Re:BlackNet as a Distributed, Untraceable, Robust Data Haven

[mccoy@communities.com (Jim McCoy)]

Tim May writes:
>
> I have to speak up here and say that there is an actual working exemplar of
> a distributed, untraceable data haven. While it lacks a robust _payment_
> mechanism, that is also untraceable, so does the "Visit Port Watson"
> example (which has never actually existed)

BlackNet also lacks any sense of persistence.  A message posted lives at
the whim of newsgroup expiration policies and getting a copy of an expired
message is a non-trivial task.  It is also not an overt data haven, there
is really no address or pointer you can direct someone to and say "look
here."  Usenet as a data haven is like dropping messages in to bottles
and casting them in to the sea; getting it where you want and having the
intended recipient be able to find the data easily is still an unsolved
problem.  It is a bulletin board for establishing private two-party
communications on any topic, but it is not even close to being a mechanism
for "publishing" in the manner to which people have becomed accostomed to on
the net.

jim