Freenet (Central Asia)
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- This article describes national internet structures in Central Asia which are referred to as freenet. A separate article describes the decentralized censorship-resistant peer-to-peer file sharing software known as Freenet. Please note that there is also a text-based community computer network which offers limited Internet services, at little or no cost, and is known as a "freenet."
Several Internet networks in Central Asia, specifically, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are financed by USAID and other USA governmental authorities and are called Freenet. In contrast with the decentralized censorship-resistant peer-to-peer file sharing software called Freenet, which is specifically designed to be very censorship-resistant, and in fact, to increase distribution of information in the case of censorship attempts, there is little information regarding the independence of the Central Asian networks from censorship by the operating authorities.
Another Internet network, initiated by the UNDP, including support from USAID, was started in Armenia in 1997 and is also called Freenet. As of 2005, users of Freenet in Armenia cannot access web pages on servers outside of Armenia. Apart from this restriction on website access, the degree of censorship on Freenet in Armenia is unknown.
