Quote from: Drobek on August 20, 2014, 06:06:16 AM

Quote from: Sleepyx on August 20, 2014, 12:11:09 AM

Is DarkTor the definite name? The word Tor is becoming a little synonymous with drugs and child porn. VPN and others not so much.

The thing is our concept is Tor-like rather than VPN-like

Sorry for the long post but this is very important.

I haven't posted too often in this thread but I've pretty much read all the pages (sometimes flicking rapidly down the screen to get past the less than relevant stuff and occasionally needing to miss a wad of pages to quickly catch up). I'm heavily invested in DRK. It's been the coin I've kept the bulk of my crypto value in. I'm as pleased as the next person to see the price free-fall coming to an end and I'm also excited about the possibilities Evan's latest announcement has brought.

However, I think we need to have an urgent and open discussion about the potential unintended consequences of "DarkTor" (or whatever it's going to be called). For a while now the term "dark" has been sitting uncomfortably with me. Not because the dev's intention is to create a tool for illegal money laundering and drug money to hide itself, but that the mainstream media and public in general are immediately going to assume "DarkCoin" is about illegal activity and underworld crime. Outside of the coolness of Batman who fights crime and keeps the residents of Gotham safe and a distinct type of chocolate, "dark" generally relates to a side of human nature that everyone knows exists but most don't want to investigate. One can watch a film that is "dark", one can engage in illegal activities that would be thought of as "dark", one can investigate the occult and black magic which is most definitely "dark" and one can find one's way into a whole "dark" world on the internet that's going to involve all sorts of "dark" things like the supply of illicit drugs, child pornography, terrorism and human trafficking. Like it or not, for the public and mainstream media, dark = bad/illegal/criminal.

Now, we have the remarkable opportunity to provision completely anonymous Internet access/browsing and Tor-like privacy (but even better than Tor given the likely flaws in Tor as it stands) and create an outstanding revenue stream for MN operators. As many posters on here have pointed out, this is what crypto's been missing, an immediate and powerful reason for new money to come into crypto and get immediate value (rather than it just being a purely speculative play). It opens up enormous potential for DRK to sky-rocket in value and become a much much bigger undertaking.

All good and wonderful. But (and it's a monumental BUT that I don't think anyone's truly thinking though), if DarkCoin previously had the potential to be seen as dubious because of its name and association with possible money laundering and illegality, DarkTor will 100% cement that perception. If you can pay $0.50 per day to browser the Internet completely anonymously and securely, it will become THE paedophile and terrorist tool of choice. In fact, once it becomes known as THE answer to web anonymity because the technology is so sound and so thorough, it will be THE ONLY place paedophiles and terrorists go to ply their trade.

Just how long do you think DRK is going to last under this scenario? How likely is it MN operators will just be left to carry on on their merry way, earning dollars and maintaining the network without intervention by a plethora of government entities? How long before major investigative programs like the PBS's FRONTLINE in the US and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 4Corners in Australia do a massive exposure of what's going on with DRK? If there's proof terrorists and paedophiles are using it, do you think the libertarian arguments many of us here know and love about the right to privacy will even feature as a counterpoint to what's potential going through the DRK network?
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I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm bursting everyone's bubble (and please, let's be intelligent enough with this that I don't get accusations of troll and FUD hurled at me; this is a legitimate concern that needs to be addressed). We are all having a wonderful time talking about how exciting this is and how rosy the future looks. As a technologist that also has high levels of EQ, a heart, a soul and a deep level of care for my fellow man, I can see this turning into a "marketing", "damage control", "PR" disaster.

Evan, if you've truly built a better version of Tor (without all the worry of nodes being run by the NSA and potential flaws and vulnerabilities exposing users' browsing) then you have achieved something remarkable. But, you've also created something that is going to become a massive threat to law enforcement and security. It will not go unnoticed by those that have a vested interest in preventing technology like this being used by humans that want to do damage. I've mentioned something similar to this in a previous post (some weeks or month ago), the words "dark coin" or dark tor" are likely to end up with the worst of the worst connotations that will make the phrase "silk road" sound like something Disney might be involved in.

I implore every one to take off their techo propeller hat for a moment and discuss this from a human/societal perspective. We're likely to see DRK go to great heights only to become a concept so offensive and dirty that anyone who's even been remotely involved will be labelled with the same connotations as the criminals who're likely to become DRK's best customers. As for mainstream POS take-up of DRK, even at the most basic level on websites that might currently be offering Bitcoin, I think we could completely forget that possibility if DRK gets associated first and foremost with criminal activity.

I'm very concerned.