Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: envious on December 25, 2011, 06:59 pm
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By now i'm sure many of you have heard of SOPA or the STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT. It is essentially a bill that will allow for censoring the US internet and block DNS resolves to foreign servers that host pirated content. There is more to it including forcing search engines to censor results, block ad revenue to these servers etc... The main issue is the DNS censorship. It has basically plotted the media industry against the tech industry with one exception, GoDaddy. GoDaddy has been officially boycotted by users of Reddit and over 100,000 domains have already been transferred. Although this is a drop in the bucket to GoDaddy, it still shows what an outrage this is. Google, Apple, and all other tech giants have voiced their opposition for this bill claiming it will essentially 'break the internet.' It might for your average Joe, but heres why it won't make a bit of difference for tech-savvy people. Do some research if you have not heard of this yet, it's all over Google.
DeSOPA; Mozilla plugin already developed to circumvent SOPA by changing your DNS settings to a foreign server. Simple elegant solution, but probably easy to block in the future.
Namecoins: A p2p based DNS system based off the bitcoin architecture (.bit). SOPA will be the thing that brings namecoins into the limelight.
Tor: These piracy sites will move their content onto .bit and .onion networks, where censorship is next to impossible, so far.
WIth these technologies and the encryption already available to all forms of the piracy scene, this bill is a joke IMO. It does far more harm then it will do "good" and won't change a damn thing. They will effectively block more legit websites then illegitimate, and thus breaking the internet as so many tech giants have proclaimed. They will effectively have to make p2p networks illegal, which is impossible to enforce. Good luck Congress with your minute understanding of technology and how the internet works. Discuss.
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SOPA will block tor....
You must not now enough about SOPA.
http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html
Read up :P
-DF
drugfather
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How can you effectively block Tor? China hasn't seemed to be able to do it yet. More blocked countries... more bridges.
Also you must keep in mind that our government created Tor to hide our spies communications overseas. To do this they needed 'white noise' (other users using the service) or fingerprinting the traffic would pinpoint the spies locations. I don't think they will block something they developed. But hey, I could be wrong.
Also I think alot of the blocking tor stuff is speculation because of the bills vague wording. They COULD block tor, not necessarily that they will?
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How can you effectively block Tor? China hasn't seemed to be able to do it yet. More blocked countries... more bridges.
Also you must keep in mind that our government created Tor to hide our spies communications overseas. To do this they needed 'white noise' (other users using the service) or fingerprinting the traffic would pinpoint the spies locations. I don't think they will block something they developed. But hey, I could be wrong.
Also I think alot of the blocking tor stuff is speculation because of the bills vague wording. They COULD block tor, not necessarily that they will?
I'm not worried about it. I have a set of computer/network skills good enough to get around any government network blockades (including experience working for the government) :p I'm not worried myself about it. I'm worried about the average user. It'll change the way the internet works for the average American.
I believe internet should be free as possible and I'm not close minded when it comes to the average user with a computer and internet access... I worry for them, not myself.
-DF
drugfather
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Unfortunately it will probably be effective for the average user.
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Unfortunately it will probably be effective for the average user.
It will be! That's why I stand for their freedom. By allowing something like this to happen it affects us too! It's basically saying: "We allow you to take away our internet freedom!" You and I are fortunate to know the go arounds to network blockades and such but what about the rest of the people? How will the internet be for them once SOPA is enacted.
Fortunately, I'll see you on the other side even if SOPA is enacted :)
-DF
drugfather