A group of hackers is finishing work on software that would enable human rights workers to access censored web sites, in a move that ratchets up the "arms race" between free speech activists on the Internet and government censors in Asia and the Middle East.
The software, called "Peekabooty," was scheduled to be unveiled this past weekend but was pushed back to later this year to make sure it adequately protects those using it, said Oxblood Ruffin, a leader in the group.
"We believe that access to information is a basic human right guaranteed by law," he said following a weekend session on the project at the DefCon conference for hackers and network security advisors. "It is going to be an arms race."
Already there have been efforts to thwart the project. The United Arab Emirates blocked access to the web site of hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow last year right after the group announced plans for the anti-censorship software, said Bronc Buster, another member of the group, which calls itself "Hactivismo."
Along with the UAE, countries that prevent their citizens from accessing certain web sites they deem political or pornographic include Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, China and North Korea, the group said.
The Peekabooty software will circumvent filters designed to block access to Web sites by going around them, using a distributed privacy network, according to a Hactivismo fact sheet.
Nearly 30 volunteers are working on the project, including lawyers, programmers, students and human rights workers in the United States, China, Canada, Europe, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea, the group said.