The PROTECT IP Act in the United States would block certain domains from responding if Hollywood decides you shouldn’t be permitted to view that website. The good news is that this depends on you using actual names to access websites, not IP addresses. This will make it substantially easier to bi-pass US censorship and Windows comes pre-installed with the necessary tools to do so. So this is a guide on how to use what you already have to circumvent US DNS censorship.
Note: This is an article I wrote that was published elsewhere first. It has been republished here for archival purposes
Unless you want a different browser other than Internet Explorer, this guide requires absolutely no installing of software. It uses what typically comes prepackaged in a Windows operating system. If the PROTECT IP Act is passed, the information you learn by using this simple technique will be able to completely bi-pass DNS censorship.
Step 1 – Run Command Prompt
Go in to your start menu. In the search menu at the bottom, type “run”. Hit the enter key on your keyboard.
In the window that pops up, type “cmd”. Click on “OK”
Step 2 – Obtain the Server IP Address
Don’t let the command prompt screen scare you. You’re only typing in one thing here.
Type in “ping [domain name here]”. In our case, we are typing in the domain name for www.megaupload.com.
I’ve circled the important numbers. The server IP address is 174.140.154.14 for MegaUpload. That’s the only bit of information we need from this. You can type this number into, say, notepad. Just as long as you have the IP address ready to copy and paste. Type in “exit” and hit enter to close the command prompt window.
Step 3 – Test the Results
In your browser of choice, type in the address bar “http://[insert IP address here]” This will access the website more directly. In our case, we typed in “http://174.140.154.14” This loaded MegaUpload.com for us!
Now, if you have a list of websites you know of that might be hit by the US DNS censorship proposed in the PROTECT IP act, obtain the IP addresses in this manner now before the censorship starts and save these IP address numbers somewhere convenient. That way, if the domain is censored, you can simply type in the IP address in your browser and the address will still load long after the domain is blocked.
Congratulations! You’ve defeated the Great Firewall of America! (for now)
Note: This will only work if the website remains in a specific server. If the website moves to a different server, then there’s a chance that the IP address in question will stop working. As long as you have the IP address in use by that given website, you’ll still be able to access that website even if the US government decided to block that particular domain.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
