using a VPN to bypass censorship in Quebec – Bill 59

From my post here: freespeechdefense.net

As passage of Quebec’s totalitarian bill C-59 looms imminent, it becomes more and more important how a free person, in what must remain a free nation, can obtain information that allows them to make freely made choices. Quebec Canada may be the first nation to pass a law such as this which forces a certain set of behaviours at the front end, instead of the more typical rear end approach used by most oligarchies where a person who doesn’t think the right thoughts or say the right things is put in a gulag or imprisoned in re-education facilities like China does etc,

but it won’t be the last. Germany has already brought on a czar who will monitor the internet for people resistant to the Merkel plan for national self-destruction.

So how can a free people remain free to access the information they need to guarantee freedom of decisions for themselves, their families and their futures?

The best way we know of is a program you can install on your computer or web browser called a ‘VPN’, or, ‘Virtual Private Network’. This is a handy little tool that tricks the internet into thinking your computer is somewhere other than in a zone which is information-restricted so sites like this one, or any other site you wish to see, may be blocked and you may be tracked for trying to see them. A VPN puts your computer in Australia or New York if you want or anywhere on its list of proxies.

(One other huge advantage for Canadians is it may let you watch some American programming on some of your favorite streaming services that are only marginally worth the money without it)

Here is how you can do it:

The work around is simple, people use VPNs and Proxies for all sorts of reasons, but Bil 59 and ones like it are the reason they exist. if you use a VPN, no-one should be able to track your surfing behaviour, there are thousands of options to choose from. Here are a few:

www.hidemyass.com
I think this is probably the most popular, fairly simple to use on any device, limited technical support, pretty good, i know people who have had accounts with them for over 5 years.

www.f-secure.com
A bit more corporate from F-Secure a big player in general IT security, good if VPNing multiple devices in a home or office, better technical support.

www.witopia.net
Just another VPN provider, smaller outfit, hear good things about them from someone who has a low tolerance for technical issues.

Here is a screen shot of the Witopia interface. A partial list of where you can tell the internet your machine is when you are browsing the internet.

Build your own
Well, that would be my first choice, cost is about the same, you get no support at all, but if you want to be 100% not even the VPN provider is snooping (I didn’t earn the nickname double condom for the reason you might think).

There are also proxy services you can use which are far simpler, tend to be less reliable and slow, but some even free (with loads of advertising). here’s a couple I have played around with before. hide.me and www.hidemyass.com/proxy

And a Giant list here proxy.org which you can use with plugins such as foxyproxy who offer their own VPN and proxy services.

This is something I would attend to rather sooner than later. Once Bill 59 comes in, rumour has it that Quebec will instruct all Internet Service Providers to block certain sites from its customers. A VPN will get around that without a problem for the user. My guess is Canada, Germany and Sweden and probably Norway will follow suit right after. A term of Hillary Clinton in the US likely will as well. Average cost for a professional VPN with good user interface and support is around $5.00/month. Have one beer at home instead of out and you cover it.