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ZeroKnowledge to Discontinue Anonymity Service
VulgarBoatman writes: "ZeroKnowledge, providers of Freedom.net and Freedom privacy software, have abruptly decided to stop providing anonymous web browsing and private, encrypted, untraceable email for its customers. They give users 7 days before the system is shut down and all untraceable email addresses are disabled. They also say that your "secret" identity may not remain a secret for long." Well, note that that last link is a warning about using the service during the shutdown period, not a warning that they plan to compromise nyms in general. At least they're offering a refund. Update: 10/04 19:00 GMT by M : ZKS has a statement in the comments below.
Nope. $59.95 for 5 identities - each good for a maximum of 1 year.
"Because I love Pat Benatar." -- Britney Spears, when asked why she covered Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll"
http://www.safeweb.com/ is still there.
...but I see that hushmail is still in operation.
Remember anon.penet.fi?
This is even more depressing, because this time the company running the service has pre-empted the government pressure to shut down, and gone ahead and done it before the lawyers arrive.
Eek. DOes anyone else get the feeling that the terrorists might actually be winning?
These sigs are more interesting tha
"Zero-Knowledge is introducing Freedom Privacy & Security Tools 3.0, the next generation of its online security software for consumers. This new software includes a personal firewall, form filler/password manager, ad manager, cookie manager and keyword alert. As a result, we have decided to focus our main development efforts on this product as well as other software solutions providing online security.
As such, I regret to inform you that Freedom Premium Services - Anonymous Web Browsing and Private Encrypted Email - will be discontinued as of October 22nd, 2001. Please refer to the detailed Freedom Network shutdown timetable below"
So basically they are winding down their subscription based business model, leasing nyms (4 minimum as far as I recall) on an annual basis and going with a shrink wrap product.
I'm holding my breath to see what the reviewers have to say about this Tool kit v3.0 - it may provide what most users are looking for.
Secondly, the closing of another anonymity service will make it harder for terrorists to operate on the internet.
But, as just about all the security agencies with a clue keep admitting, terrorists don't use the internet because it's just too insecure.
So closing down all the privacy sites does nothing to hinder the Bad Guys(TM), it just bugs the ordinary guy.
Malk
Yes, according to the article all services shut down by Oct. 22nd.
Incoming e-mail servies shut down Oct. 11th as a result of most of their servers being taken offline. So you have 7 days to notify people you're changing your e-mail address.
I like fire ants. They are very spicy!
No collections department, you paid in advance for a year's service. If you wanted to ensure anonymity, you could sign up online, get an account number, and write that on an money order. You could also pay by credit card - they claimed to have an internal system to remove the linkage between the payment and the account.
as ppl have pointed out .. one is safeweb.com another alternative is idzap.com
For those of you left out in the cold by this, Hushmail provides secure e-mail at a reasonable fee (I forget what I paid) or free accounts. Although if today's message is anything, supporting privacy services with money should be considered if you're going to use the service often!
Nick Lange nick.lange@SPAMTASTIC.hushmail.com
So I started beta-testing Freedom a while back... probably August or Sept. of 1999. I purchased the product in Dec. of 99 as soon as it was available. Hell, I was one of the first 100 to buy it since I got my free stinking t-shirt. The way they described licensing back then was "you can either use five nyms for one year, one nym for five years, or any combination in between." At this point, I have not yet used all of my nyms, meaning I have not fully used the product, meaning I should get a refund. Especially because I helped beta test and submitted bug reports left and right. But no! I don't fall within the "on or before Jan. 1, 2001" time frame, so I'm SOL. Perfect example of a good company gone bad. I wonder if Ian Goldberg is going to jump ship now that their product does Zer0 Cryptography.
Oh well. Another fantastic product down the drain. Nice job, upper management! That's what happens when you let guys from the stone age manage a cool new company with something real to offer.
As a business, we are focusing on the product that customers and partners want. Here's an official Zero-Knowledge Systems statement on the matter:
I think it's safe to say that we are all saddened by the recently announced shutdown of the Freedom Network.
I signed up for Zero Knowledge Systems' premium services not too long ago, that is, when I was moving into a university where I am connected on a non-switched network that is extremely easy to sniff traffic off of. I found freedom to be very useful.
I was about to set up another node on the Freedom Network as well. At this very moment I have a server setting in a data center, idling. Now I am hit with this news.
I will be brief. I am interested in setting up a secure SOCKS proxy server, and want to know how many people would pay for this kind of a service. It would be different than the Freedom Network, in that its main focus would be on privacy instead of anonymity. Of course your connection would be pseudo-anonymous, but not subpoena resistant like freedom was. However it would support any program which supports SOCKS proxies, for example AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, file sharing programs, etc, in addition to regular web browsing. It would use either IPSec or some other strong cryptography to secure all traffic between the client and the proxy.
There would have to be some kind of bandwidth based billing system, however, for example either a bandwidth cap or a cost based on the amount of bandwidth used. I am not in this to make tons of money, but then again I couldn't afford the bandwidth if users paying $10/month are downloading numerous movies and MP3s through the proxy.
Please email me at feedback@senseofsecurity.com to express any interest or provide any ideas or suggestions.
Thank you,Adam Smith
Alternatives to Zero Knowledge include
Anonymizer,
Rewebber,
Siegesoft, and
Orangatango.
Just my $0.04 (adjusted for inflation)
I could not recommend the Freedom application to any of my friends because it wasn't good software. Freedom attempted to intercept every outbound connection, which meant that it would also have to know about more protocols - and do all the right stuff with them - than it would ever be able to. They got mired in the expensive development of an overly complex networking application for Windows sockets, which can be expensive indeed. That was too bad, because their business model didn't actually require it.
What people want is anonymized HTTP, SMTP, and POP. What they got with Freedom included an attempt to anonymize things like SSH, but broke it. They also got periodic notices that their current version was inoperable and that they had to download a new one. Their downloads were not authenticated. Overall, I just wasn't that impressed with their product, and went on to buy anonymity elsewhere.