User:Martin/Freenet draft

Freenet is a peer-to-peer network that provides a strong protection of anonymity. There is no central management of the network, but data, anonymously inserted into the network by the users, is split into chunks and distributed on multiple other nodes in an encrypted form. Every node on the network contributes storage space and bandwidth for others to store and retrieve data.

Modes

There are two possible ways to configure Freenet:

• Opennet

A user automatically connects to strangers

• Darknet

A user only connects to friends after mutual exchange of reference keys

File sharing

When a user uploads files into the network, they are broken into pieces and stored on multiple other computers in the network. When these files are downloaded by others, they are located and put together again.