The Internet is known as a ‘free’ medium. Worldwide reception, easy access to information, and the simplicity of publishing make it virtually impossible to control. However, there are methods of restricting access to certain websites. As a natural consequence, there are also ways to go around them. Read more to learn how!
Step one: what are we dealing with?
An inaccessible website could mean a lot of things. An obvious case is that a sign-in to an account is required. Otherwise, you cannot use an email or banking service! A similar case is with pay-per-view content. In many expert-grade articles, only an abstract is available for free. Video streaming is mostly billed on a monthly basis. Speaking of movies, there is also a matter of geo-blocking. It is the result of copyright laws being different around the world. The provider obtains the right to broadcast a given movie, but only in specific regions. In order to prevent infringement, access is restricted based on user location. Also, some websites detect the presence of advertisement blocking software and react by blocking their content in return. The ads could be annoying, but they bring income for the page owner.
Blocking is also utilized in local networks. Typically, this applies to companies and schools, where specific content is inappropriate or counter-productive. All the traffic is controlled by the local administration, so filtering of specific IPs, URLs, or content can be applied. The goal is parental control or procrastination prevention. A similar sort of control is governmental censorship. This has sparked heated debates about freedom of speech, especially if it involves blocking political or religious content. Sometimes, however, it is desirable to suppress offensive or unethical data.
How to bypass a restriction?
This depends on the context. When a sign-in is required, there is usually no legal way around it. No one would like their private information to be compromised! When trying to access non-private, but somehow restricted information, sometimes it is enough to search in other sources. Unpaid video streaming services often offer the same movies as pay-per-view ones. Unfortunately, this typically involves a lot of intrusive advertising, not to mention questionable legality. Regarding professional publications, there is a database of free research papers called Sci-Hub. It prides itself on making science more accessible. Where the adblocking is unwelcome, the simplest way is to comply and disable it temporarily. You can also open a website in incognito mode, where the ad-blocking browser extension should be off.
One way of bypassing geo-blocking is a proxy website (prywatnoscwsieci). There are many websites where you can simply type in a URL and access a page through an intermediate server – a proxy. However, a far safer way is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). It acts as a tunnel, cloaking all your online activity from network administration, Internet provider, and geographical tracking. When highly secure encryption is included, like in Tuxler VPN, it also protects your privacy by reviewsdir.
When trying to circumvent the content blocking, you should proceed with caution. The Internet is indeed a free medium, but it should not be beyond responsible management. Some of your activities can be easily detected and are most unwelcome by your supervisors or local laws. When in doubt, use trusted solutions that ensure protection from tracking. Tuxler is one of the most reliable VPN services, as it prevents your data from interception and hides your home location.
