Psiphon is an award winning circumvention system that uses a
combination of secure communication and obfuscation technologies. The Psiphon
codebase is developed and maintained by Psiphon Inc which operates systems and
technologies designed to assist Internet users to securely bypass the
content-filtering systems used by governments to impose censorship of the
Internet. Psiphon is specifically designed to support users in countries
considered to be "enemies of the Internet".
The original concept for Psiphon was developed by the Citizen Lab at the
University of Toronto, building upon previous generations of web proxy
software systems, such as the "SafeWeb" and "Anonymizer" systems.
In 2007 Psiphon Inc was established as an independent Canadian corporation that
develops advanced censorship circumvention systems and technologies.
Psiphon Inc and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs,
University of Toronto occasionally collaborate on research projects,
through the Psi-Lab partnership. Psiphon currently consists of three
separate but related open source software projects:
3.X – A cloud based run-time tunneling system.
2.X – A cloud-based secure proxy system. 1.X – The original home based server
software. Psiphon 1.X is no longer supported by Psiphon Inc. or the Citizen
Lab. History
The original concept for Psiphon envisioned an easy-to-use and
lightweight Internet proxy, designed to be installed and operated by individual
computer users who would then host private connections for friends and
family in countries where the Internet is censored. According to Nart
Villeneuve "The idea is to get to install this on their computer, and then
deliver the location of that circumventor, to people in filtered
countries by the means they know to be the most secure. What we're trying to
build is a network of trust among people who know each other, rather than a large
tech network that people can just tap into." Psiphon 1.0 was launched by the
Citizen Lab on 1 December 2006 as open source software.
In Early-2007, Psiphon inc was established as a Canadian corporation
independent of the Citizen Lab and the University of Toronto. The original code
was made available under the GNU General Public License. In 2008, Psiphon was
awarded the Netexplorateur award by the French Senate. In 2009, Psiphon was
recognized with The Economist Best New Media Award by Index on Censorship. In
2011, Psiphon 1.X was officially retired and is no longer actively supported by
Psiphon Inc., or the Citizen Lab. In 2008, Psiphon inc was awarded two
sub-grants via the Internews operated SESAWE project(s). The source of funding
came from the European Parliament and the US State Department Internet Freedom
program, administered by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The
objective of these grants was to develop Psiphon into a scalable circumvention
solution capable of supporting large numbers of users across different
geographic regions. The core development team grew to include a group of
experienced security and encryption software engineers that previously
developed Ciphershare, a secure document management system. During the period of
grant support, Psiphon inc developed Psiphon 3, a lightweight tunneling
client that runs on Windows and Android platforms.
In 2010, Psiphon inc began providing services to the Broadcasting Board of
Governors, US Department of State, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Psiphon inc currently operates on the basis revenues generated from commercial
operations. In 2012, Psiphon inc began development
of a mobile version of Psiphon 3 for use with phones running Android.
See also Freedom of information
GNUnet Hacktivism
Internet censorship OpenNet Initiative
The Six/Four System References
External links Official website
Software jumps China's firewall for news from Tibet
BBC: Web censorship 'bypass' unveiled Canadian software touted as answer to
Internet censorship abroad Computerworld: Liberation software
designed on basis of trust Reuters: Canada experts find path round
Internet firewalls Al Jazeera's Listening Post story about
psiphon on YouTube Index on Censorship – Psiphon wins
Economist New Media award at Freedom of Expression awards 2009