The Sunday Times - Ireland
August 07, 2005
Irish pioneer pilloried for file-swap software
Adrian Russell
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1724424,00.html
AN Irish software designer has been attacked by security experts for
developing a programme that will allow internet users to share files
anonymously.
Ian Clarke, from Navan, Co Meath, will launch a new version of his Freenet
system within months, making the sharing of digital information untraceable
by the authorities, and making detection of piracy by corporations and
governments more difficult.
While Clarke says he wants to promote free speech, security specialists are
warning that the software will be abused by terrorists, paedophiles and
computer hackers. Conor Flynn, technical director of Rits, an Irish
information security company, says Freenet will be used for ³malevolent and
malicious purposes² and Clarke knows that.
³The Freenet system group say it¹s for sharing information and they can¹t
help it if people abuse it. They know damn well that it will be,² Flynn
said. ³The ability to remain anonymous while surfing the web is dangerous.
Internet protocol addresses and connection details have been used by police
in many prosecutions. With systems like Freenet, the police would no longer
be able to get information like that and the question is why?²
Flynn argues that Clarke¹s invention is not like turning off caller ID on a
mobile phone. ³If you ring someone anonymously, at least the phone company
has the information,² he said. ³But with this technology nobody has a clue
what you did or when you did it. Freenet is about destroying that data. It
uses heavy encryption to disguise the user and that can only be for
malicious purposes.²
The Senate Commerce Committee in America recently called on the US
government to legislate against such technology because terrorists might
employ it. Though his aim is to aid dissidents in countries where computer
traffic is monitored by government, Clarke accepts that his innovation will
bring security concerns.
³I think that these groups already have all the tools they need, even
without Freenet,² he said. ³But even if this weren¹t the case, the benefits
of Freenet far outweigh the disadvantages, just as the benefits of free
speech far outweigh its disadvantages.²
The programmer says that his software will permit the anonymous publication
and consumption of information on the internet, making it impossible for
governments, especially repressive regimes, to restrict the flow of
information. ³My hope is that it will be more difficult for undemocratic
countries to censor their citizens¹ access to information through the
internet,² he said.
An early version of Freenet is in use in countries such as China, allowing
the free distribution of information despite government censorship. The
programme is also used in countries, including America, to distribute
censored information such as Church of Scientology documents. According to a
New York Times article last week, the programme has already been downloaded
by more than 2m people.
New so-called ³darknet² technologies, such as Freenet, also make record
companies¹ detection of music file-sharing more difficult. A US Supreme
Court ruling has effectively closed down sites allowing illegal downloading
of music. Napster, the first peer-to-peer music sharing service, was shut
down by court order, after several major recording companies filed lawsuits,
and another file-sharing site, Grokster, was the subject of the Supreme
Court ruling in June.
Clarke says that, as his system was not developed for downloading tracks, it
should be within the law. ³Freenet¹s goal is not to permit copyright
infringement, although this may be an inevitable consequence of our goals,²
said the former double-winner of the Irish Young Scientist of the Year
competition.
³We are aware of no laws either in Britain or America which prohibit the
creation of software like Freenet.²
Clarke, a former pupil of Dundalk grammar school, Co Louth, now lives in
Edinburgh and is employed by a music recommendation website. He is
developing the system for free.
³Freenet is a non-profit project and my involvement is purely on a voluntary
basis,² Clarke said.
³We do accept donations through our website, and use these to pay one
developer to work full-time on the project.²
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