To get around your blocking software:

• 1. First, try a circumvention site like https://www.MouseMatrix.com/. Be sure to type https at the beginning of the URL, not 'http'. Even though this site has been widely known for months, many networks have their blocking software set up incorrectly so that sites beginning with https:// are not blocked, and https://www.MouseMatrix.com/ will still be accessible.

• 2. If that doesn't work, you can join our e-mail list where we mail out new Circumventor sites every 3 or 4 days. Of course, employees of blocking software companies have gotten on this list as well, so they add our sites to their blocked-site database as soon as we mail them out, but in most places it takes 3-4 days for the blocked-site list to be updated. So the latest one that we mail out, should usually still work.

• 3. If you have a computer with an uncensored Internet connection, you can follow these easy steps to set up your own Circumventor site. For example, if you want to get around blocking software at work, and you have a home computer with an uncensored Internet connection, you can install the Circumventor on your home computer. Then it will give you a new URL, and you can take that URL in with you to work and type it into your browser to get around the network blocking software.

• 4. If you're trying to get around blocking software that's installed on the local computer, and not on the network, use these instructions to boot from the Ubuntu Live CD. (These instructions include tips on how to tell the difference between blocking software that's installed "on the local computer" and software that's installed "on the network".)

Highlights reel

Past news items that generated the most interest:

Report on double standards for anti-gay "hate speech"
Peacefire created four pages, on free servers such as GeoCities, which consisted of anti-gay quotes copied from four different conservative Web sites: Dr. Laura, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. Using anonymous HotMail accounts, we then sent the URLs of the newly created pages to six blocking software companies, recommending that they block the newly created pages as "hate speech". After the companies had agreed to block the sites we created, we told them that all the quotes on those pages had been taken from the four conservative Web sites, and asked why they didn't block those pages as well. The blocking companies did not block those Web sites and did not respond to our inquiries.

WebSENSE publishing daily porn links
For five months, the makers of WebSENSE blocking software published a daily list of pornographic Web sites that were not blocked by their competitors, allegedly to show that their own product was superior. Students using the Internet in schools that were using those competitors' products, could access the WebSENSE site and get a list of unblocked porn sites, by clicking a link agreeing that they were over 18 years of age.

Human rights pages blocked
In December 2000, Peacefire released Amnesty Intercepted, a report on human rights pages including Amnesty International that were blocked by blocking software.

Candidates' sites blocked during 2000 elections
In November 2000, Peacefire released a list of political candidates whose sites had been blocked as "pornography" by major blocking programs. One candidate had carried the statement on his Web site, "We should demand that all public schools and libraries install and configure Internet Filters." He changed his position after finding out that his own site was blocked, and later became a plaintiff in the ACLU's lawsuit to overturn a law requiring blocking software in schools and libraries.

Pro-blocking site blocked
In July 1997, librarian David Burt launched the now-defunct FilteringFacts.org site, advocating the use of blocking software in libraries. The site was later blocked as a "Drugs/Alcohol" site by SurfWatch (which has since been bought out by Cyber Patrol).