Tor - more interesting than it sounds...

[aeon]

Having problems looking at the websites you really want see? Fed up with looking through lists of proxies? If so, check out http://tor.eff.org/

I downloaded, installed and set up the client on my Mac and presto, the bbc and all those other sites we generally can't see are available in all their glory. Software for Windows and Linux is also available on the site. It's Open Source, so the source code is also available if you want to tinker for yourself.

I'll be making a donation to the EFF when I get home...

[sui.generis]

Is there any risk associated with the use of this type of program?

[aeon]

Well, as with any other software it could crash your computer, wipe your hard-drive and thereby spoil your whole day. There is a disclaimer on the webpage... But, it didn't do any of those things for me. It's also unlikely to install malware on your computer: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a quality organisation, and software providers who publicise their names and let you inspect their source code aren't that stupid.

Read the webpage. It does what it says, but as with all things YMMV.

[sui.generis]

I was refering less to it's beta status and more to Beijing's reaction to it's use.

[roddy]

My guess (and it is a guess, they aren’t publishing any guidelines on this) is that you could use it with no restrictions up until the time it becomes so popular that a wholesale block on its use is put into effect. Unless you are actively seeking out genuinely subversive materials I think it’s unlikely anyone will take an interest in you individually.

[zhwj]

The name hasn't raised flags on the filters, yet. There are several of these programs floating around which do get name-blocked (so I won't list them here) - they get used by people seeking out both genuinely subsersive materials and eye-candy.

[Hero Doug]

anonymouse.org is also a good site, you have to surf through the actual site.

If you use Opera you can right click on the search box and "Add Search". Then whenever you come to a URL that won't load, you highlight it, right click and search with anonymouse. Very easy to do, nothing to install, besides Opera.

P.S. About what BeiJing is going to do, I'd imagine you'd be deported. Has anyone herd of a foreigner being jailed, and if so what for? What was the sentence like?

[liuzhou]

Has anyone herd of a foreigner being jailed, and if so what for?

Yes.

Fraud, theft and rape.

The rape person is enjoying the comforts of my local prison. Has been doing so for years!

I remember listening to a talk by the British number 2 in the embassy (sorry don't know official title. protocol folder is temporarily unavailable) who was explaing the work of the embassy and he mentioned several British prisoners in Chinese prisons.

Weren't there some Americans convicted recently in Shanghai for DVD piracy?

[This may not be my most coherent post ever, but I have just come back from a very annoying banquet with the city's leading assholes, so not in the best of moods!]

[Hero Doug]

Good examples, although I can't see looking at a website as such a major offense. I know many people who look at such sites without any trouble, wonder what the law says about it though.

[flameproof]

Has anyone herd of a foreigner being jailed, and if so what for?

A british, Lauchlan Campbell, got 15 years (12 served) in Shanghai for canabis smuggling:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=141&id=1339862004

He also wrote a book about it, but can't find it right now.

[Hero Doug]

flameproof, that's an excellent article thanks for the link. It goes a long way to prove what I've suspected for a long time. People don't know what their talking about.

I've been told everything from foreigners just get deported, which I can see for many things, to foreigners can't be touched by regular police, they need to call the special foreigner police, which I don't believe.

Nevertheless, the origional question remains, what's the law say about accessing restricted sites?

[liuzhou]

I doubt very much that the law says anything. The authorities have never admitted that they block sites so how could they legislate against circumventing the blocks which 'don't exist'?