A Random Structure for Optimum Cache Size Distributed hash table (DHT) Peer-to-Peer design

We propose a new and easily-realizable distributed hash table (DHT) peer-to-peer structure, incorporating a random caching strategy that allows for {\em polylogarithmic search time} while having only a {\em constant cache} size. We also show that a very large class of deterministic caching strategies, which covers almost all previously proposed DHT systems, can not achieve polylog search time with constant cache size. In general, the new scheme is the first known DHT structure with the following highly-desired properties: (a) Random caching strategy with constant cache size; (b) Average search time of $O(log^{2}(N))$; (c) Guaranteed search time of $O(log^{3}(N))$; (d) Truly local cache dynamics with constant overhead for node deletions and additions; (e) Self-organization from any initial network state towards the desired structure; and (f) Allows a seamless means for various trade-offs, e.g., search speed or anonymity at the expense of larger cache size.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, preprint versio

Archives for the Dark Web: A Field Guide for Study

This chapter provides a field guide for other digital humanists who want to study the Dark Web. In order to focus the chapter, I emphasize my belief that, in order to study the cultures of Dark Web sites and users, the digital humanist must engage with these systems' technical infrastructures. I will provide specific reasons why I believe that understanding the technical details of Freenet, Tor, and I2P will benefit any researchers who study these systems, even if they focus on end users, aesthetics, or Dark Web cultures. To this end, I offer a catalog of archives and resources researchers could draw on and a discussion of why researchers should build their own archives. I conclude with some remarks about ethics of Dark Web research

The Darknet: A Digital Copyright Revolution

We are in the midst of a digital revolution. In this “Age of Peer Production,” armies of amateur participants demand the freedom to rip, remix, and share their own digital culture. Aided by the newest iteration of file sharing networks, digital media users now have the option to retreat underground, by using secure, private, and anonymous file sharing networks, to share freely and breathe new life into digital media. These underground networks, collectively termed “the Darknet[,] will grow in scope, resilience, and effectiveness in direct proportion to [increasing] digital restrictions the public finds untenable.” The Darknet has been called the public’s great equalizing force in the digital millennium, because it will serve as “a counterbalancing force and bulwark to defend digital liberties” against forces lobbying for stronger copyrights and increased technological controls

Using Architectural Constraints and Game Theory to Regulate International Cyberspace Behavior

The debate over whether cyberspace can or should be regulated is essentially dead. This is the conclusion being taught in law schools today. The battle between Judge Frank Easterbrook and Professor Lawrence Lessig over laws and horses , infamous among cyberspace legal scholars, became irrelevant when geographically-based governments began regulating Internet related activities. However, debate over how the Internet should be regulated continues. One way of framing this debate is in terms of deciding how to regulate behavior in cyberspace. Professor Lessig postulated four kinds of constraints regulate behavior: (1) social norms, (2) markets, (3) law, and (4) architecture. This comment first argues that lawmakers must focus on using the fourth constraint-architecture-if an interconnected global, democratic society is truly an international goal. Second, this comment argues that, in focusing on architectural constraint, game theory is a uniquely appropriate tool for analyzing Internet issues and developing Internet laws

Tor Exit Nodes: Legal and Policy Considerations

Anonymity Networks The Internet is a constant companion to people the world over and as technology improves it is becoming more accessible every day. With the amount of communication that occurs online, it was only a matter of time before anonymity became an important topic of discussion. Several so-called “anonymity networks” have been developed to facilitate anonymous communication by the citizens of the web. Because the use of these networks is already so widespread, the time is ripe for a discussion of their merits and potential government responses to this phenomenon. An anonymity network “enables users to access the Web while blocking any tracking or tracing of their identity on the Internet.” Anonymity networks generally use some combination of encryption and peer-to-peer networks to allow people to use the Web anonymously. Electronic encryption functions much like the codes that have been used by governments and militaries for centuries. Put simply, one computer will translate a message into a secret code and only computers that have the key to the code will be able to decrypt it. Encryption contributes to anonymity for the obvious reason that if a message is sent over the Internet and someone intercepts it, they won’t be able to decode it unless they have the key (or a very powerful computer depending on the level of encryption). The shortcoming of encryption is that is doesn’t protect the source or the destination of the communication, only the content of the message. Peer-to-peer networks are networks like Napster. When a person would download music on Napster, they were downloading it from another user’s machine. There was no central database where all the information was stored. These networks can contribute to anonymity in the sense that there isn’t a central server that is monitoring and recording all of the traffic in the network. Anonymity networks are most effective when they are more widely used. They rely on volume of communications to cloak individual communications. A good network will also require minimal computing power and consume few network resources, as all the encryption in the world won’t do any good if it makes the network too slow to be useable. Most Common Types of Anonymity Networks Tor The Onion Relay (“Tor”) enables individuals to access sites and services available on the Internet in ways that are, at once, secure and anonymous. It does so by employing a decentralized, volunteer-run network of servers throughout the world. To use the Tor network, individuals operate through Tor clients, which cipher and decipher information and in turn make use of Tor servers, which relay information from a point of entry (or “node”), to other Tor nodes, to an exit node that delivers the user to a publicly accessible Internet location. Accordingly, when a user transmits and receives information vis-à-vis the Tor network, that information is both encrypted and encapsulated: encryption hides the user’s content, and encapsulation hides the user\u27s identity. Directed to the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering Department.https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/techclinic/1012/thumbnail.jp

Freedom & Responsibility In The Decent Community: Community Networks And The Communication Decency Act

Discusses the possible implication of the contents of the Communication Decency Act of 1996 to community networks and on-line providers. Policing of web sites; Disclaimers in the web sites; Community networks providers responses on issue of decency