

The dark web - envitar
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/26/dark-side-internet-freenet

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nzmsv
Typical sensationalist journalism. This murky dark web, the only use of which
is kiddie porn, is thousands of times bigger than the "good" Internet. The
same journalists think "hacker" is a dirty word.

See Ian Clarke's response: [http://blog.locut.us/main/2009/11/25/the-guardian-
writes-abo...](http://blog.locut.us/main/2009/11/25/the-guardian-writes-about-
freenet.html)

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dtf
The article doesn't take that tack; the subtitle does. I'd blame the sub-
editor (probably also responsible for the [sic] next to the US spelling of
pedophile) rather than the author.

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pbhjpbhj
What's wrong with marking a mis-spelling?

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steveklabnik
It's not a misspelling in American English. It's like saying "No hablo[sic]
espanol[sic]".

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TeHCrAzY
However, as its an UK English newspaper, it's likely appropraite. Please see:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic>

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steveklabnik
No, because the source language isn't in UK English. If it was, then sure.

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Kliment
There's a fair bit of confusion about the various forms of "darkness" in the
article. It's very easy to get the impression that Freenet is many times
bigger than the public web. Incidentally, I wonder if VPN connections to
intranets are counted in the 500x figure.

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gaius
What is Kosmix and why does this journalist keep mentioning it?

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covercash
It appears to be another search engine. Watch the video here:
<http://www.kosmix.com/corp/about>

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Mz
Subtitle: _In the 'deep web', Freenet software allows users complete anonymity
as they share viruses, criminal contacts and child pornography_

Excerpt: _You find the Freenet website, read a few terse instructions, and
answer a few questions ("How much security do you need?" … "NORMAL: I live in
a relatively free country" or "MAXIMUM: I intend to access information that
could get me arrested, imprisoned, or worse"). Then you enter a previously
hidden online world. In utilitarian type and bald capsule descriptions, an
official Freenet index lists the hundreds of "freesites" available: "Iran
News", ..._

So, something they left-handedly acknowledge (by listing "Iran News" first):
The fact that political activism can get you "arrested, imprisoned, or worse".
And, in some places, being gay (for example) is about as forbidden as being a
pedophile, though I don't think it should matter what consenting adults choose
to do together in that regard.

As I understand it, the countries that are the biggest exporters of illegal
drugs are countries that are typically very poor and have no legitimate means
of making adequate money. As I understand it, during Victorian/prudish eras,
prostitution thrives. Prostitution tends to do more poorly when men can get
laid without paying cash for it because "normal" women will put out more
readily. I think there is an abundance of evidence that being overly
controlling, dictatorial and judgmental tends to have the opposite effect of
what is theoretically desired and tends to promote "bad behavior" -- in part
by categorizing so many things as "forbidden", thus causing some rather
ordinary activities to be denounced as "bad".

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mfukar
What an awful piece of writing. And to think people actually read those like
they have something to say. Pathetic.

