It has been used by activists to avoid censorship as well as those seeking anonymity for more nefarious reasons - leading it to be known as the "dark web".

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But as the dark side of the Web continues to grow and evolve, they're considering a harsher strategy: wiping crime sites off the Web altogether.

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The survey is some 100 times larger than the previous largest map of the web of dark matter, gathered by the Hubble telescope's Cosmic Evolution Survey, or Cosmos.

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Now the barons of the web are UPRISING and taking the net dark.

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This included a blackout across significant portions of the Worldwide Web, with Wikipedia going dark and Google blackening its logo.

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In its own contribution, the Google web search engine is putting a dark background on its homepage.

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The idea is that you can hold and drag just about any content on the phone -- places, web pages, pictures, people -- to The Spot (a dark circle appears in the center when it's holding content), and then tap it to send the content on to your friends via the service of your choice.

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The user experience Web consultant has started a website called Dark Patterns.

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When someone suggested on Reddit that Web sites go dark, and Reddit agreed, the idea caught on as the site proprietors themselves decided what to do.

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