A SYSTEM that makes it easy to publish information on the Internet
anonymously could give a free rein to terrorists, software pirates and
paedophiles, say Internet watchdogs. But the creators of Freenet believe the
risk is worth taking to preserve free speech on the Net.
Ian Clarke began creating Freenet in his final year at Edinburgh University,
in response to Australia’s proposals for stringent Internet censorship laws
(Â鶹´«Ã½, 12 June 1999, p 22).
“The Freenet protocol is designed
to make tracing the publishers of content impossible,” says Clarke. “It’s also
extremely difficult to remove files from Freenet once…
