As the governments of more countries use technology to block their citizens' access to certain Web sites on the Internet, you might encounter difficulty visiting the RFA sites.
However, there are many ways to bypass the Internet blockage.
One of the most popular ways is to use proxy servers. You can get updated proxy information sent to you automatically by sending an e-mail to proxies@rfanews.org. Note: Send an email regularly to get currently working proxies.
If you don’t know how to use a proxy server, please, read the instructions below on how to set up your own computer to use proxy or use a proxy on another Web site.
Increasingly in China, people can access censored Web sites via special portal pages called “Client side software.” These are services provided by companies that specialize in offering free access to information. We recommend Freegate, from Dynaweb, and several others (see below.)
You can also get the news via e-mail. Several of our news services distribute their stories via e-mail newsletter and we've provided links to make it easy for you to sign up.
If you wish to share information about ways to overcome Internet censorship, write to us at contact@rfa.org; or post it on our English-language message board, in a special section called Internet and Technology
Web Access - E-mail Newsletters
Another way to read RFA news is by subscribing to an e-newsletter published by one of our language services. Use the links below to sign up:
Cantonese newsletter: Register here or write to Cnews-join@rfanews.org
Korean newsletter: Register here or write to korean-join@rfanews.org
Mandarin newsletter: Register here or write to mnews-join@rfanews.org
Uyghur newsletter: Register here or write to uygnews-join@rfanews.org
Vietnamese newsletter: Register here or write to Vietnews-join@rfanews.org
If you would like to share information about ways to overcome Internet censorship, write to us at contact@rfa.org; or post it on our English-language message board, in a special section called Internet and Technology.
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What's a client's side software
Client-side software enable users to browse the Internet freely. The experience is the same as while using the regular Internet Explorer browser but it automatically searches the highest speed proxy servers in the background or it uses a parallel network of servers maintained by a company that promotes freedom of information on the Internet.
Fire Phoenix is a relatively new comer to censorship busting. The system routes its network traffic through VPN tunnels and uses NAT to manage servers behind the 10.0.0.0 network.It effectively encrypts all your Internet traffic and anonymizes your IP address.
http://firephoenix.edoors.com/ In English: http://firephoenix.edoors.com/english.html
Freegate is developed and maintained by Dynaweb. It is a front end to a network of proxies. In Chinese, the service is called dongtaiwang.
http://www.dongtaiwang.com
You can download the Freegate client software at:
http://www.dongtaiwang.com/loc/software/freeu/17/FreeU17.exe
http://www.dongtaiwang.com/loc/software/freeu/17/FreeU17.zip
RFA version of Freegate can be downloaded at: http://www.dongtaiwang.com/loc/software/freeu/17/FreeU17r.exe
Freegate also available for download from download.com
Freegate Mobile Version is a DynaWeb, Java application that enables cell phones and portable devices in China to access the Freegate Web portal. From there, open access to the Internet is available. This application works with more than 20 different models of cell phones in China, but not Apple’s iPhone.
FreeGate Windows Mobile version 1.0. can be found here.
Freenet
Freenet is free software which lets you anonymously share files, browse and publish "freesites" (web sites accessible only through Freenet) and chat on forums, without fear of censorship. Freenet is decentralised to make it less vulnerable to attack, and if used in "darknet" mode, where users only connect to their friends, is very difficult to detect.
http://freenetproject.org/
Garden Networks, launched in 2001, was the first intelligent proxy tool to help Internet users in China gain access to blocked sites. It uses a number of measures, including encryption, to defeat the blocking and filtering mechanisms of Internet censors.
Garden client software GTunnel is a Windows application that works as a local HTTP or SOCKS proxy server. After setting your proxy to GTunnel in the Web browser or other Internet applications, the traffic is encrypted and goes through the GTunnel server farm before it reaches its original destination.
http://gardennetworks.com
Gpass is also new and uses a system similar to Fire Phoenix. It is operated and maintained by the World’s Gate, Inc.
http://gpass1.com
"Green Tsunami" is a software designed to disable or get rid of "Green Dam," a filtering software released by the Chinese government. A deadline requiring the mandatory installation of filters on all computers in China was postponed by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. But it could be installed in schools and Internet cafés.
"Green Tsunami," developed by the Global Internet Freedom Consortium, and can be downloaded from here:
http://gpass1.com/gpass/download-en
UltraSurf – called Wujie in Chinese, meaning borderless - requires no installation or change in system setting; it is an executable file on Windows platform.
http://www.wujie.net
Download UltraSurf Client Software at:
http://www.wujie.net/download/u1005.zip
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Put a proxy on your flash drive
There is a way to have a portable proxy, one you can use on any computer safely.
By using UltraSurf, you can put proxy software on your flashdrive for use on any computer, either at home or at an Internet cafe.
1. Insert your flash drive into a USB port on your computer.
2. Go to this Web site and download this .exe file to the drive:
http://www.wujie.net/download/u1005.exe With this .exe (executable) file on your flash drive you don't need to install it on a computer. Start the program by inserting your flash drive into any computer's USB port, and double-click on the file to open UltraSurf.
3. Or download the zipped file here:
http://www.wujie.net/download/u1005.zip
After you have downloaded the zipped file (*.zip), extract the .exe Ultrareach file with WinZip. Start the program by double-clicking the extracted file on your flash drive.
4. Click on the .exe file
UltraSurf will open an interface and an Internet Explorer browser window. There will be a lock on the bottom right corner of the screen which means UltraSurf is running and your IE browsing is under protection.
You can minimize the interface, but you cannot close it. If it is closed, UltraSurf will quit. You can start surfing the Web in the current IE window, or open a new IE window to do browsing.
5. Click on the "Exit" button to quit UltraSurf.
For help, refer to the Ultrareach user guide: http://www.wujie.net/downloads/ultrasurf/UltraSurf6_userGuide_en.zip
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Web Access - Open Proxies
What is an open proxy?
An open proxy is a proxy server which will accept client connections from any IP address and make connections to any Internet resource. It is not hard to find open proxy servers on the Web.
How do I find open proxies?
Lists of open proxy servers can be found in seconds with a simple online search. These lists are frequently updated, and some even include bandwidth statistics info and where the server is hosted.
Below are instructions on how to configure your Internet browser to access an open proxy. You can also see an illustrated version of these instructions on our message boards .
A word of caution: Many open proxy servers are short-lived and you may have to repeat this process as necessary, and open proxies may not work well if your ISP has installed content filters.
If you would like to share information about ways to overcome Internet censorship, write to us at contact@rfa.org; or post it on our English-language message board, in a special section called Internet and Technology.
Setting up your proxy
Setting up proxies in Windows Internet Explorer is fairly easy. Assume you find an open proxy via an online search:
Example of Proxy IP: 203.162.168.163 Proxy port: 80
You can follow the 4 steps below to set up your IE browser to use an open proxy server:
Step 1
Load Internet Explorer
Go to Tools
Click Internet Options…
Step 2
Click the tab: Connections
Home computers connected using:
Dial-up connection - click on your connection name under Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings Router - Click the button: LAN Settings...
Computers connected to a LAN:
Click the button: LAN Settings...
Step 3
Mark the option: Use a proxy server for this connection
Mark the option: Bypass proxy server for local addresses
Click the button: Advanced
Step 4
Type under HTTP: 203.162.168.163
Type under Port: 80
Mark the option: Use the same proxy server for all protocols
Type under: Do not use proxy server..: local
Click OK in all windows.
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Web Access - CGI Proxy
What is a CGI Proxy?
A CGI proxy is a free script that can be found on many Web pages that acts as an HTTP or FTP proxy. What this means is that through a CGI proxy, you can access any Web site using the server of a different Web site.
For example, some organizations may block the URL "http://www.rfa.org" with their firewall, but by using CGI proxy you can get around this. A CGI proxy allows the Web user to be anonymous and access Web sites that may be restricted.
How it works
A proxy server is a computer network service which allows users to make indirect connections to other network services. A user connects to the proxy server, and then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server.
Proxy servers can help in when owners of the Internet resources impose restrictions on users from certain countries or geographical regions.
As well as providing a way to access blocked Web pages, a CGI proxy can also provide some degree of anonymity. Although it is not foolproof, it can prevent the Web site you are viewing from knowing more about you.
How to Find CGI Proxies on the Web
As the filename of the script is usually nph-proxy.pl or nph-proxy.cgi, use a search engine (Yahoo, Google, etc.) to look for sites with pages that contain these files. Use these phrases as a serch term: Search for nph-proxy , Search for nph-proxy.pl, Search for nph-proxy.cgi
You can also search using the phrase start using CGIProxy to find Web sites hosting CGI proxies. In the results, you will find a list of pages that offer the use of CGI Proxy, or that link to another page offering access to CGI Proxy.
If you just need a fast way to get around blocking software, try going to the following sites, enter the URL of the restricted site you want to visit, and the proxy will access the site for you. However, since these are public sites, they might be blacklisted by your ISP.
Here are just a few:
http://www.stupidcensorship.com/
http://proxify.com/ (This is free but there is also a version available for a fee.)
http://en.cship.org/wiki/Main_Page
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Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks
A peer-to-peer computer network relies primarily on the power and bandwidth of each of the participants in the network. It is a connection between equals and it is typically used to share audio or video files, or anything in digital format.
It differs from the "client-side" model where communication happens via a server.
The concept of peer-to-peer has evolved and can also mean file-sharing between people.
Tor is an Internet communication system that allows people to communicate anonymously. It can be used as an outproxy to the regular Internet, or as an access to hidden services inside its own network.
However, users must understand that there are limitations to the anonymity. TOR hides the user's connection but not the data. Data traveling between the user (or client) and the TOR network is encrypted, but the data between the TOR network and Web sites he visits is NOT encrypted.
http://www.torproject.org/
Tor on Android
Tor is available for Android by installing the package named Orbot.
XeroBank Browser, (xB Browser), previously called Torpark, is a portable browser originally based on Firefox with Tor access built into it. xB Browser is designed for use on portable media such as a USB flash drive but it can also be used on any hard disk drive. As such, a secure and encrypted connection to any of the Tor routers can be created from any computer with an Internet connection. The browser clears all data that was created on the portable drive upon exit or on demand.
xB Browser works by routing Internet traffic through several servers, obscuring the originating address. For a more complete explanation of the functioning of the system, see Tor.
xB Browser is preconfigured, and the settings, especially within the browser, should not be modified unless done by an expert.
http://xerobank.com/xB_browser.html
Psiphon, developed by The Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, is a censorship circumvention program. It was released on Dec. 1, 2006.
The software works by having people who live in uncensored countries, like Canada or the U.S., install a psiphon server on their home computer, and then give the connection information to a few friends or family members that live inside censored countries. Because each psiphon node runs separately on private computers, and the connections among psiphon users and servers are encrypted, it is extremely difficult for authorities to block.
http://psiphon.civisec.org/
Keep coming back to this page as we shall update it regularly.