Newzbin client aims to circumvent BT blocking
The people behind the soon-to-be-blocked Newzbin2 file-sharing website have released a client that can bypass BT's site-filtering software, according to reports.
TorrentFreak reported on Wednesday that the new software from TeamRDogs, the group that set up Newzbin2 and its predecessor Newzbin, would circumvent BT's Cleanfeed system.
Cleanfeed was set up to block websites featuring child pornography, but in July the High Court ordered BT to use it for preventing access to Newzbin2 as well.
According to TorrentFreak, Newzbin Client 1.0.0.127 sets up an encrypted session with the Newzbin2 website, "rendering blocking impractical and snooping more or less impossible". The report suggested that the client was still under development. The use of Cleanfeed for blocking Newzbin2 is due to start in October.
Newzbin2 describes itself as "the Google of Usenet". The idea behind the site is to index binary fragments of films and other content that are shared over the Usenet internet discussion system, making it easier to collate those fragments into complete works.
The site notes that Usenet is much more difficult to monitor than file lockers or BitTorrent, making it a more discreet channel for sharing material.
The rights-holder industry has been battling TeamRDogs, whose name is a nod to the film Reservoir Dogs, for the last year and a half. In March 2010, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney and Columbia gained a limited victory when a High Court judge agreed to bar the original Newzbin from helping people unlawfully share copies of those studios' films.
However, the judge refused to force Newzbin to stop indexing all copyright-infringing material posted on Usenet, regardless of the source of those films or albums.
In July this year, the studios achieved greater success in a case that sought to block all access to Newzbin2 at source. Although the government said days later that it would not use its powers to block copyright-infringing websites, the Newzbin2 judgement had already set a precedent that will let the courts do the same without an explicit government mandate.
In an email to TorrentFreak, TeamRDogs' 'Mr White' said the new Newzbin client would "utterly defeat Cleanfeed".
"The application also has Agility Technology to break any updated web censorship methods or anti-freedom countermeasures," Mr White is quoted as saying. TorrentFreak itself noted that the client "is in the early stages of development and will need a few features updating if it wants to be near bulletproof".