I can reveal the secret high-tech method for accessing newzbin2 and
by-passing the recent block on the site on BT residential lines.
Its top secret and highly technical, so don't tell anyone...
Instead of typing http://newzbin.com/ you type https://newzbin.com/
Yes, that is typing an extra s in the right place.
Obviously
having such a difficult technical step that you have take will
guarantee that this court ordered block is effective in stopping people
access the site. After all, nobody would think of trying it would they.
The courts and BPI are so smart - well done.
Of
course, the fact that this has happened at all is exactly what we all
predicted would happen when IWF filtering was being touted - get a foot
in the door to start censorship of the Internet and it will feature
creep and be used for other things. The court only ordered BT to block
the site because BT had Cleanfeed in place (for IWF blocking) and so it
was easy and cheap for BT to comply using Cleanfeed. Thankfully for BT
they comply if they use Cleanfeed even if it is a total waste of time,
as it clearly is.
The problem is that Cleanfeed and the
IWF blocking was only ever intended to stop inadvertent access to some
web sites - it was never intended or designed to stop someone that
wanted to get to a site from accessing it or stopping a site
circumventing access in simple ways like this. Blocking is never going
to work unless you outlaw all Internet access, and then you will just
drive it underground.
Of course, with no blocking any
"black boxes" in the network could have snooped on what people were
doing on newzbin, and collected evidence (assuming something criminal
was happening). Now people are using https to encrypt the traffic you
cannot prove any more than some access to that IP. You cannot tell what
access or any other details. If newzbin have some other site hosted on
the same IP, which would be a smart move, then nobody could prove which
site you were accessing even!
Yes, take civil action
for civil wrongs, and criminal action against criminals - but trying to
take the easy way out and censor the Internet simply won't work and it
is a waste of time trying.
When will they learn?
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ReplyDeleteI suspect BT will be back in court for not complying, it it's *that* simple - at which point they'll point out cleanfeed doesn't cover https (because obviously kiddie porn sites don't know about SSL :p).
Then the record companies are trying to stop TPB as well now.. more court action.
The only people winning out of this are lawyers. No sites get effectively blocked, and all that happens is BT wastes money.
The court order specifically states that BT are complying if they use Cleanfeed. Which is what makes it all the more silly.
ReplyDeleteErm.. just visited newzbin.com from my BT 21CN connection.. loaded fine without using SSL. :o
ReplyDeleteReading the published bits, it sounds like the judge is cornered. The law as written doesn't allow BT to pick and choose which illegal content their blocking system acts on, only whether they pay for one or not.
ReplyDeleteThe record companies don't want to pay for a blocking system (and BT is entitled to have them pay if they want a more powerful one than BT currently use). They're therefore happy (for now) to accept Cleanfeed as "good enough", because the judge would have to order the record companies to split the costs if BT had to upgrade Cleanfeed's technical capabilities.
It's a wonderful mess - and this is all before the Digital Economy Act gets into the picture, which, by my reading, makes it messier.
Well, I am glad to say that AAISP don't have any plans to do any blocking, and we'll work on ways around anything imposed on us (even if that means only offering a "business" service or some such).
ReplyDelete