[governance] psiphon software allows web access despite a censoring regime

[Sylvia Caras]

The <http://www.citizenlab.org/index.php>Citizen Lab at the Munk 
Centre for International Studies announced Sunday that 
<http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196513424>it 
will release psiphon, a "human rights software project," under 
<http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html>General Public License, by 
Friday. The system, part of the lab's 
<http://www.citizenlab.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=911>CiviSec 
Project, is funded by the <http://www.soros.org/>Open Society Institute.

It is not entirely bulletproof, but developers say it will be 
difficult for censors to identify and block psiphon.

People in free countries can install the free open source software 
and turn their home computers into "psiphonodes," or personal, 
encrypted servers. The psiphonode administrator can create and manage 
user accounts so friends and relatives can log in from censored 
countries. The encrypted connection allows people in restrictive 
countries to go to the administrators' unique Web addresses, login 
with usernames and passwords provided by administrators, and surf the Web.

The psiphon Web site, which provides the software, doesn't have to be 
operative for the software to work. In other words, even if a 
censoring regime blocks access to the psiphon Web site, people in 
restrictive countries can access the wide open Web through their 
friends' and family members' computers.

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