Virtual Freedom

In America, we may take our Facebook, our Craig's List, Democracy Now, Eco-Huster, and all of our online networking and surfing capabilities for granted, forgetting that others around the world are unable to find true information about the current environmental and political situation through the Internet.

For those living in China and other "internet enemy countries," there is hope. The University of Toronto has created a software called Psiphon that enables internet enemy residents to access sites restricted by the government. Since online environmental education is often linked to or posted on sites internet enemy countries find "anti-government," this information is often blocked from citizens as well. People unaware of global warming, ignorant of recycling, who do not understand that burning trash or using multiple plastic bags is ecologically detrimental, will be able to access such information online once they have connected themselves to the program.

The program works by connecting those under censorship to individuals in less censored countries. For example, a person in the US can download the program (for free) online and act as a host for someone in Burma, who will experience the same access as the person in the US. However, the person in the US will be able to track the online activity of the person in Burma, so Psiphon warns that both parties need to have absolute trust in one another.

Although the current version requires Windows or Linux, project director Ronald Deibert says the lab is working on a version for Mac users. He also describes other features of the newer version still to be released:

First and foremost it’s entirely web-based. The way the original version of Psiphon worked was by having someone download it on their home computer, and it turned that computer into a proxy. And they would then give that connection information to friends and family members who live in censored countries so that they could access banned information. And with the next generation of Psiphon there’s no software to download. We’ve set up nodes that are designed in a tiered infrastructure that acts as a protection mechanism against blocking. And we assign nodes to individuals in organizations that they control through a web browser. What they do then is they invite friends and family members, just as they do with the older version, to share their node. So potentially even someone in a censored jurisdiction can be assigned and operate a Psiphon node through this new service.

Deibert also explains the changing focus of Psiphon, which caters towards new media and should be particularly effective in enlightening nations around the world about the environmental crisis:

One of our aims with the first version of Psiphon was to allow people access to blogs and wikis…. With this new version it’s really the Web 2.0 that we’re trying to capitalize on. It allows access to streaming media, including YouTube, and we’re working on other protocols. And it allows secure uploading of video.

With this new emphasis on videos, clips of Inconvenient Truth (an Eco-Hookups favorite!) and other green flavored media can be released onto the virtual highway, hopefully inspiring others to take action.

According to Reporters Without Borders, fifteen countries currently impose severe Internet restrictions: Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Some of these “Internet enemies” use American developed software to implement the restrictions. The United States imposes minor restrictions on internet usage of its citizens.

Top Photo: image from Vimicorp.com
Bottom Photo: Directions to install Psiphon from flossmanuals.net