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Blocking Software Reports

BESS
Cyber Patrol
WebSENSE
Net Nanny
SmartFilter
X-Stop / 8e6
I-Gear
CYBERsitter




About Peacefire
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Blocking Software FAQ
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The world's largest distribution network for proxy sites to circumvent Internet
censorship
2.2 million subscribers as of August 2012



How to disable your blocking software | Why we do this
You'll understand when you're younger
About Peacefire | Join Peacefire | Blocking Software FAQ | Contact us | Press
information


To get around your blocking software:      

 * 1. First, try a circumvention site like https://www.MouseMatrix.com/. Be sure
   to type https at the beginning of the URL, not 'http'. Even though this site
   has been widely known for months, many networks have their blocking software
   set up incorrectly so that sites beginning with https:// are not blocked, and
   https://www.MouseMatrix.com/ will still be accessible.

 * 2. If that doesn't work, you can join our e-mail list where we mail out new
   Circumventor sites every 3 or 4 days. Of course, employees of blocking
   software companies have gotten on this list as well, so they add our sites to
   their blocked-site database as soon as we mail them out, but in most places
   it takes 3-4 days for the blocked-site list to be updated. So the latest one
   that we mail out, should usually still work.

 * 3. If you have a computer with an uncensored Internet connection, you can
   follow these easy steps to set up your own Circumventor site. For example, if
   you want to get around blocking software at work, and you have a home
   computer with an uncensored Internet connection, you can install the
   Circumventor on your home computer. Then it will give you a new URL, and you
   can take that URL in with you to work and type it into your browser to get
   around the network blocking software.

 * 4. If you're trying to get around blocking software that's installed on the
   local computer, and not on the network, use these instructions to boot from
   the Ubuntu Live CD. (These instructions include tips on how to tell the
   difference between blocking software that's installed "on the local computer"
   and software that's installed "on the network".)

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HIGHLIGHTS REEL

Past news items that generated the most interest:

Report on double standards for anti-gay "hate speech"
Peacefire created four pages, on free servers such as GeoCities, which consisted
of anti-gay quotes copied from four different conservative Web sites: Dr. Laura,
Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family.
Using anonymous HotMail accounts, we then sent the URLs of the newly created
pages to six blocking software companies, recommending that they block the newly
created pages as "hate speech". After the companies had agreed to block the
sites we created, we told them that all the quotes on those pages had been taken
from the four conservative Web sites, and asked why they didn't block those
pages as well. The blocking companies did not block those Web sites and did not
respond to our inquiries.

WebSENSE publishing daily porn links
For five months, the makers of WebSENSE blocking software published a daily list
of pornographic Web sites that were not blocked by their competitors, allegedly
to show that their own product was superior. Students using the Internet in
schools that were using those competitors' products, could access the WebSENSE
site and get a list of unblocked porn sites, by clicking a link agreeing that
they were over 18 years of age.

Human rights pages blocked
In December 2000, Peacefire released Amnesty Intercepted, a report on human
rights pages including Amnesty International that were blocked by blocking
software.

Candidates' sites blocked during 2000 elections
In November 2000, Peacefire released a list of political candidates whose sites
had been blocked as "pornography" by major blocking programs. One candidate had
carried the statement on his Web site, "We should demand that all public schools
and libraries install and configure Internet Filters." He changed his position
after finding out that his own site was blocked, and later became a plaintiff in
the ACLU's lawsuit to overturn a law requiring blocking software in schools and
libraries.

Pro-blocking site blocked
In July 1997, librarian David Burt launched the now-defunct FilteringFacts.org
site, advocating the use of blocking software in libraries. The site was later
blocked as a "Drugs/Alcohol" site by SurfWatch (which has since been bought out
by Cyber Patrol).

Install the Circumventor
Is MouseMatrix.com already blocked for you because it's been widely known for so
long? This is how you create your own semi-private URL for getting around
blocking software.



Off-site research links



 * Ben Edelman's reports, used as evidence in the ACLU's legal challenge to a
   law requiring blocking software in schools and libraries, discuss the large
   numbers of sites classified inaccurately by blocking software.
 * Faulty Filters: How Content Filters Block Access to Kid-Friendly Information
   on the Internet. From the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
 * Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report, from the Free Expression Policy
   Project
 * Two reports from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation -- Access
   Denied, released in December 1997, and Access Denied 2.0, released in March
   2000 -- discuss targeting of non-pornographic gay and lesbian Web sites by
   blocking software.