From Sneaker Nets to Darknets
Laurent Gayard · 2018
The development of network encryption on the Internet is based on both an old libertarian dream and a very concrete survey, acquired during the 2000s with the development of download applications and various ways to circumvent the law in order to exchange cultural content. This type of practice was the first source of concern for public authorities and states, and is the origin of the term “darknets”, whose predecessors would be the “sneaker nets” studied by Peter Biddle, Paul England, Marcus Peinado and Bryan Willman in 2003. The peer-to-peer (P2P) technique is, together with the use of encryption algorithms, an essential component of alternative networks such as Tor, Freenet and Invisible Internet Protocol (I2P). In 2017, the emergence of parallel networks has consequences that are today linked far more closely to security issues, in the eyes of public authorities.