ZeroNet
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ZeroNet is a decentralized web-like network of peer-to-peer users, created by Tamas Kocsis in 2015. The programming for the network was based in Budapest, Hungary. It is built in Python and fully open source. Instead of having an IP address, sites are identified by a public key (specifically a bitcoin address). The private key allows the owner of a site to sign and publish changes, which propagate through the network. Sites can be accessed through an ordinary web browser when using the ZeroNet application, which acts as a local webhost for such pages. In addition to using bitcoin cryptography, ZeroNet uses trackers from the BitTorrent network to negotiate connections between peers. ZeroNet is not anonymous by default, but it supports routing traffic through the Tor network. The ZeroNet website and bittorrent tracker are blocked in mainland China. Despite the censorship, however, it is still possible to access ZeroNet from behind the Great Firewall of China, even over Tor, by bootstrapping over Meek, and connecting to peers directly. There is no way to take down a ZeroNet page which still has seeders, thus making such pages immune to most third-party methods of taking them down, including DMCA takedown notices.
ZeroNet is a decentralized web-like network of peer-to-peer users, created by Tamas Kocsis in 2015. The programming for the network was based in Budapest, Hungary. It is built in Python and fully open source. Instead of having an IP address, sites are identified by a public key (specifically a bitcoin address). The private key allows the owner of a site to sign and publish changes, which propagate through the network. Sites can be accessed through an ordinary web browser when using the ZeroNet application, which acts as a local webhost for such pages. In addition to using bitcoin cryptography, ZeroNet uses trackers from the BitTorrent network to negotiate connections between peers. ZeroNet is not anonymous by default, but it supports routing traffic through the Tor network. The ZeroNet website and bittorrent tracker are blocked in mainland China. Despite the censorship, however, it is still possible to access ZeroNet from behind the Great Firewall of China, even over Tor, by bootstrapping over Meek, and connecting to peers directly. There is no way to take down a ZeroNet page which still has seeders, thus making such pages immune to most third-party methods of taking them down, including DMCA takedown notices.
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1339405083 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.