Konspire2b
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- The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. The correct title is konspire2b.
konspire2b is a distributed, deniable, strongly-pseudononymous distribution system for files over a computer network. It was designed and implemented by Jason Rohrer.
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Overview
The aim of a konspire2b network is to transfer files from a publisher to his readers, in a manner which makes best use of the network connections available by all parties.
Each computer on the network is known as a node, and may be a publisher, a reader, or both.
Publishers identify themselves by creating a public key which they publish. This key then becomes their identity on the network. When they wish to publish something, they sign it using this key, to prove that the publication was originated by them.
Readers select one or more publishers that they wish to receive files from, and do so by importing the public key of these publishers. Whenever a node receives notification of a new file published using this key, all nodes who have subscribed to that publisher will be involved in receiving and distributing the file.
Once a node has received a file that it's interested in, it assists in the redistribution of that file to other interested nodes. In this way, the original publisher is indistinguishable from a node which is merely retransmitting someone else's content, this providing the deniable aspect of distribution.
The retransmission of files by people other than the publisher also makes best use of the network resources. As soon as the first node has received the file, there will be 2 nodes attempting to send the file. Once they succeed, there will be 4 nodes capable of sending the file, etc. so bandwidth available to distribute a file grows in proportion to the number of people interested in receiving it. This aspect gives the network its scalable properties.
Technical aspects
There is currently a single client implementation called kast. It is written in C, and uses a browser-based user interface which means that it is trivial to install and use on any type of computer or operating-system.
All konspire2b-related software is open source under the GNU GPL. The konspire2b website uses a wiki for the purpose of documentation and brainstorming, although the konspire2b wiki has suffered repeated automated vandalism and is no longer of any real use.
Differences with other peer-to-peer software
konspire2b is markedly different from traditional file sharing software, where users search for files on connected systems. Instead, a konspire2b user is encouraged to simply subscribe to some channels of interest, let the software run for a few hours, and then look at the files they have received.
Technical problems
In addition to the transfer of files, there are also smaller administrative messages on the network, which typically are retransmitted by all nodes regardless of which channels they've subscribed to. Such messages are prebroadcasts and announcement, used to inform the network about new channels that they might wish to subscribe to. The bandwidth for these announcements represents one of the technical problems fro a konspire2b network.
The small number of active nodes on the current network makes konspire2b much less practical to use as a public network than than some other peer-to-peer networks with more users. (i.e. no large groups of people are currently using konspire2b as a distribution mechanism that you can subscribe to on the public internet)
Legal problems
As with all type of peer-to-peer software, konspire2b suffers from negative publicity created by music and video industries, for providing an uncontrolled [by them] way of distributing digital media.
The ease of transferring files regardless of their copyright status also makes konspire2b unpopular amongst those who use copyright to restrict the distribution of files they've created.
History
konspire2b succeeds the now defunct konspire network, a more traditional file client/server based file sharing application written in Java. Developer Jason Rohrer emphasizes that konspire2b was written in C++ instead.
From 2003 onwards, the computer used to run katcher which informs Kast nodes of each others' existence, has not responded to queries. Any computer can perform this task, preferably one with a static IP address, and there are some possibilities listed below.
There has been a continuing spamming campaign on the Konspire wiki (http://konspire.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?main_page), as a result, some information has been copied to this page where it can be kept in better condition.
Current systems running a katcher:
- nepp.dyndns.org : 6085
- kast.homedns.org : 6085
External links
- konspire2b homepage (http://konspire.sourceforge.net/)
- infoAnarchy wiki entry for konspire (http://www.infoanarchy.org/wiki/wiki.pl?Konspire)