ZeroNet

{{Infobox software

| name = ZeroNet

| logo = ZeroNet vector logo.svg

| logo alt =

| screenshot =

| caption = ZeroNet landing page

| screenshot alt =

| collapsible =

| author =

| developer = Tamas Kocsis (original author), imachug, geekless, PramUkesh, caryoscelus and other contributors

| released = 2015

| discontinued =

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|P348}}

| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}

| latest preview version =

| latest preview date =

| programming language = Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript

| operating system = Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD, Android

| platform =

| size =

| language = Danish, German, English, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Persian.

| language count =

| language footnote =

| genre = Peer-to-peer web hosting

| license = GPLv3{{cite web | url=https://github.com/HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet/blob/py3/LICENSE | title=ZeroNet | website=GitHub | date=19 May 2022 }}

| website = Official: {{URL|https://zeronet.io/}}

| standard =

| AsOf =

}}

ZeroNet is a decentralized web-like network of peer-to-peer users, created by Tamas Kocsis in 2015, programming for the network was based in Budapest, Hungary; is built in Python; and is fully open source.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/play-p2p-impossible-shutdown-160301/|title=Play: A P2P Distributed Torrent Site That's Impossible to Shut Down – TorrentFreak|website=TorrentFreak|language=en-US|access-date=8 March 2016|archive-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308004610/https://torrentfreak.com/play-p2p-impossible-shutdown-160301/|url-status=live}} Instead of having an IP address, sites are identified by a public key (specifically a bitcoin address). The private key allows the owner of a site to sign and publish changes, which propagate through the network. Sites can be accessed through an ordinary web browser when using the ZeroNet application, which acts as a local webhost for such pages. In addition to using bitcoin cryptography, ZeroNet uses trackers from the BitTorrent network{{cite web|last1=Kumar|first1=Mohit|title=MegaNet — New Decentralized, Non-IP Based and Encrypted Network|url=https://thehackernews.com/2015/02/meganet-decentralized-internet.html|publisher=The Hacker News|access-date=20 September 2015|date=18 February 2015|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925150625/https://thehackernews.com/2015/02/meganet-decentralized-internet.html|url-status=live}} to negotiate connections between peers. ZeroNet is not anonymous by default, but it supports routing traffic through the Tor network.{{cite web |title=FAQ: Is Zero Net Anonymous |url=https://zeronet.io/docs/faq/#is-zeronet-anonymous |website=zeronet.io |access-date=1 January 2019 |archive-date=2 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102002353/https://zeronet.io/docs/faq/#is-zeronet-anonymous |url-status=live }}

The ZeroNet website and bittorrent tracker are blocked in mainland China.{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Paul |title=China blocks access to ZeroNet website and tracker |url=https://www.neowin.net/news/china-blocks-access-to-zeronet-website-and-tracker |website=Neowin |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616204304/https://www.neowin.net/news/china-blocks-access-to-zeronet-website-and-tracker |url-status=live }} Despite the censorship, however, it is still possible to access ZeroNet from behind the Great Firewall of China, even over Tor, by bootstrapping over Meek, and connecting to peers directly.

There is no way to take down a ZeroNet page which still has seeders, thus making such pages immune to third-party methods of taking them down, including DMCA takedown notices.{{Cite web|quote=and what's happened is [...] some forward-thinking person has created a site on ZeroNet called Play, a torrent site[...]. The difference is that you can't take it down. I think you literally can't take it down. [...] It sniffs at your DMCA.|url=https://torrentfreak.com/steal-this-show-s01e07-160307/|title=Steal This Show S01E07: Did P2P Break the Law? - TorrentFreak|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=8 March 2016|time=17m39s|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307234907/https://torrentfreak.com/steal-this-show-s01e07-160307/|url-status=live}}

Hiatus and forks

Development has stopped for several months after stable release of v0.7.1 on Github.{{Cite web|title=Where did the ZeroNet creator go? · Issue #2749 · HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet|url=https://github.com/HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet/issues/2749|access-date=11 September 2021|website=GitHub|language=en|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911204445/https://github.com/HelloZeroNet/ZeroNet/issues/2749|url-status=live}} The zeronet-conservancy fork maintains existing codebase and adds features aimed at gradually migrating to a new p2p network designed from scratch{{cite web | url=https://riza-committee.github.io/2022/05/11/evolution.html | title=Guided evolution (Vs rule by decree or democratic centralism) — riza committee }}

Development of the network

The feasibility of peer-to-peer online web-sites had been hypothesised for some time, with The Pirate Bay suggesting they would build a network, as well as BitTorrent Inc. which created the closed-source Project Maelstrom.

Sites on ZeroNet are known as "zites" by its users.

ZeroNet supports HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Server-side languages like PHP are not supported, although ZeroNet creates and gives API to interact with SQLite databases, their data also distributed (as JSON files) via P2P.

By default, sites have a size limit of 10 megabytes, but users may grant a site permission to use more storage space if they wish.

With plugins and the ZeroFrame API, sites can communicate with ZeroNet calling Python by JavaScript.