Burmese Found Virtual Underground Railroad to Escape Internet Censorship.ATLANTA -- The Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIF GIF in full Graphics Interchange Format Standard computer file format for graphic images. GIF files use data compression to reduce the file size. The original version of the format was developed by CompuServe in 1987. ) announced today that their anti-censorship infrastructure is gaining popularity among Burmese web surfers, enabling them to circumvent Internet censorship Internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. The legal issues are similar to offline censorship. One difference is that national borders are more permeable online: residents of a country that bans certain amid the recent crackdown by the Myanmar military junta Noun 1. military junta - a group of military officers who rule a country after seizing power junta clique, coterie, ingroup, inner circle, camp, pack - an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose . UltraReach Internet Corp. (UR) and Dynamic Internet Technology, Inc. (DIT), two of the Consortium's member companies, were receiving over 120,000 average daily hits from IP addresses originating from Burma in September, a sharp increase from less than 40,000 back in August. DIT also witnessed Burmese postings on blogs with photos of the protests and their crackdown in Myanmar, through DIT's anti-censorship portal. Such a surge of censorship-escaping activities is in sync with the recent protests and crackdown in Myanmar. Both UltraReach and DIT have been developing anti-censorship technologies to circumvent Internet censorship in oppressive regimes, especially in China. In addition to UltraReach and DIT, a few other companies are members of the Consortium. They are developing anti-censorship tools of all shapes and flavors. Some of the tools, such as "Ultrasurf," "Freegate," "Garden," "GPass" and "FirePhoenix," are very popular among web surfers in China who are eager to explore the world behind the Great Firewall. "We are developing an Underground Railroad Underground Railroad, in U.S. history, loosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists, both white and free blacks. in cyberspace Coined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general. See Internet and virtual reality. Contrast with meatspace. , to help web surfers escape the monitoring, tracking, and blocking from their oppressive governments," says Alex Wang, VP of the World's Gate, Inc., another member company of the Consortium. "Our anti-censorship products have become household brand names in China, because of our intensive promotion and the trust we have gained there," says Wang, who adds, "It's a pleasant surprise to see web surfers from other regimes getting onboard Refers to a chip or other hardware component that is directly attached to the printed circuit board (motherboard). Contrast with offboard. See inboard. our virtual Underground Railroad, though we never advertised there." About The Global Internet Freedom Consortium Formed in 2006, the Consortium is an alliance of a few of the leading organizations in developing and deploying anti-censorship technologies for Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f in oppressive regimes. The Consortium partners have contributed significantly to the advancement of information freedom in China. For more information, visit http://www.internetfreedom.org. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion