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An anonymous P2P computer network is a particular type of peer-to-peer network in which the users and their nodes are pseudonymous by default. The primary difference between regular and anonymous networks is in the routing method of their respective network architectures. These networks allow for unfettered free flow of information, legal or otherwise.The name anonymous P2P is somewhat of a misnomer. This is so since by design a network node must be pseudonymous since it must have an "address" at which it can be reached by other peer nodes in order to exchange data. However, usually this address, especially on anonymous networks, does not contain any directly identifiable information. Thus a user is highly, but not completely, anonymous. (in friend-to-friend networks, only your friends can know that your address is used to exchange files)
There are many reasons why there is increasing interest in anonymous P2P applications which include distrust of government (especially in undemocratic regimes), and digital imprimatur. Such a network may also appeal to those wishing to share copyrighted music files illegally - the Recording Industry Association of America has successfully tracked and threatened to sue some users on non-anonymous P2P networks.
1 Uses of P2P
There are many personal uses of anonymous P2P technology which include: anonymous websurfing to prevent the tracking of visitors; blocking governments from collecting lists of website visitors; circumvent censorship by employers, ISPs, schools and government; protecting whistleblowers.
Governments are also interested in anonymous P2P technology. The United States Navy is financing the development of Free Haven's Onion Routing "TOR" for politically sensitive negotiations and to aid in hiding the identity of government employees for intelligence gathering work.
2 The philosophy of anonymous P2P
There are several arguments made by individuals as to why they consider anonymous P2P applications desirable and in some cases necessary to freedom of speech and the free flow of information.
One argument is that true freedom of speech, especially on controversial subjects, is difficult or impossible unless individuals can speak anonymously. If anonymity was not offered, then they could be subject to threat or reprisal for voicing an unpopular view. This is one reason why voting is done by secret ballot in many democracies, to prevent this kind of intimidation.
3 Consequences of P2P anonymity
Pornography trading is common on anonymous P2P networks, and some believe that the networks aid terrorism. There are several responses to these criticisms, one being that information is neutral and that it is people acting on the information that is good or evil. A second is that these current issues are examples of moral panicA moral panic is a semi-spontaneous or media-generated mass movement based on the perception that some individual or group, frequently a minority group or a subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. These panics are generally fuells, and that if anonymous peer-to-peer networks had been around in the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. or 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around, they might have been targeted for carrying information about civil rightsCivil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. Examples include the right to vote and anti- discrimination laws. Civil rights movements usually want equal protection of the laws for minorities, or anarchismAnarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. These philosophies use anarchy to mean a society based on voluntary cooperation of free individual.
Other issues include:
- Difficult or impossible to uphold laws that can be broken through P2P networks. This could lead to the breakdown of intellectual propertyIn law, intellectual property is a form of legal entitlement which allows its holder to control the use of certain intangible ideas and expressions. The term intellectual property reflects the fact that once established, such entitlements are generally tr. Copyright could be safely ignored (though see digital rights managementDigital Rights Management or Digital Restrictions Management DRM is an umbrella term for any of several arrangements which allows a vendor of content in electronic form to control the material and restrict its usage in various ways that can be specified b)
- With anonymous money , it becomes possible to arrange anonymous markets where one can buy and sell just about anything anonymously. Assassination markets would be the dark side of this. The transfer of physical goods between buyer and seller may compromise anonymity, however.
- It is easy to publish any information you want without the possibility of having your physical identity revealed. This could be used to openly publish information that governments forbids, like child pornography, but also other controversial information which the government wants to keep hidden like details about corruption issues.
- Anonymous money could be used to avoid tax collection. That could lead to a movement towards anarcho-capitalism. It is highly unlikely that all necessary transactions could be done anonymously, however; if nothing else, a government could still rely on property taxes.
But some friend-to-friend networks allow you to control what kind of files your friends exchange with your node, in order to stop them from exchanging files that you disapprove of.
Overall, anonymous peer to peer networks makes it impossible to hinder information to spread. Digital money inside a banking computer system could be considered to be just information.
