[liberationtech] Fwd: Haystack

[Leila Zia]

> But I wonder if someone could take a few extra minutes to lay out the
basics.

   Haystack claims that they have developed a software which keeps Iranians
safe (from government of Iran) while browsing the internet. The main issues
are: 1) the software is not available for download!! Some call it a
vaporware. 2) The software is not open source. The code of the software
should be open so that *anyone* can read it and try their best to hack it.
That's the only way these kind of softwares can become robust. 3) lots of
donations are received by Haystack (thanks to the extreme media coverage in
the past months) and there is no clue what they are doing with this money.


On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 10:37 AM, Joshua Cohen <jcohen57 at stanford.edu>wrote:

> I have been following this thread with HUGE interest, but very partial
> understanding. It is *really* important, and I am grateful to the
> participants. But I wonder if someone could take a few extra minutes to lay
> out the basics.
>
>
> On Aug 19, 2010, at 8:31 PM, Jim Youll wrote:
>
>
> On Aug 19, 2010, at 6:42 AM, Mahmood Enayat wrote:
>
> The big players of circumvention solutions, which have received less
> attention, are all available here: www.sesawe.net , Why Haystack is not
> available online like them?
>
>
>
> Cat and mouse can be played, yes.
> But this technology is looking more and more like merely a way for
> privileged, warm, well-fed, free, safe Westerners to feel good about
> themselves while putting already at-risk populations at even greater risk of
> trouble.
>
> Laws, guns, and prisons trump technological finesse. Period. This is not
> negotiable.
>
> Keep in mind that US companies providing equipment to Internet providers
> are also providing access and monitoring capabilities in that equipment...
> at full OC3 speeds...
>
> How many of the people known to have been arrested or silenced were using,
> or thought they were using, some kind of 'safe' technology to subvert both
> technological blockades and national laws? Until we know that, should we be
> prescribing these cures to patients we've never met and can't watch over?
>
>
> 2002:
> "...But Chinese surfers often use proxy servers - websites abroad that let
> surfers reach blocked sites - to evade the Great Red Firewall. Such
> techniques are routinely posted online or exchanged in chat rooms. But
> China's 45 million internet users face considerable penalties if they are
> found looking at banned sites. According to human rights activists, dozens
> of people have been arrested for their online activities on subversion
> charges."
> - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2234154.stm
>
> 2006:
> ... Those attempting to access these banned sites are automatically
> reported to the Public Security Bureau. Internet police in cities such as
> Xi'an and Chongqing can reportedly trace the activities of the users without
> their knowledge and monitor their online activities by various technical
> means."
> - http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20060201001
>
> 2008:
> "...Around 30 journalists were known to be in prison and at least 50
> individuals were in prison for posting their views on the internet. People
> were often punished simply for accessing banned websites"
> - http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/china/report-2008
>
> 2010:
> "... The ministry of public security said 5,394 people had been arrested
> and that over 9,000 websites had been deleted for having pornographic
> content. The ministry did not say how many people had subsequently been put
> on trial. The authorities released the figures with a warning that its
> policing of the internet would intensify in 2010 in order to preserve 'state
> security'. China maintains strict censorship of the internet in order to
> make sure that unhealthy content, including criticism of the Communist
> Party, does not reach a wide audience."
> -
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6921568/China-arrests-5000-for-internet-pornography-offences.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> liberationtech mailing list
> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>
> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> liberationtech mailing list
> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>
> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/attachments/20100819/3c252e6e/attachment.html>