不用VPN也能翻墙的办法 A Way Around the Great Firewall

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不用VPN也能翻墙的办法 A Way Around the Great Firewall

绕过中国网络内容过滤的重要方法，虚拟专用网络(VPN)最近受到了中国政府的打击。在本月早些时候召开十八大期间，许多VPN被禁，最近，中国数字时代(China Digital Times)网站的一篇报道指出，有些在办公网络使用VPN的中国人似乎收到了书面警告，要求VPN只能用于工作目的。
但是，一些聪明的中国互联网用户找到了一种不用VPN也能翻墙的办法。只需使用一点电脑知识──主要是复制和粘贴一些文本，用户就可以登陆被中国的网络防火墙屏蔽的Facebook、YouTube和一系列其他外国网站。

以下是操作方法：大多数电脑──包括使用Windows和OSX操作系统的电脑（以及使用安卓系统的智能手机）──都有一个主机文件，文件中含有IP地址（也就是用户在浏览器的地址栏中敲入一个地址之后，电脑连入的后端地址）。复制一些新地址并把它们粘贴到这个文件上之后，用户就可以直接打开这些特定的网站。因此，如果用户更新这个地址列表，把Facebook等网站的最近的IP地址添加进去，并且把地址前的http://换成https://，电脑就可以登陆许多被屏蔽的外国网站，网速不会因此变慢，用户也不用支付任何费用，而大多数VPN都是收费的。

这个方法现在有多流行？百度上搜索Facebook主机文件，可以得到大约43.4万个搜索结果，第一页搜索结果主要是通过更改主机文件登陆Facebook和其他网站的介绍。按照Felix Hsu的说法，有许多组织通过微博、即时通讯工具和网站分享地址列表。Felix Hsu是一个类似组织的成员，该组织维护着一个提供最新地址列表的网站。此外，教你如何用这种方法翻墙的安卓应用程序也已经出现。

Felix Hsu说，他们2011年10月开始提供这一服务，因为许多网民都特别想了解墙外发生了什么，但是对于他们来说这并不容易。

他指出，这些地址是不断变化的，而且时常会被屏蔽，因此他和他的朋友们根据需要不断地更新地址，以确保代码是最新的，并且可以使用。他为网站设计的数据统计方法得出的结果显示，11月初，网站用户大量增加，正是在这段时间，中国有关部门似乎严格限制了对谷歌(Google)的访问。

由于用户可以通过各种方法得到这些地址，因此我们不可能追踪到有多少互联网用户正在使用这种方法翻墙，不过，这确实能显示出中国互联网用户对翻墙持续不断的渴望，同时也表明，对于那些拥有好奇心和一点窍门的人来说，这个墙其实也不怎么难翻。
A key method for circumventing China’s Internet filters, virtual private networks have come into the crosshairs of the government lately. During the 18th Party Congress earlier this month many faced blockages and more recently China Digital Times has reported on what appear to be written warnings to Chinese who have access to VPNs on their office networks to use the services for work purposes only.

But a number of savvy Chinese Internet users have found a way to escape their fetters without a VPN. Using a little bit of computer knowledge basically copying and pasting a chunk of text from one file to another ─ users can get around the China’s Facebook, YouTube and a host of other foreign sites blocked by China’s “Great Firewall.”

Here’ how it works: Most computers, running both Windows and OS X (and smartphones running Android), contain a host file, which is a document with a list of Internet Protocol addresses (the back-end address accessed by a computer when a website name is typed into a web browser’s search bar). Copying and pasting new addresses into that file allows a computer to directly access particular websites. As a result, updating the list to include recent IP addresses for websites like Facebook, and then entering those sites’ addresses into a browser with a secure “https://” in place of “http://” in front of the address will allow users to get onto many blocked Western sites, and without the slower speeds and fees associated with most VPNs.

How popular is this workaround? A search on Baidu in Chinese for “host file Facebook” turns up 434,000 hits, with the first page primarily containing explanations of how to get on Facebook and other sites by altering the host file. Various groups share lists of addresses on microblogs, over instant messaging, and on websites, according to Felix Hsu, a member of one such group, which keeps up a website that provides current addresses. There are also applications for Android which streamline the process.

Mr. Hsu said that they started helping to provide the service in October 2011 because “lots of netizens are eager to get to know what’s happening behind the wall, but it’s not easy for them.”

He pointed out that the addresses change, or get blocked, so he and his friend update the addresses as often as needed to keep the codes up-to-date and usable. Metrics he provided for his website show a jump in users in early November, right around the time Chinese authorities appeared to clamp down hard on access to Google.

Given the disparate means of disseminating the addresses, it is impossible to track just how many Chinese Internet users make use of the method to get around the great firewall, but it does show the continuing desire of China’s Internet users to jump the wall, and also how short that wall is for those with curiosity and a bit of know-how.


from
http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20121129/rth171805.asp?source=newsletter