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2
Jul
State of Freegate in Iran

State of Freegate in Iran

There’s finally confirmation: Freegate has cut Iran’s access by 75%. For over a week now we’ve been trying to figure out what exactly happened to Freegate’s ability to provide Iranians with unfilitered Internet access, but now there’s an answer.

It’s public knowledge that Freegate was founded to help the Chinese get around the ‘Great Firewall’. From the Wikipedia page:

Freegate is software that enables internet users from mainland China, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and UAE, among others, to view websites blocked by their governments. The program takes advantage of a range of open proxies, which allow users to penetrate firewalls used to block web sites. Developer Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT) estimates Freegate has 200,000 users.

I’m not sure when that “200,000 users” is from, but I can tell you that the number of users in Iran was much higher than that. Since Freegate received its last major funding, it’s pretty much been up to volunteers and (I can only assume) donated/university bandwidth. This can only get a project so far. Once the university servers have been blocked or the capacity has been reached, the entire Freegate project — as far as Iran is concerned — becomes either slow or inaccessible.

After the election in Iran came down, they put their resources behind the people but were quickly hit with the realities of technical limitations. Bandwidth, servers, everything are expensive: especially when one is providing a method for getting around a government like the one in power in Iran.

Update: Private individuals cannot run Freegate “nodes” or servers as the source code nor binary for the server are available. Freegate runs all their “nodes” internally, which is a smart move given their objectives.

Related posts:

  1. Freegate is Working in Iran!
  2. Haystack: Good Luck Finding That Needle
  3. State of the Iran Proxies
  4. Anti-Censorship Software Licensed by US Government for Export to Iran
  5. How You Can Help: Iran 2.0 & Haystack
Posted under Iran, Technology by Austin

394 Responses


  • If Global Internet Freedom Consortium (internetfreedom.org) only has enough resources for China, perhaps a group of organizations like Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, etc. could sponsor access for other countries.

    by: Joe, Jul 3rd at 12:09 am

  • Do they accept donations? Is there contact information?

    by: Siri, Jul 3rd at 10:45 am

  • Since more and more governments are passing legislature AGAINST government blocking internet access, and consequences for those companies selling internet filters & blocking equipment (i.e. Noika & Siemens), this should be easier to do. We just need to start flooding NGO sites. Reporters without Borders looks very attractive about now…
    Anyone interested in starting a email/letter-writing campaign with that site??

    by: Deveney Tucker, Jul 5th at 6:49 pm

  • Please help us. they increased filterings and most of the
    proxy by- passer are not useful anymore :(

    A user from Iran

    by: alamoot, Jul 9th at 2:13 pm

  • tanks

    by: Amir, Jul 9th at 2:26 pm

  • IRAN TV is lying all the time…Inside of Iran we don`t trust them so we have to look for news from sattelite TV to see VOA and BBC …Yet Iran make problems and we can`t watch VOA or BBC ..and when we want to know the news then all the good websites that we can trust are filtered…Most Iranian use yahoo mail and when it`s the time we know knows about protest then Iran Gov make problems on yahoo mail too…Free gate was a big hope for us and we could access the news in internet but unfortunately it doesn`t work now…

    by: Fatemeh, Jul 9th at 3:59 pm

  • please help the Iranian people in this special and very important time.
    somebody in Iran, think that the Freegate dealed with Ahmadinejad regime!! because the ‘Freegate’ stopped to Iran users in curently crises.
    Iranian younges need to informataion and found it, with or without Freegate. but we hoped you help and support us, infact help and support freedom, democracy and human rights.
    sorry for my bad English…

    by: journalist, Jul 9th at 4:48 pm

  • Please help Iranian in their try to reach democracy ! We need to deliver information with outside & also inside Iran easily. We should let the world know what is going on in our country
    Thank you for your co-opration in advance.

    by: Soheil, Jul 10th at 12:31 am

  • thanks
    down with molla

    by: بهزاد, Jul 10th at 2:05 am

  • لطفا کمکمان کنید

    by: reza, Jul 10th at 3:53 am

  • Please help us

    by: Bita, Jul 10th at 4:52 am

  • Thanks
    please help us to achieve free internet , and pleas find a good anti filter for facebook and youtube
    I asked you to send new proxy to my email

    by: nima, Jul 10th at 6:07 am

  • dsadsafsdvgfsvgds

    by: spaceman, Jul 10th at 8:19 am

  • dear austin please help us and finish the program faster , its too hard to hear the NEWS here ,do it before they filter your domain :D ,
    freedom is our goal

    by: hooman, Jul 11th at 5:38 am

  • Down with khameneyi, down with dictator , f***k basiji

    by: hooman, Jul 11th at 5:42 am

  • TO: Obama and EU leaders

    The world is going to be exploded and then Saheb-al-zaman will apear and the world will be in peace

    and Islamic justice will rull all qver the world.
    Do not surprise.this is the idea of the Shia the religion of the iran rulers.
    According this ideaology the world should be ruined and burnt and exploded to make this appearance

    possible.
    When the iranian ruleres are trying to handle the nuclear weapons and clearly lie to all the world.
    The Europian union and the United States of America are planning for political programes and trading

    with the favorite situations that they make!
    The world understood that the elections in Iran was illegal and the people did not choose Ahmadinejad.
    The world knows that this government is making atomic bomb.
    The world knows all the crimes against humanity in Iran.
    BUT THEY WASTE AND LOOSE THEIR TIME.
    The funny method of dialog and boycutt is enough.They want to kill the word for appearance of saheb-al-zaman.
    IT IS TOO LATE.
    And this illegal government will burn the world.

    by: hope, Jul 11th at 6:33 am

  • سلام احتياج به فيلتر شكن دارم مرسي

    by: arsalan, Jul 11th at 12:14 pm

  • hgjghbjh

    by: arash, Jul 11th at 3:37 pm

  • salam,lotfan moshkele freegate ro baresi konid,vaghean be yek filter shekan ehtiyaj hast…!!!
    mamun

    by: mari, Jul 11th at 5:09 pm

  • hello, please help me, we havn,t use very internet sites we hope to your helps, for thanks

    by: پونه, Jul 12th at 5:36 am

  • Thanks for fighting,
    fighting for freedom and democracy

    by: Atabak, Jul 12th at 8:02 am

  • درود
    خسته نباشيد
    من فيلتر شكن ميخواستم
    كمك كنيد لطفا

    با تشكر
    مرد آريايي

    by: عابر, Jul 12th at 1:12 pm

  • use this:transcape2.info

    by: ali, Jul 12th at 2:55 pm

  • hi,we need new web blocker.,

    by: mehdi, Jul 14th at 4:39 pm

  • We tender best gratitudes for all your attendance about iranian people … we here never have a sense of lonely because of your backup and presence,wish you the bests our good friends all over the world.
    Hope of victory,the hope of correct votes and a better tomorrow.

    by: Farbod, Jul 14th at 6:14 pm

  • با سلام
    یک فیلتر شکن برای اطلاع از اخبار می خواستم

    by: mahmood, Jul 14th at 10:57 pm

  • anti filter

    by: mehriar, Jul 15th at 12:21 am

  • سلام لطفا یک فیلتر شکن خوب میخواستم

    by: feryaleh2003, Jul 15th at 1:29 am

  • Hello,
    please help the Iranian people in this special and very important time,,,Tanck,s Pooya Irani

    by: Pooya, Jul 15th at 6:13 pm

  • Thanx for your consideration and help, you give us hope to continue…

    by: Marzie, Jul 18th at 8:15 am

  • man az koja filter shekan begiram?!

    by: assal, Jul 18th at 2:46 pm

  • filtershekan

    by: homid, Jul 20th at 1:57 am

  • filtershekan

    by: behnam, Jul 20th at 2:04 am

  • hi.
    pleas help me. i want proxy
    thanks.

    by: hossein, Jul 20th at 3:45 am

  • I have a dream.free iran without khameni and ahmadinejad.

    by: leander, Jul 20th at 5:24 am

  • سلام.من بیشتر از اکسیژن. به پراکسی نیاز دارم.

    by: mostafa, Jul 20th at 6:02 am

  • سلام . تو روخدا یه نرم افزار انتی فیلتر می خواستم
    تو رو خدا کمکم کنید
    با تشکر خانم فیروزه

    by: فیروزه جعفری, Jul 20th at 3:23 pm

  • hi
    i need a new proxy in iran
    ican not use internet and send movie and picture for bbc and voa from tehran
    please help me soon
    thanks

    by: doctor roshan, Jul 20th at 7:18 pm

  • Hello

    We need anti proxy in Iran….. when will you provide this software? …. what can we do now?

    Please help up In Iran…

    by: Soroosh, Jul 20th at 11:32 pm

  • سلام
    به يك فيلتتر شكن قوي نياز دارم

    by: sasan, Jul 21st at 12:53 am

  • please help us in Iran with provide the anti filter software.
    here we have so problem to access to the internet.
    they filter very site and we aren’t able to communicate with world

    by: Homay, Jul 21st at 7:36 am

  • thank s for your kidness at this situation we need it so much i cant download freegate now

    by: sasha, Jul 23rd at 3:45 am

  • با سلام اگر ممکن هست یک نرم افزار فیلترشکن میخواستم باتشکر

    by: reza, Jul 23rd at 12:55 pm

  • با سلام اگر ممکن هست یک نرم افزار فیلترشکن میخواستم باتشکر

    by: esy, Jul 23rd at 4:01 pm

  • hi i need a web proxy or anti filter in iran immediatly..tnx a lot

    by: foad, Jul 23rd at 5:10 pm

  • filter shekannnnnnnnnnnnnnn
    plz help us

    by: saria.ariayi, Jul 24th at 1:54 am

  • سلام من فيلتر شكن مي خواستم . كمك

    by: ahoo, Jul 26th at 11:56 am

  • please help us

    by: freedom fighter, Jul 27th at 10:36 am

  • help us please we are jailor

    by: freedom fighter, Jul 27th at 10:37 am

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