Defeating Singapore Internet Censorship - How to
Overview
This document explains how to defeat Singapore's Internet Censorship.
Singapore's internet censorship is now only half-hearted. The government
agency responsible states that 100 "high impact" sites are blocked.
For instance, www.playboy.com is blocked. Of course, blocking only
100 sites is a futile effort, and I am sure this is obvious to all. The
government probably finds it politically unacceptable to remove this censorship,
even if it is only a gesture. The government made this bed, and they can
lie in it. Censorship really irritates me, so I am pleased to present simple
instructions to bypass it.
Step 1.
You need a new proxy server address outside of Singapore.
You need to know the address of the proxy server, and the port numbers.
In Singpore, your browser is already configured to use a proxy server.
You need to get a new proxy server, one that does not censor sites.
Go here to find one:
http://allfreeweb.hypermart.net/
There is a database of proxy servers available.
You can also try this list.
http://home6.swipnet.se/~w-61609/Proxies.htm
(URL checked July 1999)
There is software to find proxy servers. Here is the home page of Proxy
Hunter:
http://member.netease.com/~windzh/indexe.htm
Step 2.
Change your browser's proxy setup.
You can follow the instructions you received with your internet package.
Don't forget the port number.
For Netscape, you find this screen in Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Proxies->Manual
Proxy Setup.
Finished
That's it. Test by browsing www.playboy.com
Theory
This is my poor understanding of what's involved:
Singapore Internet Service Providers must go through a government controlled
exhange to the internet. The equipment at the exchange blocks normal HTTP
requests sent by a browser without a proxy in use. So you must use a proxy.
But this equipment does not check what proxy you are using. To do so would
slow down the traffic too much. Hence, the loophole allowing you to use
another proxy.
What is a proxy server? See here for some information: http://megawaki.hypermart.net/
Happy surfing.
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