Introduction

So, to start this of, what is the purpose of the Meshnet? The subreddit offers some description to the purpose – “Organizing a decentralized alternative to traditional ISP’s.” I thought I might elaborate on this concept.
While the overall purpose/goal is to create a decentralized hardware alternative, currently this seems extremely infeasible, so instead the current infrastructure is used with additional layers of routing created by software.

It’s important to understand however, that while the overall purpose of the Meshnet is to <meme>DECENTRALIZE ALL THE THINGS!</meme> there are a lot of underlying concepts associated with the movement, that will make it a different environment to the current Internet.

Applications

Routing

Firstly, the future Meshnet will most likely run on CJDNS. CJDNS is described by many as ‘way too many VPNs’. It does function similar to many VPN clients chained together, but in the bigger picture, it really is a project to create the Meshnet networking engine.
As well as the secure communications, it also introduces many new improvements to networking, such as NO NAT’s and a large address space (uses a private range of IPv6). In the future it will also have DDOS thwarting and most likely Windows support (some time before either however).
As of current, it is a hackers project, which needs to be built and configured.

Sites on the Meshnet will function differently to the normal Internet. While some may default to the centralized structure, and others are distributed like Freesites, I believe a hybrid structure may emerge, combining the features of the two (I’m actually researching this, seems like a good project).
In other respects, ICANN DNS is either going out in favor of decentralized Web of Trust networks OR everyone will switch to HypeDNS, which uses the NodeInfo servers hosted by Mikey.

Anonymity

Another important aspect that is discussed in a lot of these mixnets is anonymity. TOR is by far the most popular anonymity solution (although not necessarily the best, *cough* exit node sniffing *cough*). Anonymity is important in the Internet because people don’t want to be tracked, they don’t want their personal information being traded as an asset.
I believe this value MIGHT carry on into the Meshment (mesh movement) but the community so far (which largely seems GNU-like), or at least the ones hosting servers, don’t seem particularly concerned with storing user data. This would be attributed to the home based servers being hosted, as no dedicated websites have emerged yet.
As far as proper anonymity goes, Phantom is the way to go. Sadly, development has halted since 2011 and there are no signs of any work being done there. It would be useful however to have it ported, as it’s design fixes many of the problems TOR had.

Speaking of anonymity, I guess I should mention I2P. I2P is like Phantom and TOR Hidden Services combined, but written in Java. It’s design has promise, particularly it’s use of garlic routing (Phantom does this too I believe).

P2P File Sharing

Possibly the largest part of any P2P infastructure will be file sharing. No doubt, Meshnet will be using a mix of the BitTorrent protocol and software such as Tribler for downloading content in a decentralized fashion.
Freenet is another option, which offers some an awesome approach to plausible deniability while maintaining public access over distributed content, however it is written in Java, and the content storage probably wouldn’t scale.

Currency & Trading

Alas, Paypal and other online banking solutions have failed under corporate pressure and cannot be trusted, so the Internet has turned to Bitcoin. Bitcoin will definitely be the currency of the Meshnet. My only concern, is it’s fluctuating value, but that’s what comes with economies right?

Frameworks

Uniting the code

Right now, current solutions to all these problems, are a mixture of cryptographic algorithms, file sharing frameworks, anonymity routing applications all created by a group of very talented developers. If the Meshnet is ever to proceed, we all need to unite under some common banner.

With decentralized structures, comes latency. If this is ever to be as efficient as the Internet, we need everything to work together.  For example, running TOR over CJDNS, is one too many encryption processes. All these applications must be combined if we are to ever achieve, similar speeds to the Internet.

One framework to rule them all

We need a framework.  To me, the best solution for all the mixnets, is IP tunnels. Manipulation of these tunnels should be the job of a common API. It should also be cross-platform.

Currently, there is one project I know of that has successfully achieved cross-platform IP tunnels, and that is OpenVPN. The problem is Windows. Windows has no in-built support, so the OpenVPN Win TUN/TAP driver had to be written, and even now that has extremely little documentation. If anyone is interested in taking the step, I have compiled a list of resources on the CJDNS Windows Port Wiki.

Such framework could be written in my favorite systems programming language right now, Go. Go has a cross platform runtime with alot of necessary libraries already built in. It’s has an extremely efficient syntax too. Sadly support for C/C++ integration and GC sucks right now.

Community

Average people probably won’t take on to the Meshnet, as it wouldn’t bring any benefit to them.

An average conversation

Layman: Wait, so instead of using FB I have to install this thing called Diaspora and set it up and everything, with the additional latency overhead?

Me: Yes, but you are no longer under the corporate control of companies who’s only interes…

Layman: Meh

Geeks like me will, and of course, the more people you have in a P2P network, generally the better it gets. The Meshment is currently in early stages, and while large in some areas, is much like early Linux.

Hopefully, some will see the advantages in the Mesh. In my opinion, it will still remain largely a hub for geeks and the like.

Infrastructure

Currently, electronics for creating a mesh like infrastructure are expensive to the average layman. In the coming years, they will hopefully become cheaper due to Moore’s MOAR’S Law.

Currently, there is little purpose to these anyways. If there is no Reddit or YouTube on the Mesh, than it too underground for many.

An interesting project called the PirateBox (I made a post about it) however looks like it could take off in conjunction with use of the extremely cheap Raspberry Pi to create local meshes.

Conclusion

In my honest opinion, this is my approximate prediction of what the Future Meshnet will be like in the coming months/years.

I call it Shak. Shak is a distributed, decentralised, P2P content board. It’s focused on mixing a bit of the mechanics of Reddit (votes, subreddits), 4chan (the anonymity + the *freedom of content) and the Windows 8 / Windows Phone Metro UI (Panels).

I’ve been wanting to do a project like this for a while now. Something that uses P2P, evades censorship while still making an effort to KEEP IT LEGAL, that sort of cryptoanarchist stuff. After finding out about Project Meshnet (If you don’t know what this is, please check it out, it is amazing) and CJDNS project, it really got me thinking, what can I do, that will help everyone?

Multiple others have suggested an similar ideas, and indeed, wolfeater (founder of Project Meshnet he only started the subreddit, as pointed out by a Derp) even made a post about hosting [centralised] Reddit on Hyperboria. I’m not trying to compete with anyone here, but I felt we needed a different platform, more suited to the decentralised architecture of what is Hyperboria.

Shak works in many ways the same to Reddit/4chan and other content boards/forums. You can post text based content, links. All content has a title associated with it, and is submitted to what I call a board (subreddit etc.). You can also comment on content. These are all common things most CMS have in common or at least similar to.

Shak is different however, in the main perspective that’s not centralised. Content on Shak is not controlled/owned by any individual. Shak is similar to FreeNet in the mechanic that, if content is not popular, it is simply removed from the network. One of the fundamental principles of Shak is, content may be distributed on every computer in the Shak, but it is the owners choice if they don’t want it on their computer. This is not censorship, as deleting a file from your computer is not censorship. However if a Shak user refuses to PUSH content to other peers, this is censorship.

Another one of the main differences in the design of Shak, is that it runs ontop of Hyperboria, the network that CJDNS sustains. There were many factors into the design of Shak, that CJDNS had already fulfilled such as

• End to end encryption
• Each computer is a node independent from their own connection, so there is no need for NAT traversal or random ports etc.
• CJDNS uses IPv6 addresses, which can be used as public keys

This, and the immense importance of CJDNS to be adopted, was what made me choose this platform.

Just of note, Shak hasn’t been programmed yet. I and my good friend Jack (website) are currently working on the project for a competition, but its completion is far beyond winning the competition.

When we have coded more of it, I’ll make another post about the underlying mechanics of Shak’s distribution, authentication etc. Right now we are still in the process of researching efficient methods of storing data (DHT’s etc.).

PirateBox is a self-contained mobile communication and file sharing device. Simply turn it on to transform any space into a free and open communications and file sharing network.

I plan to setup a PirateBox in my local area, 24/7, attached with my ~1TB Western Digital HD. For the router, I plan to buy a TP-Link TL-MR3220 150MBPS Wireless Lite N 3G Router from Amazon. There are several features about this router, that make it perfect for a PirateBox -

• It has a USB port, which functions as the source storage media for people when they upload files to the PB
• It has a detachable antenna, which lets me upgrade and buy my own [stronger] antenna, so I can broadcast the network further
• It has a 3G/WAN failover which guarantees a sustained Internet connection
• Most of all, OpenWRT can be installed on it which allows for the mkPirateBox software (what makes it a PB)

I will most likely use it at home, but maybe if I go to The Edge, I might look into making it portable.

The hack basically compromises of a guy modifying a headphone plug, with some IR LED’s, so that when a specific sound file is played, the bits go to the IR LED’s, which emit a signal to the T.V. and depending on the sound, may control the T.V. as would a universal remote.

I believe the most interesting part, is that this requires no modifications to the software of the phone, and merely relies on the sound output to the headphone jack.

Over the recent months, I have heard more and more, about internet censorship. At least one point last year, my country Australia, was set to pass mandatory censorship in some form or another. Indeed ISP’s such as Telstra (evil), probably did (EDIT: so did Optus).

Governments can’t be trusted to censor the Internet. Why? Because the world is like a monopoly game, everyone wants to win in one way or another. Why would someone give you Mayfair, for a single railroad spot, its of no obvious benefit. But upon further investigation, they become in control of all the railroads, trading 4 spots for one, and increasing the price on the existing 3. It’s the same with censorship. Sure they may be protecting us from explicit illegal material (although I find it hard to understand how you could stumble upon this sort of stuff anyways?), but with our given consent, they also have the power to censor other legitimate websites.

The other reason governments shouldn’t have the power to enforce censorship, is that they have no idea what they’re doing, and how its supposed to  combat the problems. From what I’ve heard, most politicians suffer from a  general lack of technical insight. The reason behind SOPA was to Stop Online Piracy (3 of the 4 words in the acronym). What the government is doing, is merely inconveniencing pirates, not blocking them. It’s ineffective. Besides, piracy is an issue of service, as shown by our favourite DRM gaming platform, Steam.

So what’s being done? Project Meshnet (formerly darknetplan).

To create a versatile, decentralized network built on secure protocols for routing traffic over private mesh or public internetworks independent of a central supporting infrastructure. (taken from the meshnetwiki – The Plan)

That’s what’s being done. Currently CJD’s Networking Suite (CJDNS) is the only platform formed by the project, focused on creating a secure software based alternative which runs on top of’ the existing Internet structure (ISP’s). It currently in Beta and only runs on Linux, but with the help of, yours truly, and many others, we are helping to port, and improve CJDNS.

However CJDNS is only the beginning. Soon, I believe, the first decentralised Meshnet will be created. Efforts are being made into researching hardware alternatives to a sustained long distance wireless network. It is only a matter of time…

I have got to say, WordPress is wonderful. It’s extremely large community, extremely clean code, and of course, open-source!

Cryptum will now function mainly as a source of quality information, and also as a blog. DEV.Cryptum will be re-established in the coming weeks.

Until then, good evening!