New Scientist: Peekabooty aims to banish internet censorship

[Jim Cheesman]

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991948


Peekabooty aims to banish internet censorship
14:31 19 February 02
A long-awaited computer program that can circumvent government censorship 
of the internet has debuted at a computer conference in the US.The program 
- Peekabooty - promises to give people in countries such as China and Saudi 
Arabia safe access to the whole of the internet. In these countries, 
internet access is controlled by government-operated ISPs, which blacklist 
certain web sites. This may include news sites that are deemed 
unsympathetic to government policy.Peekabooty relies on users inside and 
outside a government-imposed "firewall" downloading software. Restricted 
content can then be delivered using volunteer "nodes" outside the 
restricted zone communicating with users within. The content is disguised 
as encrypted browser traffic, which is normally used to transmit credit 
card information or sensitive information such as passwords.
Hidden identity Peekabooty uses a complicated communications system to 
allow users to share information while revealing little about their 
identity. When a node receives a request for a web page it randomly decides 
whether to pass this on or access the page itself. It also only knows the 
address of its nearest partner. This makes it difficult to determine who 
requested what information and is designed to protect users from anyone 
trying to infiltrate the system from inside."Many people live under fear of 
repression," says Malcom Hutty of the UK's Campaign Against Censorship of 
the Internet in Britain. "Ultimately these things will work, because people 
want and need them."In the past, some internet sites could be used to beat 
internet censorship. These sites, such as SafeWeb and Anonymizer, acted as 
go-betweens, delivering censored content indirectly. But government censors 
became wise to this, and blocked access to these sites. Because content 
viewed using Peekabooty is disguised, government agencies should not be 
alerted to uncensored internet use. SafeWeb launched another program 
designed to route content through volunteer computers called Triangle Boy 
in 2001. But this does not maintain the anonymity of users.Peekabooty was 
demonstrated at the CodeCon 2002 conference, in California.
Will Knight

--

                           *   Jim Cheesman   *
             Trabajo: 
jchees at msl.es - (34)(91) 724 9200 x 2360
            It was all so 
different before everything changed.



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