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Anonymous Network I2P 0.7.2 Released
Mathiasdm writes "The Invisible Internet Project, also known as I2P, has seen its 0.7.2 release (download). I2P uses multiple encryption layers, and routing through several other computers to hide both sender and receiver of messages. On top of the network, regular services such as mail, browsing, file sharing and chatting are supported.
This release (and all of the releases since 0.7) is at the start of a new development period, in which the I2P developers wish to spread the word about the secure network. This new release includes performance improvements, a first edition of an experimental new desktop interface and security improvements (by limiting the number of tunnels a single peer can participate in)."
By abbreviating I2P instead of IIP they save a whole zero characters.
I initially read that as "Anonymous Network 127.0.0.1 Released" and thought "did I miss April Fools this year?"
"And then I visited Wikipedia
I'm in a bit of a rush but how is this any different then say TOR?
http://www.i2p2.de/techintro.html#similar.tor
The question should be how slow is it compared to the speed experienced after the ISP shuts you off (or the authorities confiscate computing equipment) due to an accusation of illegal activity by the *IAA. The performance hit may seem painfully slow until compared to the slowness of 0 bps. In fact, such a system IMHO should have an easy to use toggle (desktop widget, browser plugin) so that "normal browsing" goes through the usual channels and only the limited periods of "private browsing" are experienced with full protection on. Blend in with the crowd by default and leave the security for when you really need it.
Maybe it is slow, but currently that is the price for anonymity. If you don't think waiting a few seconds here and there is worth it for being anonymous then don't use services like this. There are plenty of people who think anonymity is worth a lot more than that. If you only want to be anonymous if its convenient and without negative side effects then you are probably not one of the ones who need to be anonymous.
Posted by a Debian GNU/Linux user
When last I used it seemed that I2P has a whole network of ".i2p" domain things that you could only access if you were a part of the I2P network.
Tor is just a proxying service is it not?
I think it's something like if Tor was a private network that only Tor users could access.
Don't panic
i just googled for the above text by mistake, and google already found the entry comment. Is this fast or what?
Yeah, I know how this is gonna be received:
"Shit, the people of our country might be able to share free and uncensored speech and information among themselves.
Wait, I know how to fix this! Headlines! "OMG Secret Pedophile and Terrorist Network" - anyone who wants to be anonymous on the internet /must/ be a pedohile or a terrorist. If you have no pedophilia or terrorism plots to hide, you have nothing to hide!"
By that logic, any encrypted traffic instantly becomes "interesting".
Instead I'd recommend encrypting as much as possible. The more noise, the better.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I designed one of these about a decade ago and did some prototyping. Since I don't seem to have the time to realize it, here are a few extra features that could be added (if i2p does not already include these).
Encrypted-file-fragmenting, auto-globally-migrating, auto-redundant replicating "virtual" data store layer. Stored files automatically seek to be replicated enough times to be guaranteed perpetually persistent, and also seek to move to newer and better physical storage sites, and to globally distribute themselves, and auto-cache near user when needed.
With this addition, we may have the basis for, for example, a Facebook-like on-line identity avatar which is not owned by a single company like Facebook but just floats around all over the P2P network, and is truly owned by the person who it is about.
With that freeing up of the online identity from external control, we could extend it to include important identity information needed for the citizen to function in society. Medical records, different identity numbers for different government agencies, your real-world address, etc. All of these properties about you could be placed online by you following standard protocols and placed only onto a secure virtual site in the i2. Permission model would of course be default no permission, opened incrementally to authorized and authenticated other parties.
If we had this, the onus could now be placed on governments, medical systems, post offices, etc. to come to your avatar and request permission to know your address, or your medical number etc. No more change of address rigamerole. No more problems in your paperwork or medical history maintenance because you happen to move to another state or country.
etc.
It all relies on the open standards for the info and privacy protocols, and on the confidence of the person to put their info into a secure, encrypted, and non-owned virtual internet location.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
I've been using I2P on-and-off for quite a while, and it is way faster than 2Kbps. BitTorrent over I2P can reach speeds of 50KBps and it could probably go faster if there was a mature BitTorrent client for I2P. Latency is low as well. Overall, I2P is much more usable than TOR.
It only takes one man to change the Wisdom of the Crowd to Tyranny of the Masses.
No dammit, this is encouraging people to read things. Sure it's just a simple link this time, then sooner or later its TFA, then god forbid, TFM. We can't have that, please stop.
You think that's fast? I just tried googling it and I got your comment with my reply!
From their FAQ:
Sorry, I had to laugh a bit there. That's VERY naive. In anonymizing networks, HTTPS is the only thing that protects you from possibly corrupt exit nodes by encrypting the traffic between your browser and the destination webserver. To claim I2P doesn't need HTTPS support is misleading or at least ill-phrased.
I2P doesn't do data storage like Freenet.
I2P only encrypts and anonymises the transport. It's up to you to host the services on your machine. I2P just means people can use those services (e.g. a webserver) without knowing who is hosting them, and without you knowing who is accessing them. IF you go off-line, your service goes offline too.
Freenet, on the other hand, does have an encrypted and distributed data storage layer. You can go off-line and your website will remain available.
And boy were you disappointed.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
Even better, don't only encrypt things you want encrypted. Add encrypted true random data to any mails you send, to web pages, etc. As the encrypted random data will be largely indistinguishable from actual content but impossible to decrypt it'll clog any listeners decryption capabilities, forcing them to either white list you or be stuck with a huge pile of largely undecipherable junk which may or may not contain something they might want to attempt to decrypt.
The desire of our dear leaders to expand surveillance to everyone everywhere and take the authoritarian road is, perhaps, unstoppable, but fortunately it also creates a huge funnel collecting sand for the machinery.