Freenet

Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant publishing and communication. It provides a decentralized data store and network that allows users to publish, store, and retrieve information anonymously across participating hosts.

The project was initiated by Ian Clarke and others at the University of Edinburgh in the late 1990s, with its first public release around 2000. Freenet is open-source software designed to survive attempts at censorship by distributing data widely and routing queries through many participants.

Operation: Data items are stored in encrypted form on nodes and addressed by opaque keys. When a user requests content, the request is routed through multiple peers toward nodes likely to hold the data; the process and the identities of publisher and requester are protected by encryption. Freenet offers two connection modes: darknet, which connects only to trusted friends, and opennet, which automatically discovers other peers. Data replication and caching help ensure availability even if individual nodes go offline.

Content and use: Freenet hosts “freesites,” which are websites stored inside the network, as well as file sharing and discussion forums. Content persistence depends on the storage contributed by users and the routing system.

Licensing and reception: The software is released under an open-source license (GNU GPL). Freenet has been praised for enabling free expression in oppressive environments while criticized for potential use in illegal activities and for performance and security trade-offs. It remains primarily a niche project with ongoing development by volunteers.