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Freenet - rewiring the internet |
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Score
87%
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24 votes,
Feasibility
100%
Originality
97%
Humour
97% |
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"I worry about my child and the internet all the time, even though she's too young to have logged on yet. Here's what I worry about. I worry that 10 or 15 years from now, she will come to me and say 'Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of the press away from the internet?' " - Mike Godwin
Freenet is a peer-to-peer network designed to allow the distribution of information over the internet in an efficient manner, without fear of censorship. Freenet is completely decentralised, meaning that there is no person, computer, or organisation in control of Freenet or essential to its operation. This means that Freenet cannot be attacked like centralised peer-to-peer systems such as Napster. Freenet also employs intelligent routing and caching, meaning that it learns to route requests more efficiently, automatically mirrors popular data, makes network flooding almost impossible and moves data to where it is in greatest demand. All of this makes it much more efficient and scalable than systems such as Gnutella.
'Freenet cannot be attacked like centralised peer-to-peer systems such as Napster'
To become a part of Freenet all you need is a computer with an internet connection and the capability to run a Freenet server.
Why is Freenet interesting?
- Freenet does not have any form of centralised control or administration.
- It will be virtually impossible forcibly to remove a piece of information from Freenet.
'Both authors and readers may remain anonymous'
- Both authors and readers of information stored on this system may remain anonymous if they wish.
- Information will be distributed throughout the Freenet network in such a way that it is difficult to determine where information is being stored.
- Anyone can publish information: they don't need to buy a domain name or even a permanent internet connection.
- Availability of information will increase in proportion to the demand for that information.
- Information will move from parts of the internet where it is in low demand to areas where demand is greater.
Freenet's History?
The original Freenet design was created by Ian Clarke as his final year project in a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer science at Edinburgh University, Scotland. This project was completed in June 1999 when Ian made it available on the internet in the hope that others would see the potential in the design and use it to make Freenet a reality.
In an article entitled 'Freenet: a distributed anonymous information storage and retrieval system' (available in full on the web at http://freenet.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=theoppr) by Ian Clarke and colleagues, they describe the project's potential as follows:
Freenet, is a peer-to-peer network application that permits the publication, replication, and retrieval of data while protecting the anonymity of both authors and readers. Freenet operates as a network of identical nodes which collectively pool their storage space to store data files, and co-operate to route requests to the most likely physical location of data. No broadcast search or centralised location index is employed. Files are referred to in a location-independent manner, and are dynamically replicated in locations near requestors and deleted from locations where there is no interest. It is infeasible to discover the true origin or destination of a file passing through the network, and difficult for a node operator to determine or be held responsible for the actual physical contents of her own node.
Computer networks are rapidly growing in importance as a medium for the storage and exchange of information. However, current systems afford little privacy to their users, and typically store any given data item in only one or a few fixed places, creating a central point of failure. Because of a continued desire among individuals to protect the privacy of their authorship or readership of various types of sensitive information, and the undesirability of single points which can be attacked by opponents wishing to remove data from the system or simply overloaded by too much interest, systems offering greater security and reliability are needed.
We are developing Freenet, a distributed information storage and retrieval system designed to address these concerns of privacy and availability. The system operates as a form of distributed file system across many individual computers that allows files to be inserted, stored, and requested anonymously ...
'The system is designed to respond adaptively to usage patterns'
The system is designed to respond adaptively to usage patterns, transparently moving, replicating, and deleting files as necessary to provide efficient service without resorting to broadcast searches or centralized location indexes. It is not intended to guarantee permanent file storage, although it is hoped that enough nodes will join with enough storage capacity that most files will be able to remain indefinitely. In addition, the system operates at the application layer and assumes the existence of a secure transport layer, although it is transport-independent. It does not seek to provide anonymity for general network usage, only for Freenet file transactions.
A preliminary implementation of Freenet can be downloaded from http://freenet.sourceforge.net/
Ian Clarke, 124C Lyham Road, Clapham Park, London SW2 5QA (e-mail: i.clarke@dynamicblue.com).
Summarised from the Freenet website publicity material at http://freenet.sourceforge.net, monitored for the Global Ideas Bank by Richard Ross-Langley.
Recent updates: post-Napster
Summarised from an article by Kurt Kleiner, entitled 'Freespeechlibertypornography', in the New Scientist (March 10th 2001; New Scientist subs £97 or $144).
In the wake of Napster's defeats in the courts, the peer-to-peer networking world has once again begun to focus on more anarchic, censorship-free alternatives like Freenet. Napster's failure was caused by the fact that it was responsible for indexes and software, without which the swapping of music files between peers could not have taken place. This gave the record companies (and their lawyers) a target for court action. Freenet would aim to avoid such action by remaining completely decentralised and anonymous. Freenet's system of nodes and encrypted files retains both anonymity and prevents censorship, because there's no way of telling where each file originates or how many nodes it has come through to reach you. Similarly, there is no way of telling who made a request for a file when it reaches your computer.
'Any request by censors for a file would have the self-defeating effect of generating new copies of that file on the Freenet network'
For example, if the authorities request a file from a node, they'll get a copy, and if they seize that node they'll undoubtedly get a copy (for each file is copied to each node on its return through the network). However, it would be impossible for the authorities to prove that the file was there before they requested it, leaving them open to counter-claims of entrapment. Also, as the documents are encrypted when stored, the node owner can truthfully say he or she had no idea that file was there. Finally, each request by censors would have the self-defeating effect of generating new copies of that file on the Freenet network.
Not all think that Ian Clarke is correct in his claims that Freenet is fully censorship-proof, and the anti-pirate agencies believe that pinpointing users and ISP's and taking them to court could soon bring the system to a halt. But if he is right, Freenet will revolutionise the way the web works. No-one will be able to stop the downloading of music files or people criticising the authorities and the rich, and no file will be out of reach. The downside could have an even larger impact, though: all copyrighted work would be open to plagiarism, while slander and defamation could rage uncontrolled; and no-one will be able to control child pornography or the passing across of stolen nuclear secrets. Free speech, via Freenet, will have its price.
For further reading on the subject, see Peer-toPeer: Harnessing the power of disruptive technologies edited by Andy Oram (published by O'Reilly and Associates, 2001).
See also the thousands of Napster and Gnutella copyists, called Gnotella, NewTella, Gnut, LimeWire and ToadNode. At the latter, there is also a downloadable Flash animation of how Gnutella's peer-to-peer system works: see How It Works .
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