Anonymous file sharing and Encryption

The Darknet is a collection of networks and technologies used to share digital content. The darknet is not a separate physical network but an application and protocol layer riding on existing networks. Examples of darknets are peer-to-peer file sharing, and CD and DVD copying on email and newsgroups. The last few years have seen vast increases in the darknet’s aggregate bandwidth, reliability, usability, size of shared library, and availability of search engines. (The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution, Peter Biddle, Paul England, Marcus Peinado, and Bryan Willman)

In a broad sense, P2P technology is not a single technology, but a set of related, evolutionary technologies. Specifically, P2P technologies are the natural outgrowth of the Internet and commercial efforts to interlink computer systems for efficient information exchange. A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively low number of servers. P2P networks are typically used for connecting nodes via largely ad hoc connections. Such networks are useful for many purposes. Sharing content files containing audio, video, data or anything in digital format is very common, and real-time data, such as telephony traffic, is also passed using P2P technology.