Scaling the walls of Web censorship (avoiding controls in countries where govt blocks content)

[iverglas]

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/061128-2766.asphttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061130.CENSOR30/TPStory/National

University of Toronto, Canada.

U of T lab launches program that unblocks content in countries that filter the Internet

TORONTO -- All you can see on the video clip is a laptop computer and a man's hands. He goes to Google and enters a search: "women's issues." When he clicks on the resulting links, though, every site is blocked. He is in Iran, one of more than 40 countries that filter the Internet in some way, and one of 12 that have a pervasive filtration system that blocks content.

Now he logs onto a program labelled Psiphon and tries the Google search again. This time the results are in the tens of thousands.

"Thank you, guys," he says.

The 25-second clip plays on the laptop of Ronald Deibert, director of the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, the birthplace of Psiphon, which officially launches tomorrow.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-11-28T211732Z_01_N28258808_RTRUKOC_0_US-INTERNET-CENSORSHIP.xml&WTmodLoc=InternetNewsHome_C1_%5BFeed%5D-1

The Psiphon program, developed by computer experts at the University of Toronto, allows an Internet user in a country with no online curbs to set up an account for someone in a country that censors Web content, and that person can then surf the net without restrictions.

"The communities that we're helping to connect to each other have a legitimate right to exercise their human rights within this governance regime," said Ron Deibert, director of the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which studies the interaction between human rights, technology and security issues.

... Deibert said Psiphon works by first allowing a person in a country like Canada that does not censor Internet content to set up a user name and a password for a person in a country that does -- China, for example.

The Canadian user would then pass on the information to the Chinese user, who would log on to the Canadian's computer and effectively use it as a server to browse the Internet without being censored by the Chinese government.

The Web traffic between the two users is encrypted and secure, so China would have difficulty tracing the usage, he said.

This is the site where you can get info and download software:

http://psiphon.civisec.org/

psiphon is a human rights software project developed by the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies that allows citizens in uncensored countries to provide unfettered access to the Net through their home computers to friends and family members who live behind firewalls of states that censor.

Seems like a project worthy of consideration by DU members.



edited to add:

Of course, people in the US can participate in this project!

I meant to clarify this in the original post -- when the developer refers to people in Canada using it to help people in China, he is just giving an example.

Anyone whose govt does not block/filter internet access can use this software to help someone in a country whose govt does. Not many of us may know someone in this situation right now (I don't, for instance), but we can help spread word of this development to reach people who are in a position to help someone in such a country.



It's important, folks. I hope more people will read about it.

[bushwah]

1. self-delete

[Katzenjammer]

2. That's really excellent. Between that and Tor, people might begin to have a chance (nt)

[MADem]

3. Handy dandy for friends in brutally repressive Iran and Egypt, to say nothing of

Saudi (takes the cake) Arabia!!!!!!!

And boyoboy, won't los Cubanos love this, if they can get access to the net at all!

[Brazenly Liberal]

4. Great idea in theory. Too bad a few assholes are undoubtedly going to screw it up for everyone

It says it's for helping "trusted" friends and family members for a reason. Given this kind of access to your computer, the other person can turn your computer into a spam/virus zombie in minutes if not seconds.

[iverglas]

5. oh well, I guess you don't want to participate

I might not want to either -- since I don't have trusted friends or family members in any of the countries in question myself and would likely not want to offer this kind of access to a stranger. I would imagine that there will be enough organizations and individuals willing to offer access that nobody is going to be getting emails from strangers begging them to open up their systems.

For those who do participate, yes, they may be taking a slight risk. The info at the site at present is rather sparse, and doesn't seem to address the issue you raise, so I don't actually know whether there is a risk. If so, the solution for someone who wanted to do this might be to have a separate (old) computer with nothing worth worrying about on it, with the connection available at certain times to the individuals abroad.

There actually isn't any way I can see that any individual or few individuals or even large numbers of individuals could "screw it up for everyone". Each person who considers acting as a "node" to provide uncensored access to someone else will always have to consider whether it is wise to do so, and what arrangements s/he should make to guard against potential problems.

You might want to read some of the material at the psiphon site I linked to, since you don't seem to have done that. I hardly think it's fair to make negative comments like yours based on what appears to be a misunderstanding of how the thing works.

http://psiphon.civisec.org/faq1.html

What is psiphon?

psiphon is a censorship circumvention solution that allows users to access blocked sites in countries where the Internet is censored. psiphon turns a regular home computer into a personal, encrypted server capable of retrieving and displaying web pages anywhere

... What are psiphonodes, psiphonode administrators and psiphonites??

A psiphonode is a psiphon server that is operated by an administrator residing in an uncensored country (this is an integration of 'psiphon' and 'Node'). The psiphonode administrator is responsible for creating and managing user accounts and running the psiphon server. A psiphonite is a psiphon user, residing within a jurisdiction that blocks arbitrary web sites, and utilizes a psiphonode residing in an uncensored jurisdiction.

How does psiphon work?

psiphon acts as a "web proxy" for authenticated psiphonites, retrieving requested web pages and displaying them in a user's browser. psiphon uses a secure, encrypted connection to receive web requests from the psiphonite to the psiphonode who then transports the results back to the psiphonite. There is no connection between the psiphonite and the requested website, as psiphon transparently proxies the request through the psiphonode's computer allowing the psiphonite to browse blocked websites seamlessly.

How do psiphonites connect to psiphon?

psiphonites go to their psiphonodes' machine using a unique web address. The first page displayed is the user login. The psiphonite must login with a valid username and password, given to them by the psiphonode administrator. After authentication, the psiphon server displays a toolbar at the top of the page where the psiphonite can then enter a website to browse. When using psiphon, the psiphonite does not have to install any software or change any browser settings.

[MADem]

7. Eh, pay no attention to the Debbie and Donnie Downers!

For some, the glass is always half empty, no matter what.

Thanks for posting this, BTW...it's news we can use.

[iverglas]

8. you're welcome!

It's news that maybe few of us can use directly right now, but it's worth tucking away.

Too bad that the potential psiphonites probably can't read about it here. ;)

I'm going to keep an eye on it as it starts up, and it might be worth having something tucked away permanently at DU about it, where people who could offer the service to someone somewhere would see it.

[MADem]

6. Well, of COURSE it's for 'trusted' friends and relatives. I wouldn't let any old asshole

come into my home and use my computer, it's gotta be for folks who would be granted that kind of access anyway, and who understand that they can't be passing it on.

[MGD]

9. fantastic news. Someone should start up some kind of a dedicated server

to ensure that anybody who wants to surf the web in total freedom is enabled to do so without fear. I'm afraid everyone's favorite repressive regimes would find a way to counter this and catch the "subversives" though. Undermining the Chinese Government is frowned upon by the Chinese Government. Hopefully Microsoft won't sell them the technology to bust the people who exploit this new technology.