The Evangelist

The Pirate Bay, a popular torrent site that allows users to download material such as music, movies, and more (much of the time illegally, hence the name of the site), has posted a technical proposal for "Transparent end-to-end encryption of the Internets," which they shorten to "IPETEE."

Instead of working on the same level as programs, IPETEE would work on the network level, effectively encrypting all traffic possible on the internet. Therefore, IPETEE would even be able to encrypt applications that don't support encryption some of the time.

This, of course, would help to make sure that local and federal governments can't go snooping into any possible illegal pirating activities, and this is clearly one of the main reasons that The Pirate Bay has begun work on this system. However, IPETEE would also be better for legitimate web traffic. With so many security concerns now, especially over transmissions over wireless networks, especially wireless "hotspots," IPETEE could help make the average user feel more comfortable using the internet, and make it so that businesses and corporations would not have to spend as much making sure that their information remains confidential when sent over the internet.

While this will likely be opposed by governments and corporations with interests in keeping the internet unencrypted, this would be a big step forward. While the entire "Web 2.0" movement is just fine, the new technologies involved have presented numerous security concerns. IPETEE would help bring internet security up to the level of protection users need against a whole new world of "hackers" (script-kiddies) who are exploiting new technologies to collect personal data and make web browsing a possibly painful experience for all but the most experienced power users. And while these hackers will likely try to find a way around IPETEE, through reverse-engineering or other methods, perhaps the people behind IPETEE, including the Pirate Bay, will have a better idea of who they are dealing with then a company such as Microsoft, Apple, or Symantec.

For more information, see the technical proposal at http://www.tfr.org/wiki/index.php?title=Technical_Proposal_(IPETEE).