per’s posterous

Lazyweb: turn the new version of Opera into an unstoppable grid of proxies for Iranians
Posted by Cory Doctorow, June 16, 2009 7:41 AM | permalink
Danny O'Brien's got a doozy of a lazyweb idea: "Here's a way to mash-up two of the most talked-about Internet issues today. Opera launched their web-server-in-a-browser, Opera Unite, today. Iranian protestors are looking for proxies to get around Iran's blocking. So why not write a Opera Unite service that acts as a simple, quick-and-dirty proxy for Iranians? Danny O'Brien lays down the challenge."

   Instead of a real http proxy (like Psiphon), the best implementation would simply let you append a URL to your Unite URL and get a website back, like "http://foo.bar.operaunite.com/www.cnn.com/". That would get rid of handing over your cookies to an unknown third-party; it'd probably also discourage people using the service for private communications (no https, in Unite -- it'd be great if Opera fixed that!).

   Maybe I'd also stick in a geoip check to make sure the incoming requests are coming from a known Iranian IP block, just so users could feel worthy that they're just catering to Iranians (you could pull them out of this free geolocation database). That way we wouldn't be creating a permanent global clunky, insecure proxy network -- or at least not until Iran recovers and starts its own phishing services.

   I know I'm not a good enough JS programmer to pull this off, but the Unite JavaScript API certainly appears to permit cross-domain XMLHttp calls, and you can catch generic HTTP requests using opera.io.webserver.addEventListener('_request',somehandler,false);, so it is theoretically possible (and here I hand wave to the implementation Gods).

wanted: spartacus, an opera unite web proxy for iran (Thanks, Danny!)

Original Link:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/16/lazyweb-turn-the-new.html

contact original author: @ProtesterHelp on MSN: protesterhelp@live.com
 
UPDATES FROM IRAN
(sorry for slowness, but I'm getting thousands of hits) times in EST, add 8:30 to get Iranian time, 4:00 to get GMT
 
  * 4:49est: Twitter has gone down for maintenance, they said one hour. No contact from Iran yet, informing all of downtime
  * 5:09est: Besiji moving into Tehran university in force.
  * 5:11est: Many bikes and buses in Shiraz being burnt and piled on street. Unconfirmed
  * 5:15est: All news from Tehran University has gone silent
  * 5:30est: Haven't heard news in 15 minutes. From anyone, not even rumors.
  * 5:38est: Massive assault in Tehran University? Getting reports of anything from 200 to 5000 Besij. Students standing in doorways with chairs, waiting for raids.
  * 5:40est: leaving for a while, twitter will be back before I am.
  * 5:41est: Basij seen taking away many students from Tehran University. Most likely to Evin Prison, but that's just my impression
 
How to Help
So you want to help Iran, but you're not actually in Iran? here's what you can do to help (Focused on http://twitter.com/, since that's where the infowar is occurring.
 
  * Change your location and time zone on Twitter to Tehran, Iran (that's GMT+3:30
  * Change your profile icon to green in some way.
  * Set up a proxy. and send a DM to @ProtesterHelp. On Windows http://tr.im/oBDD, and on Linux http://s7y.us/t86. On Mac, click http://bit.ly/157hpQ (NOTE: These will be reposted here soon to save bandwidth)DO NOT POST THESE PUBLICLY. DM TO @austinheap or ProtesterHelp
  * DO NOT retweet posts verbatim from Iran. This puts the users at risk. The Iranian Minstry of the Interior is watching Twitter closely now. Don't use names and reword the post.
  * Submit e-mails to CNN, MSNBC, Fox and other news sources about the Iranian Revolution- demand more coverage
  * DO NOT DDOS (PageReload) Iranian government websites. It slows all Iranian traffic, doing more harm than good in this information war.
  * ANON IS ROCKING THIS SHIT http://iran.whyweprotest.net/
 
What do we want?
 
  1. Remove Khamenei from supreme leader
  2. Remove Ahmadinejad because he took it forcefully and unlawfully
  3. Put Ayatollah Monazeri as supreme leader until a review of the constitution is set up
  4. Recognize Mousavi as official president
  5. Let Mousavi rule as the constitution is reformed
  6. Free all political prisoners, immediately
  7. Call off all secret militia and offices
 
Original Author of this page
emsenn http://emsenn.com/
 
 
Who runs it?
@ProtesterHelp. I am an American, living in America (despite what my twitter profile says), and have decided to do my part to help the Green Revolution by posting my advice on how to safely protest against such a strange enemy (the Besiji). I also have several sources inside and around Iran, and tweet verified events as well. I also provide proxy information to Iranian citizens. See the top line of this page for information on the current status on me, my server, and why I might be silent on twitter. And please, share this link to help raise awareness not just of what is going on, but how you can help. I WILL NOT TURN IN SOURCES TO MEDIA, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. PLEASE, STOP WORRYING. AND MEDIA, STOP ASKING

I have removed the @ symbol in front of their usernames...
 
 
http://twitter.com/AnonymousInIran
http://twitter.com/serv_
# http://twitter.com/am12976
# http://twitter.com/iranianfree2k9
# http://twitter.com/FreeMediaNews
# http://www.twitter.com/jfcrow (unconfirmed)
# http://twitter.com/Karmuk (Retweeting same message over and over)
# http://twitter.com/chartingstocks (Writing fake articles on the Iranian Election Twitters)
# http://twitter.com/obamaspy
# http://twitter.com/IranisFree

Posted at June 16, 2009
 
The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through twitter.
 
  1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.
  2. Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.
  3. Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.
  4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.
  5. Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind.
  6. Denial of Service attacks. If you don’t know what you are doing, stay out of this game. Only target those sites the legitimate Iranian bloggers are designating. Be aware that these attacks can have detrimental effects to the network the protesters are relying on. Keep monitoring their traffic to note when you should turn the taps on or off.
  7. Do spread the (legitimate) word, it works! When the bloggers asked for twitter maintenance to be postponed using the #nomaintenance tag, it had the desired effect. As long as we spread good information, provide moral support to the protesters, and take our lead from the legitimate bloggers, we can make a constructive contribution.
 
Please remember that this is about the future of the Iranian people, while it might be exciting to get caught up in the flow of participating in a new meme, do not lose sight of what this is really about.
 
NOTE: original link was http://reinikainen.co.uk/2009/06/iranelection-cyberwar-guide-for-beginners/ BUT site turned inaccessable, probably due to spiked traffic.

The largest demonstration here since the 1979 Iranian revolution.