Similar to
Freegate, the program directed against China's "Great Firewall,"
once installed Haystack will provide completely uncensored access to the
internet in Iran while simultaneously protecting the user's identity.
"No more Facebook blocks, no more government warning pages when
you try to load Twitter," said Austin Heap, "just unfiltered Internet."
The network will be supported by donated high-quality servers
outside of Iran. We will be able to provide an individual user with unfettered
internet access that costs the donor $0.015 to $0.0375 per month.
Proxyheap, the precursor to Haystack, was launched on June 22 just
ten days after the election. That project, though, was only envisioned as a
band-aid. It relied on proxies set up by individual users that were (through no
fault of the thousands of generous contributors) unreliable and temporary.
Moreover, individual users in Iran had to request access to a proxy. Haystack is
a more efficient, effective and long-term solution.
We are in the process of stress testing the network of servers
and verifying their functionality. The program will initially be made available
at http://haystack.austinheap.com
but will shortly thereafter be available through other distribution mechanisms
to ensure maximal availability on the ground in Iran.
"I've always been a man of principle," said Daniel Colascione,
"and helping people just like me gain the same liberty we take for granted is
the highest ideal to which I can aspire."
The Khamenei/Ahmadinejad government has been extremely effective
at silencing prominent members of the opposition. But the uprising in Iran was
not the result of top-down leadership, it was the result of individuals using
whatever means they had at their disposal to organize and communicate. We want
to continue to support, in whatever way we can, those who started this and will
lead it forward, the people.
