CANADIAN LABOUR-TORONTO:

SUPPORT U. OF T. SESSIONAL INSTRUCTORS:

The following appeal for solidarity comes from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

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Tell the University of Toronto to treat sessional instructors fairly.:
Sessional instructors at the University of Toronto, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 3902, Unit 3, will be in a legal strike position on Monday November 9.

On average, U of T sessional instructors earn only $15,000 a year, and have to re-apply for their jobs every four to eight months. They are fighting for increases in line with other university workers in the Toronto area, and for a better system of hiring that would allow senior sessionals some security and the ability to better plan their working and financial lives.

Please send University of Toronto provost Cheryl Misak and University of Toronto president David Naylor a short e-mail, asking them to make sure that a fair deal is reached this week.

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THE LETTER:

Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to the Administration at the University of Toronto.

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I'm writing to ask you to offer sessional instructors at the University of Toronto a reasonable contract. They are some of the poorest paid workers at the University and yet provide invaluable services to students while enriching campus life. They deserve to earn a fair wage on par with their colleagues at other institutions in the GTA and in the university community itself. Offering them less than 2% per year is unconscionable when University of Toronto student instuctors got 3.5% in their most recent contract and York sessionals continue to make 5-12% more per course for doing equal work with equal qualifications.

The University should be doing everything possible to retain the skills of these professionals and that includes paying them decently while offering them some form of job security. The current practice of having them laid off every academic term is demoralizing for them and a potential waste of valuable human resources for the University and its 40,000 undergraduate students. I urge you to offer sessional employees a fair deal at the table in the coming days.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

SUPPORT CUPE LOCAL 3902 AT THE U OF T:

Here's another appeal for online solidarity from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing teaching assistants at the University of Toronto.

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Help CUPE 3902 at University of Toronto Appuyons la S.L. 3902 à l'université de Toronto:‏
Please take a minute to help CUPE 3902 in their negotiations with the University of Toronto.
Take action now
The teaching assistants are looking for:
***decreases in class and tutorial size
***public health care coverage for international students
***financial support for workers in deregulated programs, and
***inflation-level wage increases
Send an email to U of T's Vice-President of human resources and urge her to bring proposals to conciliation that will meet these demands.

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THE LETTER...Please go to one of the highlighted links above to send the following letter to the VP of human resources at the U. of T.

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I send this letter to register support for the position of CUPE Local 3902 Unit 1, representing Education Workers at the University of Toronto. From the outset of negotiations, CUPE 3902’s bargaining position has been has been both fair and reasonable. Still, negotiations persist nearly seven months after bargaining commenced, due primarily to the Uof T’s failure to acknowledge that the bargaining team has shown genuine sensitivity to the difficult economic times.

At the forefront of their issues, CUPE 3902 has chosen to emphasize family assistance (e.g. challenging the proposed university clawbacks to maternity leave) and the unfair University Health Insurance Plan, issues which amount to relatively little in terms of real dollars. And, while CUPE 3902 seems to have been successful in staving off the indefensible maternity leave clawbacks, there has been little movement from the U of T on other family assistance issues, or the UHIP issue.

A commitment from the U of T to pay the UHIP premiums of international students and post-graduate fellows would be a positive step toward resolving the negotiations. Moreover, it would be a first step toward eliminating the UHIP plan and getting international students and post-doc fellows on the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, a goal that President David Naylor has endorsed publicly on numerous occasions.

Another concern is the dissolution of the Tuition Assistance Fund for students in professional programs. Such programs are unfunded, and the University recognized that students require financial assistance in order to get through them, so they created a mechanism in the last contract by which to provide such assistance. The U of T has now chosen to eliminate this assistance, thereby downloading the burden of difficult economic times onto their least-assisted graduate students. This is unacceptable.

Finally, CUPE 3902’s proposals surrounding wages have, by all accounts, been fair and reasonable. As a guide to determining a reasonable funding package, CUPE 3902 pointed to U of T’s own published recommendations for what graduate students require to make ends meet living in the city of Toronto. Not only has the U of T rejected this most reasonable of approaches, they have failed to offer an amount that matches the recent increases achieved by other bargaining units working under the employ of the U of T. Education Workers shouldn’t be treated as less important than other workers and administrators at the U of T – because they aren’t less important!

Please, consider these points and return to the bargaining table in a spirit of resolving this dispute without a strike.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

HELP EMPLOYEES OF U OF T FACULTY ASSOCIATION:

Just as the faculty of the University of Toronto are preparing for contract negotiations their own staff may be on strike as early as December 18. These employees, members of CUPE Local 1281, are being asked for wage concessions at the same time as faculty will be asking for increases. Here's the story from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and what you can do to help.

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Help U of T faculty association employees avoid a strike:
Employees of the U of T faculty association need your help to avert a strike!

Isn’t it ironic?

Just as faculty at the University of Toronto are preparing for contract negotiations, their own staff are facing the possibility of a strike starting on December 18.

The faculty association (UTFA) has seen a 40% increase in the president’s stipend and a whopping 130% increase for the treasurer – but they are demanding wage concessions that will have a direct effect on pension contributions and entitlements for their two staff members.

Help these members of CUPE 1281 avert a strike. Send a message to the UTFA council today!

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Here's how you can help. Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to the U of T Faculty Association Council.

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THE LETTER:

Dear UTFA Council Member:
I am writing in support of the employees of the University of Toronto Faculty Association, members of CUPE 1281.

How are you going to enter into negotiations for your own collective agreement when your staff have had to go on strike for a fair contract?

UTFA is demanding wage concessions that will have a direct effect on pension contributions and entitlements for your staff – even though your own president’s stipend has gone up 40% and the treasurer’s has gone up 130%.

It’s time for fairness. As a member of UTFA Council, you can -- and should -- help. Please tell your bargaining team to go back to the table and offer a fair contract without concessions now, before your staff are forced out on strike. Then, I’ll be happy to support your contract negotiations with the University of Toronto.

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MOLLY NOTE:

When Molly wrote her own letter on this matter she received the following in reply from one of the U. of T. Faculty Council members. Beyond the obvious evasion that a subcommittee of the Association carrying out negotiations is supposedly not responsible to the larger council there is another thing that can be derived from replies such as this...the letters of protest are having an effect. Keep em coming.

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Dear correspondents:

All of you on the mailing list you see in the header have taken the time to send me a message expressing concerns about the current bargaining between UTFA (the University of Toronto Faculty Association) and its employees.

Your concerns are misdirected. I am a member of UTFA's council, but I am not a member of the group involved in the bargaining process. I have no inside knowledge of the process, and no inclination to try to influence it.

Further, your manner of expressing your concerns is most unlikely to cause me to want to influence the bargaining process. I currently have 190 messages with strikingly similar content, received since early yesterday afternoon. If you think that sending dozens and dozens of copies of the same message is a reasonable form of discussion and persuasion, then I hope you are not actually associated with a university.

You are spamming my colleagues and me. Please stop.

Jim

-- Jim Clarke

http://www.cs.utoronto.ca/~clarke.

Senior Lecturer.

Department of Computer Science,

University of Toronto,

Canada

TORONTO:

DEMONSTRATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO:

Molly has blogged on this matter before, about the case of 14 students arrested and charged at the University of Toronto after a peaceful sit-in over the issue of tuition fees. This coming Wednesday there will be further protests at the U. of T.

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May 21: Rally to Oppose Fee Hikes and to Support The Fight Fees 14
What: Rally against fee hikes and repression of dissent at University of Toronto

When: Wednesday, May 21, 4:30 PM

Where: Simcoe Hall, University of Toronto, 27 King’s College Circle
Students and organizers will rally outside a meeting of the University of Toronto’s Board of Governors Wednesday, May 21, to protest UofT campaign of intimidation against those mobilizing against fee hikes. They will peacefully attempt to deliver letters and 1700 petition signatures in support of 14 students arrested and charged by the University in connection with their campaign for accessible education. The rally will feature speakers from the Committee for Just Education and its allies “charging” UofT administration with misconduct in its repressive response to peaceful dissent.

On March 20, over forty students and allies organized a sit-in at the University of Toronto administration’s offices in Simcoe Hall to protest increasing student fees. The peaceful sit-in ended after police exercised aggression against the demonstrators on the orders of senior administrators. Undeterred, students continued to organize against fee hikes with rallies on March 25 and April 10, and an open forum on the accessibility of education on April 7.

In response, the UofT administration worked with Toronto Police to charge and arrest 14 handpicked students and organizers for alleged involvement in the March 20 sit-in. The “Fight Fees 14” were released on strict bail conditions that prohibited association with one another and banned their access to University of Toronto property. In addition, at least 15 students have been threatened with investigation under UofT’s Code of Student Conduct, with sanctions that can include suspension or expulsion.

The Committee for Just Education, in solidarity with those charged, demands:

*Equal access to education through the elimination of all fees.

*That the UofT administration and Toronto Police immediately drop all proceedings against students and organizers and stop the policing of dissent on campus.

*Student, worker, and faculty parity on university decision-making bodies, including the Governing Council.

The first court date for the accused is tentatively scheduled for June 3 at Old City Hall. Details will be released as more information is made available. Keep checking http://www.fightfees.ca for updates.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

CUPE JOINS CAMPAIGN IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE "FIGHT FEES 14":

Last March 20 students at the University of Toronto held a peaceful sit-in to protest rising tuition fees. The administration of the University responded by calling the police and having the students forcibly evicted. Since then criminal charges have been laid against 14 of the students involved. These are now known as the "Fight Fees 14", and their case has brought about a groundswell of support for their right to peaceful protest and for their cause. There is a website set up for their solidarity campaign. Now the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has joined this campaign, pointing out that the University's action affect not only students but workers at the institution as well. The following is CUPE's appeal through the cupeaction network.

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FREE THE FIGHT FEES 14:

Fourteen students and workers have been charged in connection with a peaceful sit-in at the University of Toronto over rising tuition fees and they need our help.

Sign the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightfees/

The "Fight Fees 14" have been charged with extremely serious offences, including forcible confinement. The university administration is also contemplating expelling 12 students.

Meanwhile, the campus community - including many members of CUPE is subjected to a campaign of intimidation by the U of T’s administration and police.

The university itself is publicly lobbying to deregulate tuition fees.

The U of T Fight Fees 14 have asked CUPE for help fighting the disciplinary proceedings and criminal charges.

Please take a moment to sign the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightfees/

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Want to know more about what this is all about? Here's an excellent article from the platformist Linchpin/Common Cause site about the case....

Outrage mounts over the arrest of 14 students
CALL TO ACTION: UofT PRESSES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST 14 FOR MOBILIZING AGAINST FEE HIKES
***URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT – PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY***
SIGN THE PETITION:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightfees/index.html
Outrage is mounting over the arrest of 14 students who are facing criminal charges for allegedly participating in a peaceful sit-in at the University of Toronto on March 20, 2008. The sit-in, held to protest rising fees, ended when police acting on the orders of senior UofT administrators forcefully removed demonstrators. Students and organizers are being subjected to a campaign of intimidation by the UofT administration, who sought a criminal investigation of the matter and encouraged Toronto Police to arrest 14 individuals and have pressed charges against them. After turning themselves in last week, the students have been released on strict bail conditions, which ban them from associating with one another outside of courts and classes, thereby prohibiting their freedom to organize on campus. In addition, UofT staff, students and an alumnus have been completely banned from UofT property. UofT is attempting to further repress student organizing on campus by investigating at least 13 students under the Code of Student Conduct.

Outrage at the arrests and disciplinary actions by UofT administration has been expressed by a growing number of professors and staff at the University of Toronto. "I am urging the university administration to exercise restraint in these matters and avoid what appears to be a crackdown on political activity and freedom of expression at the university," stated George Sefa Dei, a professor in Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE, University of Toronto.
Rather than addressing the issues of accessibility to education, the UofT administration has resorted to tactics of intimidation and repression,including police surveillance, as a means of cracking down against all dissent on campus. Undeterred, students have continued to organize against increasingly inaccessible tuition, Sheila Hewlett, an organizer with the Committee for Just Education and an elected member of the Arts and Sciences Student Union notes, "We have to look at who is excluded when these unchecked fee increases compound and realize that education is increasingly not accessible to many. The student experience is at best one of debt servitude; at worst, education is completely unavailable to more and more people."

The Committee for Just Education, which includes the students charged by police, have outlined the following demands:
i) Equal access to education through the elimination of all fees

ii) That the U of T administration and Toronto Police immediately drop all proceedings against students and organizers and stop the policing of dissent on campus

iii) Student, worker, and faculty parity on University decision-making bodies, including the Governing Council

In the face of mounting debts, drastic increases in tuition and ancillary fees and a hostile environment towards student organizing on campus, a burgeoning student movement is demanding access to education for all people.Allies and supporters of the students charged are calling on both the Attorney General Chris Bentley and UofT President David Naylor to drop all charges and disciplinary proceedings.
***WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SHOW SUPPORT:***
We are calling on all community allies and support groups to show their solidarity with the 14 accused in any way they can. Community members are expressing their outrage at the growing cost of education, and at the use of intimidation and force against students who organize for accessible education at the University of Toronto.

It is critical for the university community and supporters across the country to publicly condemn and reverse attacks on students’ right to organize. We are calling on all community members, community groups, unions, and student organizations to:
a) Please sign the petition to drop criminal charges and university sanctions against students and organizers--Free The Fight Fees Fourteen!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightfees/index.html
Please sign the petition to protest against the suppression of dissent, and to express your opposition to fee hikes. Collect signatures from members of your school, work, and community (please mail all petitions to OPIRG Toronto by May 15th).
b) Sign our letter (found at http://fightfees.ca/allies/ ) or write your own letter to the President of the University of Toronto, David Naylor, at david.naylor@utoronto.ca (please CC all emails to fightfees@gmail.com) or phone David Naylor at 416-978-2121 with an emphasis on the following:
(i) Drop all charges against UofT students, staff and alumni.

(ii) Remove all bail restrictions and conditions for all 14 accused

(iii) End the policing of dissent and protest on campus. In the wake of the March 20 sit-in, at least 13 students are also being investigated under the Code of Student Conduct and student organizers have faced intimidation and surveillance from the campus police. More recently, the University has pressed charges against 14 students and organizers.
c) Send a statement of solidarity or a message of support to the Committee for Just Education at fightfees@gmail.com and issue a public statement from yourself and/or your organization expressing solidarity with the 14 students and organizers who have been charged by UofT.
Approach other students, faculty, staff, and workers at the University of Toronto or on other campuses to write letters of support (these statements will be kindly needed by May 15th).
d) Donate funds and/or materials: Please donate to the costs of legal proceedings, which all 14 individuals have to incur. Please let organizers know if you are able to provide other materials/services (ie. photocopying facilities, helping to collect signatures on petitions, etc).
e) Fundraise with your organization: Take our fundraising proposal to your organization and/or community and ask them to provide materials and/or funds for the 14 accused. (found at http://fightfees.ca/allies/ and will need to be kindly returned to OPIRG Toronto by May 15th).

***For further information: Sheila Hewlett: (416) 409-3873;

Deena Dadachanji: (647) 887-8256;

E-mail:
fightfees@gmail.com;

Web:

http://www.fightfees.ca;

Petition:

http://fightfees.ca/petition***
OPIRG Toronto

563 Spadina Ave,

Room 101

North Borden Building

Toronto, ON

M5S 2J7

TORONTO:

U. OF T. PRESIDENT USES POLICE AGGRESSION TO WALK OVER STUDENT CONCERNS:

The following report is taken from the platformist Linchpin/Common Cause site. Seems there is to be a rally this upcoming Tuesday protesting the actions of the University Administration over the events of March 20 (see earlier her on Molly's Blog).

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EMERGENCY RALLY TO DEFEND STUDENTS' RIGHTS

Tuesday March 25, 4:10 PM

Simcoe Hall (27 King's College Circle)University of Toronto

Map: http://tinyurl.com/2oatgu

ACTION ITEM: Statements of solidarity and support; endorse and organize a contingent for the rally.
Join us in a peaceful demonstration outside the University of Toronto's administration building to protest police aggression against students and rising fees: Tuesday March 25, 4:10 PM, outside Simcoe Hall (27 King's College Circle).

Over the course of this year and in past years, the overwhelming majority of students have repeatedly demonstrated their opposition to increasing fees.In 2005, 98% of students at UofT voted against fee increases. Thousands of students rallied on February 7, 2007 against fee increases. Students' unions across Canada have advocated against fee increases. Despite all of this, and the efforts of student representatives at UofT, the administration continues with fee increases, making education inaccessible.

On Thursday March 20, 2008, over forty students staged a sit-in at Simcoe Hall, which houses the offices of the President and Provost. The students' main demand was to speak with President David Naylor in person or by telephone. Students also requested that proposed fee increases be removed from the March 25 University Affairs Board meeting and to be given 15 minutes at the meeting for a presentation and discussion on broader issues of access to education.

The peaceful sit-in of the students was met by physical aggression by campus police on the orders of senior administrators. Students were not allowed to demonstrate their dissent, and were not to be heard at all. Administrators left before the end of their workday, escorted out of the building, literally walking on top of students begging to be heard. This was captured on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ketNtnZQIwQ

The next step is to mobilize outside the University Affairs Board (Simcoe Hall) meeting on March 25 at 4:10 pm, in hopes of meeting these demands:

1. That the motion to increase students' fees be stricken from the agenda.

2. That representatives from Always Question be allotted 15 minutes to speak at the UAB meeting.

3. That representatives from Always Question, UTSU and ASSU have a meeting with President David Naylor to discuss students' rights and the role of police on campus.

At the rally we will bring attention to the fact that students can no longer advocate for accessible education without facing aggression from police, and most importantly, the administration.

Please attend to make the University of Toronto a safe space for student dissent.We are asking for statements of support and solidarity to be sent to alwaysquestion.info@gmail.com, and that you contact President David Naylor(president@utoronto.ca) to condemn rising student fees and the heavy-handed actions of the police against students.

For further information:

Farshad Azadian, student member and organizer with Always Question: (416) 569-7471;

Ryan Hayes, President of Arts and Science Students Union: (416) 421-0879;

Michal Hay, Vice President University Affairs,University of Toronto Students' Union: (647) 802-4131

TORONTO:

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENTS OCCUPY PRESIDENT'S OFFICE:

It seems that the campuses are not so quiet as the mass media makes out these days. The following article is from the Linchpin/Common Cause website in Ontario, mentioned before on this blog.

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Press Release
University of Toronto Students Occupy President's Office

Police violence used to force students out
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2008 – Toronto
March 20, 2008 thirty-five University of Toronto students occupied Simcoe Hall, the home of the President's Office, to protest a 20% fee increase. The nonviolent sit-in was accompanied with a peaceful rally outside the building—until the police began brutalizing those inside. This was captured by multiple video cameras.

The students had three simple demands.
1) To be granted a meeting with President David Naylor;

2) To have the proposed fee increase removed from the University Affairs Board meeting, scheduled to take place on March 25; and

3) To be given 15 minutes at the University Affairs Board meeting for a presentation and discussion on broader issues of access to education and the impacts of high tuition upon students, families and communities.

Students attempted to deliver their letter to the University of Toronto President, David Naylor, and to speak to other members of the administration in Simcoe Hall about the rising costs of education in Ontario. The administration refused to meet with the students. The response of the University of Toronto was to violently remove students from their peaceful sit-in. Police aggressively grabbed students and dragged them away from the entrance of the office. The students feared for their safety and after four hours in the building, the police violence forced the students to leave.

Video of these events has been posted on YouTube and it can be viewed here:
Images can be viewed here:

http://www.edwardfwong.com/uoftact/9.jpg

http://www.edwardfwong.com/uoftact/10.jpg
Students are continuing to demand a meeting with President Naylor, and the right to accessible and affordable education.

For more information contact:Farshad Azadian, student member and organizer with AlwaysQuestion: 416-569-7471

Ryan Hayes, President of Arts and Science Students Union: 416-421-0879

Michal Hay, Vice-President University Affairs, University of Toronto Students' Union: 647-802-4131

INTERNET CENSORSHIP:

FIGHTING INTERNET CENSORSHIP- THE CITIZEN LAB:

The last post mentioned one organization, Wikileaks, that is fighting internet censorship, especially in the case of recent events in Tibet. There is another one, a Canadian project, that has been in the news because of the events in Tibet. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for international Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. It is focused on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics.

It is a "hothouse" that brings together social scientists, filmmakers, computer scientists, activists and artists. The Citizen Lab sponsors projects that explore the cutting-edge of hypermedia technologies and grassroots social movements, civic activism and democratic change within an emerging planetary polity.

The centre and its website is an invaluable resource for those who are concerned about and wish to make a "run-around" internet censorship. The following news item about one of their recent products- Psiphon- and the award it has won is just one of the exciting things to be found at the Citizen Lab....

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Canadian software tool blows away Net censorship, wins global award
Posted Feb 25, 2008 in MediaCoverage by sarahb
Canadian software designed to evade government censorship of the Internet is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris in mid-February.

From ITBusiness.ca

Canadian software tool blows away Net censorship, wins global award

Psiphon - designed by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab - is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris this month.

2/25/2008 5:00:00 AM

by Grant Buckler

Canadian software designed to evade government censorship of the Internet is the first recipient of a new award for digital pioneers chosen by an international group of specialists and awarded in Paris in mid-February.

The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab designed Psiphon for citizens of countries that block access to many Web sites.

Psiphon evades such censorship through an encrypted connection between the user's computer (in the country with Internet censorship) and another piece of software – essentially a Web proxy – on a volunteer's computer in a country where Internet access is not controlled.

Psiphon was chosen from about 100 technology projects from around the world that were nominated for the Netxplorateur of the Year Grand Prix award.

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin presented the award to Ronald Deibert, a University of Toronto professor and director of the Citizen Lab, and Michael Hull, head of spinoff company Psiphon Inc., at a Paris ceremony in mid-February.

An international network of specialists chose the initial list of 100 projects considered to be “concrete and innovative at the same time, but also loaded with meaning,” according to Ingrid Brégeon-Fall, a spokeswoman for the awards.

This was narrowed to a short list of 10 Netxplorateurs of the Year, from which the Citizen Lab was chosen the Grand Prix winner.

This is the first year the prize has been given, Brégeon-Fall says. There is no cash award associated with the prize.

The Citizen Lab has been researching Internet censorship for several years, Deibert says.

It has seen a gradual growth in the number of countries practicing it, from only two or three in 2002 to 26 countries where there was some evidence of sites being blocked in 2006.

The six countries that censor Internet access the most are China, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran and Uzbekistan, Diebert says.

Danny O'Brien, international outreach co-ordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group concerned with Internet freedom, describes net censorship as “a growing problem.”

That's due partly to the advance of filtering technologies, he says. “More and more countries are finding ways to do fine-grained censorship of the Internet.”

O'Brien says that is fueling a technology arms race between censors and groups like the Citizen Lab.

Citizen Lab senior researchers came up with the concept of Psiphon in 2004, Diebert says.

According to the Citizen Lab, Psiphon's design makes it virtually impossible to detect and block.

A computer user with unrestricted Internet access can download and install a small Psiphon application from the Web site at the Psiphon Web site.

They then give the unique connection information for this node to a friend or relative in a country with restricted access.

This connection information is the computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address with an extension chosen by the user.

Only people who know the address of a Psiphon node can use the software to evade Internet censorship.

The Citizen Lab and Psiphon Inc. are now working on a plan to host Psiphon nodes themselves on behalf of trusted individuals in censored countries, Diebert says.

Those people would be able to control the nodes and give out access information to people they trust.

A government that monitored Internet use and became suspicious of repeated connections to an IP address in a distant country could detect that someone was using Psiphon, and could block access to the specific node, says Deibert, but that would not affect the many other nodes.

Being detected could be dangerous for citizens in some countries, he adds.

So a person who is being watched would probably not be safe using it, but for ordinary citizens, detection is unlikely.

Psiphon is free, open source software and has been available from the Citizen Lab since 2006.

As of last week, Diebert says, 145,000 copies had been downloaded. He adds that the Citizen Lab has had no reports of any of those nodes being detected and blocked.

Recently, the Citizen Lab launched a startup company called Psiphon Inc. which will provide professional services for media outlets and other organizations that want to use the software for unrestricted Internet access.

Reporters covering the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer will need a way of gaining unrestricted access to the Web while working in China.

Psiphon Inc. is working with several media companies – which it can't name because of possible repercussions from the Chinese government – to provide open communications from Beijing, says Hull.

Psiphon is also working with non-governmental organizations such as Witness.org, which operates a Web site documenting human rights violations.

Witness.org wants to ensure access both so that people in countries with censored Internet access can both view the site and send information to it, Hull says.

Psiphon has previously been recognized by Esquire magazine, which named it one of Six Ideas to Change the World in December 2007, and by Fast Company magazine, which listed Psiphon Inc. as one of 50 companies to watch for in 2007.