Access denied: Citizens pay for Internet freedom

History commemorates those average citizens who literally pay with their lives to ensure freedom of speech as well as commendable world leaders with enough gumption to fight for inherent human rights. Governments honor them with holidays, medals and other accolades so that the world will recognize the value of such pioneering efforts.

Yet with the Internet now allowing individuals to spread their voices unabated in fleet-footed, digital fashion, some authoritative governments now consider such virtual influence to be virulent annoyances. Some government agencies, including those in China, Iran, Burma, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, even demand that Internet service providers (ISPs), like Google, censor, filter or restrict discussions or entire websites that may offend or assault certain political or sociocultural sensibilities, according to extensive research conducted by the anticensorship organization OpenNet Initiative.

“ISPs are only one possible choke point in a global Internet. As the Internet increases in popularity around the world, we are beginning to see evidence of Internet filtering at other points in the network. Of particular interest are online service providers (OSPs) that host social networking services, blogs and Web sites. Because so many Internet users are dependent on OSPs to publish content, censorship by these entities has the potential to be a powerful control on online speech,” states the OpenNet Initiative in its latest book "Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rule in Cyberspace."

Software companies recognize the public's demand to stop such suppression and are now marketing software programs that circumvent country-led censorship, filtering and other aggressive blocking tactics. In short, citizens no longer pay with their lives for freedom but to keep basic freedoms alive in their country.

Specifically, many citizens in affected nations obtain software subscriptions that offer encrypted routes to cloak their Internet activities for as little as $4.99 per week. For example, paid virtual private networks (VPNs) act as a tunnel that allows citizens to unblock websites while making their locations appear in less restrictive countries, such as the United States, according to SurfBouncer Personal VPN®, one such software company that offers the service.

A monthly payment of $14.95 to Freedur® Proxy Service similarly offers expatriates VPN and proxy server access to surf the Web anonymously and bypass firewalls. Aside from offering this plug and play service for Windows and Macintosh computer users, paying members can also download software to run on their cell phones, including the iPhone®. Freedur® occasionally gives away free annual subscriptions to users restricted in China via the website ChinaHush.com.

For those individuals who cannot afford to acquire such subscriptions, many companies offer free downloadable programs, such as the popular UltraSurf 10.03™ program by United States–based UltraReach Internet Corporation.

Restrictive countries still have the upper hand

Although these roundabout tactics help some users regain their virtual civil liberties, reports by various organizations indicate government agencies still retain the upper hand when it comes to Internet censorship. Many ISPs, OSPs and other Internet companies seem to cater to some of the countries’ requests to remove specific information from search engines, websites, etc., or opt to self-censor to avoid conflicts.

For example, Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) notes on its website that YouTube℠ recently stymied Turkish authorities’ threats to block the entire site by removing a video that showed a Turkish politician “in a hotel room with a female staffer.”

Facebook™ also recently deactivated the personal account of U.S.-based activist Najat Kessler. She believes the deactivation was prompted by her criticism of Islam, according to the OpenNet Initiative.

Google, however, is taking steps to reduce censorship following its recent well-publicized battle with China. The ISP giant now publishes the Google Transparency Report, which biannually publishes the number of requests it receives from government agencies to remove content from its search engine, Gmail™ and YouTube services. From January to June 2010, the United States led with 4,287 requests. Google removed 128, the report shows.

Also, Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently criticized authoritative governments’ rule over Internet censorship, saying during an early November 2010 Council on Foreign Relations event that China’s strict controls will eventually fail.

"Ultimately, the people will win over the government. The yearning is so strong," says Schmidt, according to an IDG News Service report published on Computerworld.com.