Swedish Pirate Party announces huge filesharing 'darknet'

Today, the Swedish Pirate Party launched a new
Internet service that lets anybody send and receive files and information
over the Internet without fear of being monitored or logged. In technical
terms, such a network is called a "darknet". The service allows people to
use an untraceable address in the darknet, where they cannot be personally
identified.

"There are many
legitimate reasons to want to be completely anonymous on the Internet,"
says Rickard Falkvinge, chairman of the Pirate Party. "If the government
can check everything each citizen does, nobody can keep the government in
check. The right to exchange information in private is fundamental to the
democratic society. Without a safe and convenient way of accessing the
Internet anonymously, this right is rendered null and void."

File sharing of music,
films, and other forms of culture is where the surveillance of Internet
addresses has attracted the most attention, largely because the
entertainment industry has been so aggressive in suing Internet users for
copyright infringement, suing college students and single mothers alike
without concern.

"But there are much more
fundamental values at stake here than copyright," Rickard Falkvinge says.
"The new technology has brought society to a crossroads. The only way to
enforce today's unbalanced copyright laws is to monitor all private
communications over the Internet. Today's copyright regime cannot coexist
with an open society that guarantees the right to private communication."

"Until we have changed
the laws to ensure that citizens' right to privacy is respected, we have a
moral obligation to protect the citizens from the effects of the current
routine surveillance," Falkvinge continues. "This is our technical means
to do just that."

The service is provided
by the Swedish high-tech company Relakks, which offers a
neutral IP on top of your existing ISP service through a strongly
encrypted VPN connection. Basically, this gives users the advantage of a
Swedish IP address from anywhere in the world.

The cost of the service
is 5 euros per month, and it is available now at www.relakks.com. A
portion of the subscription fees will go towards the Pirate Party's work
in changing the copyright and privacy laws and making the service
obsolete.

About the Pirate Party:
The Pirate Party is Sweden's largest political party
outside Parliament. It was founded in January, 2006, and is running for
office in this fall's general elections. The party only has three issues
on its agenda: shared culture, free knowledge, and protected privacy.

About Relakks:
Relakks
provides services to help individuals to assure the security and integrity
of their information. Relakks' responsibility stems from the strong
Swedish tradition of protecting the integrity of private life and all
forms of communication between individuals. Relakks - broadband Swedish
style

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From the Relax sign up page list of FAQs

Questions and Answers

Static IP-address
Q: Will I get a static IP-address?
A: No, not initially due to software constrains. But we are planning to change into static IP-addresses in the future.

Timer
Q: Will the connection be terminated if not used for some time?
A: Yes, an idle connection will be terminated after 12 hours.

Encryption
Q: Is my connection protected?
A: Yes, every connection has 128-bits encryption.

Payment
Q: If I stop paying for the service will it be terminated?
A: Yes, you either pay for one month or one year in advance and after that you decide if you want to prolong your subscription or not by paying for a new period.

Privacy 1
Q: Will my service provider be able to intercept my communication when connected?
A: No, nobody will be able to track or intercept your connection.

Privacy 2
Q: Which applications will be anonymized?
A: All applications, not only web traffic.

Connection
Q: Do I have to connect using the PPTP client every session?
A: Yes, every time you start your
computer you have to use the PPTP client if you want to use the
service.