dotslash

The Role of the ISU and Saudi Censorship

You may not be surprised to learn that Saudi Arabia is amongst the leaders in filtering and censoring the internet. A rather strict political and religious regime combined with lots of cash to spend on filtering technology meant it was always on the cards.

The department who are in charge of ensuring that the citizens of Saudi Arabia don’t access anything their rulers don’t like is called the ISU ( Internet Services Unit). THeir official remit is quite benign – blocking anything that is against the Qu’ran and pornography. Unfortunately this scope seems now to have been extended to include lots of other topics – freedom of speech, womens rights, any non-muslim religions and loads of humanitarian websites. The other main category that keep the ISU busy is any web sites that says anything negative about the Saudi Royal.

The technology used by the ISU is based on quite an old technology called Smartfilter – recently bought by McAffee. It’s not actually that smart compared with some other products but it is quite effective against most users. The filter is just a large list of URLs from a central database, supplemented by all the urls added by the ISU including all the ‘free speech’ sites.

You can actually beat internet filtering like this fairly easily by using a VPN based function, or sometimes just a simple proxy will work. However remember Saudi Government take their spying quite seriously and have recently installed hidden cameras in many internet cafes. Alas the internet is not quite as free in some countries as others, who knows what will be accessible in Saudi in a few more years.

Learn all about the issues across the world about online privacy protection.

What’s the Deal with ‘Hide my IP Software’

Could you imagine why anyone should want or need these IP hiding software? Well actually you may be surprised but there are actually lots of reasons but let me provide you with a small sample.

  • There are lots of countries where you actually risk your safety if you speak too freely online
  • Many of us resent consistently being spied on and having their privacy intruded on
  • Cybercrime and Identity theft are very common crimes
  • Lots of individuals object to the fact that absolutely everything you do online is logged and monitored by your ISP

Needless to say there are plenty of people using the greatest innovation (the Internet) of our time for criminal activities. Just as they use other communication mediums like telephones, faxes and the postal service! The irony is that when governments and their agencies monitor internet connections, it’s only the innocent they spy on as the criminals and terrorists all block them.

This is one of the most annoying parts of the ‘well if you’ve got nothing to hide’ – why do you care – type arguments against anonymous surfing. It’s then just that some of us who are subject to the spying and surveillance that is carried out by even the most relaxed western governments. The European Directive instructs ISPs to record and log all the web sites, emails and electronic communications of it’s citizens for up to 2 years.

However it is also worth reminding people that just using a simple IP hiding software, or some super elite proxy you found listed on a web site is not really going to help your privacy. Most of this software does very little, remember HTTP is clear text protocol and that’s where most of your browsing and details are passed. The IP software protects your privacy from the web server you visit but that’s it. But every other details of your browsing is in the clear and traceable to your IP address, sitting in your ISP is a list of virtually everything you’ve ever done online over the last two years or so.

The very worst hide IP software is the little software front ends that search for free proxies when you start them up. They then route all your web browsing through the fastest, free proxy that they find available. It wouldn’t matter if the proxy was being run by a gang of identity thieves (which many of them are) purely to harvest user details, the software would still send you there. You would be much more secure using nothing than one of these.

Also available on YouTube here.
Simply staying secure online actually does take some work, far too many people are misled by tales of free proxies and they actually put themselves at huge risk. You need to use secure private proxies, you should know who is responsible for them and ensure that the logs are deleted instantly. Any proper security product will also ensure that all your browsing is encrypted as otherwise your details and IP will be visible all along it’s route.

Surf safely, protect your privacy,

M6 Replay – Watching on the Internet via a French Proxy

So how come someone would need to use French proxy to access a web site? Well I’ll tell you, all across the internet there are web sites tailoring their content to specific countries. This is a concept called geotargeting, which in effect checks what country you’re connecting from then customizes what you see depending on your location.

It sounds quite beneficial, this geotargeting and in some instances it actually is, for instance when you visit Google you’ll be automatically directed to the local version of Google which will deliver you localised results. However this technology can also be used to block access to the content on a website.

For instance, one of the most famous sites on the web, the BBC Iplayer is restricted if you try to access from a Non-UK location, the big American media sites do the same restricting access to people outside the US for Hulu, NBC and ABC for instance. In fact just about every large media site restricts access to content usually to those who reside in the same country.

For French TV – do you need a French Proxy ?

You certainly do at least for the biggest sites, take for example the French Media site M6 Replay, the vast majority of their content will be blocked unless you connect from France, and have a French IP address. This is the awkward part, finding proxies fast enough to stream video is hard enough but even harder when you have to find one in a specific country.

So Is it Possible to Find a Free French proxy?

It is in theory, in practice it is an extremely time consuming task which you have to repeat everytime you want to access a site. The difficulty is that most of the free proxy servers are just misconfigured or servers which have been hacked, they will only be accessible for a few hours until you have to find a new one. You can use programs like foxy proxy to find them, but it will be an ongoing task especially if you need a French proxy.

Any Other Routes to a Proxy in France ?

You can configure a free program called TOR to route through French clients, which works ok as long as you don’t want to stream video as the clients are much too slow to produce a watchable stream.

The only other option is to pay one of the companies which provide private French proxies. To be honest if you want to watch French TV regularly or access any of these sites, it’s the only real option. There are many companies who offer this service for UK and US sites but one or two that have French Proxy servers as well.

Have a look around there are a few providers, you need the connection either via a proxy or a VPN (Virtual private Network) and make sure they have a French server. Some of the online companies make you pay for access to each specific server, however there are a few companies who allow use of their entire range of servers including french ones for your single subscription – the benefit is you’ll be able to select which server you’ll need for each site.

Our recommendation and the one featured in the Video is called Identity Cloaker

Keep your Identity and IP Address Secure

Why do you guess that people go to the trouble of utilizing software that hides your IP address? Whenever you investigate, you’ll find there’s lots of reasons but here are a few.

  1. There are plenty of countries where you risk your safety should you speak freely online
  2. Using the internet means you’ll be routinely monitored and have little privacy
  3. The web is full of information and identity thieves
  4. Some people just don’t like our every move online being logged

Obviously the internet has it’s fair share of criminals who wish to hide their IP address aswell. Just as they use other forms of communication like telephones, faxes and the mail! The irony is the evil doers always protect their connections so you inevitably end up with governments, agencies and hackers all spying on the innocent majority.

This is what so annoys me about the ‘if you’ve got nothing to hide’ argument, the majority who do are hidden. The rest of us are subject to surveillance, spying and intrusion by even the most democratic western governments. The European Directive instructs ISPS to log all the web sites, emails and electronic communications of it’s citizens for up to 2 years.

However it is also worth reminding people that using a simple piece of hide your ip software, or some super elite proxy you found listed on a web site is going to help your privacy. Most of this software doesn’t do much at all, remember HTTP is clear text protocol and that’s where most of your browsing happens through. These Hide your IP programs simply obscure your IP address from the website that you visit and that’s all. But every other details of your browsing is in the clear and traceable to your IP address, sitting in your ISP is a list of virtually everything you’ve ever done online over the last two years or so.

Beware most of all thought the software that simply routes your connection through free proxies found on the internet. They then route all your web browsing through the fastest, free proxy that they find available. It wouldn’t matter if the proxy was being run by a gang of identity thieves (which many of them are) purely to harvest user details, the software would still send you there. You would be much more secure using nothing than one of these, see one of the best and most secure programs here.

Simply staying secure online actually does take some work, too many people are misled by tales of free proxies and they actually put themselves at huge risk. You need to use secure private proxies, you should know who is responsible for them and ensure that the logs are deleted instantly. Any proper security product will also ensure that all your browsing is encrypted as otherwise your details and IP will be visible all along it’s route.

Surf securely and protect yourself online

Australian Censorship Protests


So it would be great if we could get some more ad-like videos made that people could put on their blogs etc. highlighting the Government’s proposal to put a mandatory filter across all Australian ISPs. I think there are a number of ways we can attack this issue, but we have to overcome people’s perception that this is protecting their children. I wanted to get across that in fact what we are stunting innovation and education in Australia and turn the fact that this is “good for our kids” on its head (it’s late cliches and badly formed sentences are allowed). Let me know what you think of this approach 🙂 Be nice, I know it’s YouTube! For more information – please go to www.keepyourfilteroffourinternet.com Please note, though I am on the AWIA committee and helped put that site together, this is a personal video. PS All images used in this video are used under creative commons. Links to original images can be found here: www.flickr.com www.flickr.com www.flickr.com www.flickr.com www.flickr.com

Say no to internet censorship – Join the Fight


The Federal Government has said it will introduce a new law requiring Internet service providers to filter all Internet connections – including yours – early this year. The stated goal of the filter is to protect children, however the filter will only serve to give parents a false sense of security. It will not block the vast majority of sites unsuitable for children, nor mitigate the other, more serious risks facing children online such as cyber-bullying.The list of sites to be blocked will be secret, and not open to public review. It comes with no guarantees about how it might be expanded later by this or future… governments. Concerned? There’s still time to make your voice heard. Contact your federal representative nocleanfeed.com Sign EFAs Senate petition www.efa.org.au Spread the word join the blackout! www.internetblackout.com.au Black out your online profile picture now www.internetblackout.com.au Black out your website during …Blackout www.internetblackout.com.au Don’t let those who came before us down. Say no to internet censorship.