Freenet 0.5.2 Released

FurbyXL writes "With the RIAA roaring to grab peer-to-peer users by their IP addresses, Freenet - fully anonymized production and consumption of content - is gaining renewed attention. Articles in New Scientist, ZDNet UK, Wired and CNET (and here) set a somewhat typical context for Freenets major release 0.52. Significant performance improvements through NIO-based messaging, probabilistic caching etc. should provide increased rest to Chinese dissidents, but may finally wake-up the RIAA's Matt Oppenheim..." The announcement on the Freenet home page lists several improvements found in the new version: "a new NIO technology that brings improved performance using less CPU and system resources," "Individual nodes are now more efficient," "the speed and routing of the entire network have significantly improved," probabilistic caching, user interface improvements, and more.

Yay! Piracy here I come

[Anonymous Coward]

Err, I mean... PRIVACY. Yes, PRIVACY here I come!

Oppenheim still won't get it.

[Xerithane]

The man used a furniture analogy to try to prove his point that copyright infringment is piracy. He discounted Freenet because it was too clunky. If the man were any more dense he'd require life support.

Weak analogies

[felonious]

Matt Oppenheim: An individual who illegally distributes music on a peer-to-peer network has less of an expectation of privacy than a bank robber wearing a mask when holding up a teller. And, just as the bank robber cannot be heard to complain when the guard pulls off his mask, an infringer on a P2P network cannot complain. The bank robber can at least claim that until his mask is pulled off, nobody knows who he is.

I'll tell you what. If I'm robbing a bank and someone tries to pull of my mask they're getting shot.

Truth be known his comment gives us all a nice hint on how to further anonymize ourselves. What happens when the guard pulls off the mask and you have panty hose pulled over your head? Clean ones...He still can't indentify you...plus if you shoot him he can never tell anyone.

So today's lesson is if the guard/RIAA tries to pull back the mask/masque to make you identifiable then you must shoot to kill and leave no witness behind.

Thank you for playing

It will probably survive by analogy

[Pac]

Freenet sounds like a great idea, but it's so obviously useful for such horrible uses

In the same category we already have guns, knifes, airplanes, TNT, email, television, cars. I think Freenet has a good chance.

Re:If all content could be encrypted ....

[Anonymous Coward]

Computers should have encryption capabilities built into hardware Give it up Bill, we're onto you

Re:Mark my words:

[Dr Reducto]

"Freenet is dead"

Please don't say that. The "BSD is Dying" Trolls are looking to expand their operations.

Re:Questions About Freenet

[vadim_t]

What buffer overflows? It's written in Java.

Re:guns dont kill people ...

[benjamindees]

Actually, I was shocked to notice this one day at the courthouse, the state/city does actually prosecute the *tools* used in the commission of a crime. That's how they can *confiscate* cars, guns, drugs, etc... by bringing charges against them. Better make sure your car hasn't done anything illegal, like speeding, or else it might find itself in car prison.

What???

[eclectic_echidna]

...Freenet is primarily used for the distribution of noncopyrighted material at this time. It is actively being used in countries like China by dissidents to distribute censored information...

...and offer superior anonymity in the process...

I though that it was anonymous. How do we know that Chinese rebels are using it???

Re:A little tip on priority numbers

[archen]

hehe... this reminds me of where I work where I told another admin that the backup should be niced to around 15 since I have to do one backup a week while people are still using the system, and I didn't want to drag people down. So the guy sets the nice level to -15. Next week I start the backup and man did I catch hell from irate users...

The moral of the story is to read the man page. Or if in doubt, just use nice with no argument and accept the default of 10 =P

Re:Oppenheim still won't get it.

[argoff]

Actually, he can have a *COPY* of my furntiure any time. In fact, he can have a copy of my car too. In fact, it's a Geo Metro, there are 10 million coppies of it out there. Somehow I don't feel violated.

From the Freenet FAQ

[jason777]

I love this one: Is Freenet legal? If by legal you mean not illegal, then yes it is. Of course, anything can be found to be illegal at some point in the future, and the law can be an ass sometimes, so we can make no guarantee about Freenet's future legality.