The demand for alternative internet options is growing faster than ever. The recent net neutrality repeal in the United States (U.S.) is yet another blow to internet civil liberties. Nonetheless, in the context of these groundbreaking legislative changes in the U.S., maintaining access to the open internet is a pressing topic that demands discussion and attention. Virtual private networks (VPNs) are one mechanism of preserving internet liberties. While VPNs are an important privacy tool, they carry limitations primarily due to their centralized nature.
Limitations
The most significant limitation of classic VPNs is the need to trust a VPN provider not to track you and sell end-user data. The Intense Coin VPN counters this common limitation by providing VPN server code as open source, eliminating guessing in the matter of how the VPN functions, and avoiding logging of any identifiable client data.
The elimination of net neutrality means internet service providers (ISPs) will be able to prioritize their own services, or services that pay for prioritization, over competitors. It’s also worth noting that even with net neutrality, your ISP can surveil everything you do. Monitoring internet browsing habits and patterns will allow ISPs to deterministically restrict services and possibly force users to pay more to access the content they enjoy. Considering the recent net neutrality repeal, ISPs may put privacy-oriented services in ‘slow lanes’, making it increasingly harder to access secure services.
No Longer Censorship Free?
How does the net neutrality repeal impact the censorship resistance of Bitcoin and other open-source blockchain projects and ecosystems?
How can we combat data caps and ISP imposed limitations to certain services, all in an effort to ensure equitable access to the internet?
Broadband providers currently operate in a licensed cartel environment, not a free market, and Congress operates as a plutocracy. Decentralized VPN cryptocurrencies can change how we fund the infrastructure of the internet by advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies like Intense Coin (ITNS) as a route to social and political change.
Intense Coin addresses the growing and persistent need for secure internet usage by establishing a peer-to-peer, decentralized, blockchain driven, anonymous VPN that allows users to geo-shift location, encrypt content, and bypass points of Internet congestions.
Why VPNs?
The Internet is remarkably unbalanced throughout the world. Utilizing a VPN allows a user to operate under the facade identity of a computer in a different location. Borrowing the identity of a computer in another country unblocks channels to content that may be restricted depending on the location of the origin country.
Geo-shifting location allows users to access content and websites that would otherwise be restricted by making it appear the Internet protocol (IP) address request is coming from a different location.
In addition to the imbalance found in Internet access, Internet speed is equally uncertain for most people. As Internet policies like net neutrality in the U.S. continue to be announced by governments, those who still have access are projected to see the speed of that access slowed down. As internet speeds become more unfairly balanced between fast and slow lanes, utilizing VPNs allow users to bypass some of the network congestion this imbalance creates. The reason for this is that fast and slow lanes will be coded to prioritize access to certain services or websites, but the encrypted nature of VPN communications makes it impossible to analyze.
The speed of access to content is largely determined at the ISP level. These ISPs have taken full advantage through the use of a practice referred to as ISP ‘throttling’. Throttling refers to arbitrarily controlling the speed by which certain content moves between ISP providers network to your computer.
For example, an ISP may decide to slow down your speed and make it difficult to stream video from a site that may compete with one of its own video service provider partners. This is one of the industry practices net neutrality directly addressed. Using a VPN in this case to circumvent the prioritization by the ISP would demonstrate immediate tangible benefits.
To recap our whitepaper, following the development and integration of ITNS VPN capabilities into desktop and mobile wallets, the Intense wallet will allow any network user to act as a VPN exit node in exchange for ITNS. The Intense decentralized VPN will mitigate efforts by ISPs to reduce speed and restrict content.
As the internet becomes more restrictive over time, we can all fight back by learning how to use and access VPNs like ITNS.
