The new information about version 0.7 sounds pretty good, but one thing about it concerns me. Assuming I don't know anyone who is using freenet, how do I get onto the network? (Remember, I'm asking this about the next version, since it says you can only connect if a "friend" lets you. Assuming I don't have a friend already using freenet, how do I get connected?)
This change worries me (unless I'm mis-understanding it), since it basically ties the network to a group of real-life friends, it creates a nice friendly map that the authorities could use to find everyone interested in a given subject. I don't think the Chinese government would have any problems getting someone's computer and seeing all the "friends" it lists. In short, it seems like this change would create a set of isolated networks, and remove the plausable deniability of the previous network. The "network of trust" concept seems to me to be deeply flawed, since spies have been able to infiltrate even the most guarded networks of "friends" (ie. the Mafia, the Manhattan project, etc). Trusting "some guy I met on the internet" doesn't seem like something I'd really want to do. I guess another way to look at it is that the network seems to be going towards being more useful for people in countries like China and less useful for people in the US. Plausable deniability is more useful in the US, whereas secrecy is more useful in China. While I feel for people in China, I myself am in the US, and so therefore look at the project from my point of view (especially in the current political climate). I'm also a bit concerned about the constant restarts, it seems that the project is following the "fad security of the month" (although networks of trust were around with PGP like 10 years ago). Anyway, the reason I'm asking about this is because I currently have Paypal set up to donate $20/month to the project, but I'm not sure if I like the direction it's going. Any better explanation of how this will work (mainly "how can I connect if I don't already know someone") would be greately appreciated. Thanks. --- John _______________________________________________ Support mailing list Support@freenetproject.org http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.freenet.support Unsubscribe at http://dodo.freenetproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/support Or mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
