GoKawiil
Tech News
Efforts by lawmakers to ban or restrict virtual private networks have made circumvention tools harder to access, but have not succeeded in eliminating their use entirely, according to the report. Users continue finding workarounds even where VPNs face legal or technical crackdowns.
Security researchers say they have detected signs of a large-scale surveillance operation directed at users of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service. The findings point to monitoring activity concentrated in countries where Starlink access is officially banned or restricted.
French authorities have reportedly asked internet service providers to prepare the technical means to temporarily block access to major social media platforms via DNS. The request appears aimed at giving the government a rapid-response tool it could deploy if deemed necessary, though no actual blocking has been confirmed as carried out.
Quad9, the free public DNS resolver service, announced it will stop offering recursive DNS resolution to users in France starting November 24. The move follows a French court ruling in favor of Qatari broadcaster beIN that ordered Quad9 to block resolution of certain domain names accused of hosting pirated sports broadcasts, though the court did lower the proposed daily fine from €580,000 to €1,000.
Spain's Second Section of the Intellectual Property Commission, part of the Ministry of Culture, has ordered internet providers to block access to Archive.today and several of its mirror domains. Users attempting to visit the site are redirected to a government notice labeling it an illegal website that facilitates unauthorized access to copyrighted content, and warning that continuing to try to access it constitutes participation in criminal activity.
OONI distributes a free tool called OONI Probe that individuals can run to test whether websites and services are being blocked or throttled on their network. Results are automatically published in near real-time, feeding into what OONI describes as the world's largest open dataset on internet censorship.