US tests censorship circumvention tool; Chinese shrug

Citizens living in China, Vietnam, Iran, and other countries may soon have another option for bypassing Internet filters, courtesy of a US-based agency. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) announced on Friday that it was working on a new system that would use e-mail to carry encrypted data to and from the recipient, including information that would otherwise be blocked.

The system, called “feed over e-mail” (FOE), is not yet ready for primetime, but BBG IT head Ken Berman said that it will be tested in China and Iran when it goes into beta. “China is the benchmark, the gold standard, of Internet censorship,” Berman told the AFP. “We try things. The idea is to extend freedom of the Internet, freedom of the press, freedom of inquiry to those that want to know more.”