Protect the Net Toronto

Focusing on issues addressed with The OpenNet Initiative, experts on internet censorship are gathering today for Protect the Net Toronto, an event to "...educate and empower citizens worldwide about the perilous state of human rights online." The day will begin with The Geopolitics of Cyberspace, a discussion at which Ron Deibert, Director of The Citizen Lab at The Munk Centre for International Studies at The University of Toronto; Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey; Richard Rogers, the Head of New Media at The University of Amsterdam and The Director of The Munk Centre Janice Stein will be speaking.  Professor Deibert will then be joined by The University of Cambridge's Advanced Network Research Group Director Rafal Rohozinski to release psiphon, the censorship circumvention software tool that’s been in development at The Citizen Lab.

Psiphon will allow internet users in countries that censor internet content to bypass censorship filters and restrictions with the cooperation of psiphon network participants.  It is part of the broad effort to restore the promise of an internet capable of unfettered access and communication.

The Berkman Center’s Clinical Program in Cyberlaw assisted the Citizen Lab in assessing licensing issues for the psiphon software, which soon be available for download. The psiphon source code will be distributed under a GPL (General Public License) in keeping with the open and collaborative vision of the internet that projects like psiphon and The OpenNet Initiative are working to achieve.