Iran + tor

[Scott Bennett]

     On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:12:27 +0200 Alexander Bernauer <alex-tor at copton.net>
wrote:
>I always wondered how Tor can help circumventing censorship.=20
>
>If I were a dictator I would force the ISPs to block access to the
>directory servers. If that's not enough one can retreive the list of all
>Tor nodes and block them.
>
>Can anyone explain me what I am missing?
>
     For blocked directory servers:

## Use tunneled directory server connections when available
##  (defaults to 0)
TunnelDirConns 1
## Avoid using directory servers that do not provide tunneled connections
##  (defaults to 0)
PreferTunneledDirConns 1

     For general blocking of tor relays from tor(1) man page:

       Bridge IP:ORPort [fingerprint]
              When set along with UseBridges, instructs Tor to use  the  relay
              at  "IP:ORPort"  as a "bridge" relaying into the Tor network. If
              "fingerprint"  is  provided  (using  the  same  format  as   for
              DirServer),  we will verify that the relay running at that loca-
              tion has the right fingerprint. We also use fingerprint to  look
              up  the  bridge descriptor at the bridge authority, if it's pro-
              vided and if UpdateBridgesFromAuthority is set too.

       UpdateBridgesFromAuthority 0|1
              When  set  (along with UseBridges), Tor will try to fetch bridge
              descriptors from the configured bridge authorities  when  feasi-
              ble.  It  will  fall  back  to a direct request if the authority
              responds with a 404. (Default: 0)

       UseBridges 0|1
              When set, Tor will fetch descriptors for each bridge  listed  in
              the  "Bridge"  config  lines, and use these relays as both entry
              guards and directory guards. (Default: 0)


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
**********************************************************************
* Internet:       bennett at cs.niu.edu                              *
*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
* "A well regulated and disciplined militia, is at all times a good  *
* objection to the introduction of that bane of all free governments *
* -- a standing army."                                               *
*    -- Gov. John Hancock, New York Journal, 28 January 1790         *
**********************************************************************