anoNet: Cooperative Chaos

There is a brand new client port up in Singapore. All previous client ports have been shut down. You need to download the new conf file, or at least change the IP in your current conf file. (2007-07-31)

Background

In early 2005, a few people fed up with the way the Internet was heading, began in earnest to create a large wide area network that was secure and lived in its own space. On this new network anyone would be free to do as they saw fit - roam about, host services, or just be social without fear of being monitored or even worse censored. The first step to bring this network to fruition was to encrypt the information that normally travels across the Internet. What they ended up with is known as anoNet.

This network was inspired by MetaNet, another "dark" network on the Internet, that used similar techniques to reach their goals. A few "core" members of anoNet were once a part of MetaNet but due to their strict nature, peering with MetaNet was lost and they became an "island". anoNet has already surpassed what MetaNet had in membership, and is on its way to being a viable alternative to the "Internet" you currently know, whether you love it or hate it.

If you are feeling adventurous check it out. If you are feeling really adventurous you can help; there is still lots to be done.

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Implementation

To implement this network, we have chosen to use OpenVPN and Quagga. We use OpenVPN to initially connect nodes to each other. Quagga is used to exchange routing information with those available to act as a "super node", allowing all peers on the network to reach each other.

NOTE: You only need to run OpenVPN to connect to our network and make use of any resources found within. You do NOT need to install Quagga and become a router.

Joining

If the idea of being a part of this network interests you, you can get a temporary connection to it by following the instructions here.

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Activities

Please note that any resource listed in this section can only be reached when your connection to the VPN is active. If it is not, you will get unexpected results.

Once you have connected to the VPN itself, you may do any number of things:

To get the full anoNet experience, use one of our cache DNS servers (1.0.9.53 or 1.10.11.1) so that you can resolve anoNet domains! Getting your own domain such as example.ano is no problem, just ask!

Visit our Wiki, wiki.ano (http://1.0.9.3).
Visit our IRC network using 1.0.9.1 or 1.0.1.1 port 6667 (6697 for SSL) with your favourite IRC client. Join #anonet and we can help you get started with anoNet.
If you would like a more secure form of communication, you can use our SILC server at silc.ano:706
Visit our message forum talk.ano (http://1.0.9.4), where you can discuss anything under the sun! Literally. That is what this network is about -- free speech.
Use the anoNet jabber network (jabber.ano port 5222 or 5223 ssl for v1 clients), where you can chat with others using your favourite Jabber client! Jabber directory at users.jabber.ano
Grab yourself a webmail account mail.ano (http://1.0.9.6) if you don't want to run your own mail server. anoNet has no spam.
Search anoNet using our spidering search engine search.ano (http://1.0.9.8).
Use our Bittorrent tracker anotorrent.ano (http://1.0.9.200)
There is an open Icecast streaming server at stream.icecast.ano (1.0.9.16) port 8000, password anonet. It supports 20 streams and 200 listeners. The directory server is at icecast.ano (http://1.0.9.16)
Once again to promote free speech we have a multi-user blog at anojournal.ano (http://1.0.9.13)
If file sharing is your thing we have ed2k and dc++ servers.
If gaming is for you, there is a bnetd server. (Starcraft, Starcraft: Brood Wars, Warcraft II, Warcraft III, Diablo, Diablo II)
We also have World of Warcraft server setup (Running MaNGOS and a combination of SDB and Modb)
Remember, you can be a server too! Do you want to play a multi-player game? Go ahead! Install a game server, advertise it around (if you like), and get people to play with you!
Not only can you be a game server, but you can offer files, stream media, host your own web page, or anything else you want!
There is far too much to the network to list here, if it sounds like something you would be interested in, then connect up.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our FAQ here.

Do you have questions? See the anoNet entry in the “Links Elsewhere” section where you can post questions to our Wikipedia anoNet “discussion” page.

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Links Elsewhere

Here is a short list of links that may be of use to you:

anoNet entry on Wikipedia
Tor is a good idea even if you don't decide to check out anoNet.
You wouldn't believe the ammount of information that you leak to websites. A proxy like Privoxy is advisable on the Internet, and crucial on anoNet.

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Last updated: 2007-07-23 17:46GMT