Now that governments track, and even block more and more internet traffic, anonymous and encrypted networks are fast gaining importance.
i2p is a Java application which builds up such an anonymous network from hundreds of routers, similarly to the Freenet and Tor projects. Data is encrypted en relayed through several other i2p routers, to maintain anonymity.
There are a lot of services that are integrated into the i2p network. These include IRC, web browsing, email, bittorrent, gnutella, instant messaging... All of these programs work anonymously via the i2p network infrastructure. There are no official connections from i2p to the 'normal' internet, however, unofficial 'outproxies' do exist and can connect to regular websites.
The 0.6.3 release provides more protection against malicious routers and improves access for people behind firewalls.
Improvements:
- NetDB nodes that behave badly are avoided, while well-behaved ones are accessed more often.
- High-bandwidth routers that notice a lack of well-behaved NetDB nodes, automatically volunteer as a NetDB node themselves.
- Leasesets (which contain information about the peers in the network) are handled more efficiently
- UDP introducers have been added (for people behind firewalls)
- Improvements to the router console, make configuring applications easier.
Download: i2p 0.6.3
View: Main i2p website
Link: Press release on the official i2p website
