[tor-talk] Terminology: Deep v Dark Web

[Katya Titov]

Mirimir:
> On 01/25/2014 04:53 AM, Katya Titov wrote:
>> https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/HowBigIsTheDarkWeb
> 
> I've never liked the term "Dark Web". There's nothing dark about it,
> except in the sense that Africa was called the "Dark Continent"
> because it was little known in Europe. It was not especially dark
> there, until the European invasion.
> 
> Virtually all of the "Dark Web" examples are networks that are routed
> through the Internet. Most accurately, they are "Virtual Webs".
> Drawing on Vernor Vinge, one could call them "High Webs", with the
> current Internet being the "Deep Web".[1] If that's too evocative of
> The Silk Road et alia, perhaps "Supra Web" would do.
> 
> Typical "Dark Web" examples are Tor and its hidden services, I2P and
> Freenet. But there are many other private networks (government,
> military, academic, enterprise, etc) that are routed via VPNs through
> the Internet, and yet are not readily accessible from it. Whatever we
> call this category, they belong in it too.
> 
> Analogous private networks, generally called anonets, are also routed
> via VPNs through the Internet. Most of them use unallocated IP space.
> Some of them route those addresses to the Internet, using customized
> DNS services. And so they arguably become part of the Internet. This
> will all become far easier with IPv6.
> 
> There are also physical networks that extend the Internet in various
> ways. Some of them arguably become part of the Internet. But many,
> including most meshnets, are rather too impromptu for that.

I generally agree, however the term is in common usage and we're
probably stuck with it, just as we're stuck with the common definition
of the word 'hacker'. I guess we could define a synonymous word and use
that in lieu of "dark" ... 'private' isn't quite correct, and 'hidden'
probably isn't either. I like 'overlay' but I'm not sure how it would
go with the media and users.

I've placed some definitions in the article and made some rearrangements
and minor additions. Please feel free to update and/or discuss.
-- 
kat