I’ve mentioned ZeroNet in a few previous posts, but haven’t gone into much detail about it. I think it has the potential to be a great network, if more people start using it.

It’s a bit different from Tor, in that you don’t have to have a separate browser to access it (although you do need the software). ZeroNet is a decentralized network that uses bitcoin cryptography and the BitTorrent network to create a “separate internet,” if you will.

ZeroNet also uses the Tor network to help users achieve anonymity, though the two are in fact different networks. (Wait…huh?) Yes, in addition to using the BitTorrent network, ZeroNet also has the ability to route traffic through Tor – although you can turn this feature on and off.

If you read its documentation, you can learn a bit more about it.

According to the documentation, at present, ZeroNet offers these features:

Real-time updated sites

Namecoin .bit domain support

Multi-user sites

Passwordless – Bitcoin’s BIP32-based authorization

Built-in SQL server

As with PGP, on ZeroNet you have a public and a private key, which is a feature of asymmetric cryptography. Essentially, it’s the same type of cryptography that’s used to protect your bitcoin wallet.

I know how many people are curious about pseudo-top level domain names. As it says above, ZeroNet sites use the .bit domain, and there are quite a few out there. (But sorry, no .clos, .loky, .lll, or .rdos sites.) Aw, crap!

If you’d like to see a ZeroNet site, here’s one:

And here’s another:

Like the sites on Tor, I2P, and other networks, they don’t look all that fascinating. Many contain a lot of technical and coding information. It doesn’t surprise me, actually; I wasn’t expecting to find anything dark and secret on ZeroNet that I couldn’t find elsewhere.

Anyhow, this is going to be a short post, as I still have to explore ZeroNet quite a bit more. I just wanted to give you a little taste! I encourage other people to join it, because some of the forums and things seem a bit empty!

Thanks for reading – join me again, anonymity lovers!

P.S. For further reading, here’s a ZeroNet FAQ.