Internet has
offered a plethora of opportunities for us to get access to a vast content on
the web, connect with friends on a single click, apply for a job, plan a
holiday trip, book tickets and much more. We are lucky to be born in this
digital era, where most of the work can be done online, thus saving a huge
amount of time that would be otherwise wasted while standing in long queues. From booking a cab ride to booking a hotel,
from paying the electricity bill to online transactions, all this can be done
sitting in the comfort of our homes. Internet is a digital library where we can
get any information on any subject and this is really a boon to mankind.
Unfortunately,
censorship in India still holds its roots where we are devoid access to stuff
that may be inappropriate on moral, political, or religious grounds. Many of
the film makers have complained about the authoritarian style of the censor board,
which is very strict on giving approval to the movies made on a controversial
subject. Same is the case with Internet.
Why is there a need of Internet
Censorship?
Often in our
lives, we face restrictions on surfing the Internet. Many colleges, companies
or organisations block stuff for their own benefits. Some of the reasons for
this blockage could be listed here:
- Moral grounds- The government may block websites which it considers inappropriate (especially for children). The issues due to which a website is banned may include hate speech, privacy or any content that may spread communal riots.
- Economic grounds- Many countries block certain websites and tools for their own selfish interest. Skype, a world famous tool for video calling has been banned in some of the Middle East countries since its free service offers a disadvantage to government owned telecom providers.
- Bandwidth issues- Some of the organisations may block such sites which consume more bandwidth than usual, like video streaming, online gaming sites.
These are
only a few of the numerous reasons why you may be getting an ‘Access Denied’
message every time you visit a particular website. Anyways, in my opinion,
blocking the content on the Internet is not a solution since it gives rise to
another activity- charging money from the user in the name of providing access
to the content that he/she wishes to see, but has been blocked. I can narrate
my personal experience in this regard. When I was browsing on a torrent
website, I found an ad like this- ‘Hide your IP address by purchasing our VPN’.
A Virtual Private Network (or VPN) is a type of network connection that allows
users to browse the web securely and anonymously. And believe me, the cost of
using their VPN services was around 16$. It is also insane to block a website
on moral grounds since every individual has the right to decide for
himself/herself what is right and what is wrong from his/her own perspective.
One thing that is considered inappropriate by one individual may be completely
normal for some other person. So every person should be given the freedom to
choose if the content is OK for him/her, and this has to be done individually.
Tricks to bypass all restrictions on
the Internet
Enough of
arguments now, let us learn a few tips and get to know some of the tools for
viewing blocked content on the Internet. Sounds interesting? And yes, there is
nothing illegal and breaking of laws involved here.
1.)
Webpages through Email-
The blocked
website can be accessed through an email sent to a predefined email address.
The two most commonly used websites for this purpose are-
i.
www.www4mail.org- Send an email to
‘www4mail@wm.ictp.trieste.it’, providing the URL of the website you wish to
access, in the body of the email.
ii.
www.web2mail.com- Send an email to ‘www@web2mail.com’
requesting the web page you want to access.
You will get
an email with the webpage (in the attachment) that you have requested.
2.)
Connect to the Mobile version of the
website-
Another way
to view a website if it has been blocked is to connect to the mobile version of
that website. Sometimes, an organisation or a company that has blocked access
to a particular website does not care to put restrictions on the mobile version
of the same site. In that case, you can always connect to the mobile version of
that site. For e.g., if you want to connect to YouTube, open the browser and
type the URL as-
Similarly to
connect to the mobile version of Facebook, type the URL as-
3.) Psiphon-
Psiphon is another such software that will enrich your
browsing experience. I have used this tool and I am sure you will love this
software once you have used it. It allows users to bypass all firewall
protection, filtering devices and blockage mechanisms. Another surprising
feature of Psiphon is that it will not consume your net pack. Just connect your
device to a modem or Wi-Fi connection and enjoy unlimited surfing. The only
limitation with Psiphon is its slow speed, which can be quite irritating if you
are watching HD videos.
4.) Unblocking
Torrents-
Downloading torrent files involves P2P (Peer to Peer)
sharing where you download files from a host computer to your computer over a
network. P2P sharing consumes a lot of bandwidth hence torrent sites are mostly
blocked by network administrators. Even if they are not blocked, you are not
able to download files due to their firewall restrictions. There is a website
called www.torrent2exe.com through which
you can directly download torrent files on your computer. It simply changes the
extension of torrent file from .torrent to .exe. It appears to the system
administrator that you are downloading an executable file. Once the .exe file
is downloaded, execute it and it automatically starts downloading the torrent.
5.)
Browser
add-ons & extensions-
Each browser provides add-ons or extensions which simply
add to your browsing experience. These extensions are used to connect to a
proxy server and allow you to surf anonymously on the Internet. Simply open
Google Chrome and type the URL-
Search for a keyword ‘proxy’ and it will display various
extensions which can be used to direct you to proxy servers.
These are a few techniques which can be used to access
blocked content on the Internet. So next time you surf the web, don’t worry
about any restrictions or blockage because you have these wonderful tools for
your rescue. If you have any more techniques, please share it with us in the
comment section below.
Happy surfing!
