[e-privacy] [cyber~rights] Il Partito Pirata svedese lancia la prima Darknet commer (fwd)

[Cyberiade.it Anonymous Remailer]

Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:52:27 +0200
Subject: [cyber~rights] Il Partito Pirata svedese lancia la prima Darknet commerciale al mondo (eng)

PRESS RELEASE: Pirate Party Launches World's First Commercial Darknet
August 14, 2006


Relakks

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