Heml.is, New Encrypted Messaging Service From Brokep of the Pirate Bay

First time accepted submitter freddej writes "Heml.is ("secret" in Swedish), is a new peer encrypted messaging service from some of the guys behind TPB and Flattr. They describe it as this: 'Our focus is your privacy so we are building everything from software to company structure to protect that. The others are focused on maximizing profit.' So if you agree on the mantra that 'if you're not paying, you're the product' then you might want to check them out." Caveats: they are begging for money and there is no mention whether this will be Free Software or some kind of proprietary service (in which case, how can you really trust it?). It looks more likely it will be a closed application/service: "We're building a message app where no one can listen in, not even us. We would rather close down the service before letting anyone in ... [what will codes unlock?] It will give you access to extended features of Heml.is like sending image messages and other stuff in the future. Pre-register username will let you register your username before the app is released."

Comments

What's wrong with OTR?

[knopf]

Off-the-Record messaging already provides encryption of chat messages, works on top of existing IM services, and you get the bonus that you can get the warm fuzzy feeling from sticking it to the man by using a company's service (like Google talk) that tries to log/mine data, but they can't use your data.

Many clients already support OTR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging#Native
Many clients have plugins for OTR: http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/

Re:Invalid certificate :-|

[Anonymous Coward]

You can encrypt it without a cert. You just can't be sure of a man in the middle attack.