The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab will make free software available later this week that will help people deal with Web censorship issues in countries where access is restricted or limited. A downloadable tool, called psiphon, can transform anyone's personal computer into encrypted servers (or access points) that can access blocked sites and associated Web pages. People who want to access these sites connect to a psiphon server or psiphonode by logging in through an encrypted connection and using it as a proxy. The user does not have to install any software on their machine. The technology was created by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, as part of an Open Society Institute-funded project. The psiphone Web site is here - with free downloads available on Dec. 1. A New York Times story on the psiphon software can be found here.
Update: A comment (see below) raised an interesting point that the UoT is trying to fight Web censorship while a group of Canadian ISPs and Cybertip.ca introduced a plan last week to block Web access (specifically child pornography). If anything, it makes for a fascinating discussion on the right approach, who gets to do it and why.

Michael Urlocker, who writes the OnDisruption blog, has a column in today's National Post looking at whether satellite-radio can survive the growing popularity of the iPod in the mobile music battle. One fact that jumps out is that 70% of 2007's U.S. car models will have built-in iPod connectors, which will give the 67 million iPod owners another way to enjoy their devices. Urlocker, a former telecom analyst, suggests XM and Sirius must implement some "tough measures" to compete such as pursuing lower growth targets so they can become profitable, and "looking for marginalized customers who don't want or can't afford iPods". When it comes to the challenges facing satellite-radio, Mike and I are perfectly aligned.