This is going to be a short diary about how you can help opressed people around the world achieve freedom of information.
I am very interested in the Iranian situation. It is so profound on many levels. The people there have been villified for years. Now, because of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube we have a different idea of who the Iranian people are and what kind of fight they are waging. A good deal of this fight is over the internet.
There have been desperate calls for proxies so that the activists can keep information flowing out of the country without being detected and arrested.
This freedom of information is key to the world witnessing the story behind the Iranian governments twisting of facts. I truly believe that this uprising has opened the door for people all over the world to have greater access to the world community despite their governments efforts to close them off from us.
This revolution of technology has made bombing Iran an abhorrent thought for most of us (not psycho killers like John Bolton). It has lessened the threat of military action against Iran and propelled the world's understanding of this amazing culture.
Well now there is great news out there for the Iranians and perhaps other opressed peoples in the world.
From Austin Heap:
In the upcoming days, Daniel Colascione and I will release a new program to provide unfiltered internet access to the people of Iran. A software package for Windows, Mac and Unix systems, called Haystack, will specifically target the Iranian government's web filtering mechanisms.
Similar to Freegate, the program directed against China's "great firewall," once installed Haystack will provide completely uncensored access to the internet in Iran while simultaneously protecting the user's identity. No more Facebook blocks, no more government warning pages when you try to load Twitter, just unfiltered Internet.
The network will be supported by donated high-quality servers outside of Iran. We will be able to provide an individual user with unfettered internet access that costs the donor $0.015 to $0.0375 per month.
This is so exciting and a great breakthrough for freedom. Here is Austin's latest post.
A lot of people have written asking how they can help without being a tech wizard. Well, here’s the answer:
DONATE
In the past four weeks (three of which I took off of work) a lot has happened. First a tiny proxy list on Twitter, then a more organized effort called Proxyheap, and now Haystack, a completely custom protocol for beating the Iran governments filters.
While trying to finish up Haystack, I tried desperately to find an airline that would sponsor 4 flights (on very short notice, this Wednesday in fact) to no avail. I tried reaching out to contacts that worked there or at other companies who might be able to sponsor something on short notice, but it’s not coming together fast enough.
One Haystack launches, we’ll likely run out of bandwidth/servers from the people who have volunteered machines and resources quickly as the network grows, so this fund is also a pool for that. Here’s how the donations will break down:
- Flights — I need to get four key players to San Francisco on Wednesday, this is expensive on such short notice but 24 hours feels like five weeks right now.
- Servers and bandwidth for Haystack — as the network grows (and/or servers get blocked by the IRI) we’ll have to react fast and build in new capacity.
- Organization costs — a non-profit is being setup right now to handle the censorship of Persians in Iran. The legal time has been donated by a great organization (more details soon) but there are various fees involved in making this happen.
- Left over money — anything that is left over we will split evenly between Amnesty International and Tehran Bureau, two amazing organizations that have been instrumental in the fight for freedom.
We need your help Internet, thanks for reading.
We don't have a lot of money in our house right now because my husband's work has slowed down tremendously and I can't find a job, but I did donate $10 even though it won't help a lot, if everyone ponied up a little we could make this happen NOW. How amazing is that?
Allah Akbar!!!