anonymous IRC project needs new home...

[Poindexter at SAFe-mail.net]

At 07:07 AM 5/9/2004 -0400, Adam Back wrote:

>The anonymous IRC project (IIP -- http://www.invisiblenet.net/iip/)
provides encrypted anonymous IRC chat.
>
>Haven't looked in the protocol in detail to see how they get their
anonymity, but the guy seemed aware of Chaum etc and they have crypto
protocols document up there.
>
>They have resource problems in continuing to run it, and so have
announced end-of-life for the project, but source etc is available,
and they are calling for interest in taking over the project.
>
>Anyone with a bit of bandwidth and interest in preserving anonymity of
IRC want to help them out?

Despite supposedly being an "open source" project, "nop", the lead developers/project manager, has kept some of the source/procedures necessary to run iip rather closed (e.g., the server configuration and the source code for the public relay 'harvester').  There were quite a few iip users who expressed interest in helping out or taking over when iip's problems first became painful about six-nine months ago.  Now many iip users may have left, and a non-public project with much grander ambitions and truly open source is well along in development (spurred on in good part because of nop's lack of communication with the iip community).

This call for help may be a bit too late.