  This may seem like a good thing, and in many situations it is.

Before deciding on a decentralized network, take into account the size of your network, and how often people keep their computers running.  Make sure there is a root node which will always be on, preferably with a static IP.

The second option is a centralized network.

Unlike large centralized networks, darknets are not only small and private but also disposable.  A larger darknet can be composed of smaller networks, with connections made through shared members, preferably connecting through some sort of proxy in order to protect the identities of the users.

A centralized darknet could be constructed in a number of ways, such as an encrypted NFS drive and a secure connection like a SSH tunnel; an encrypted FTP service where each user is given an account which can write to the service; specialized software which uses a hub to cache data (I am writing such software); or a directory, such as a torrent tracker, where all the files are encrypted.

Peace.