Cecibot
Security and privacy
censorship circumvention
SHOW HN2018
How HN took it
4 positive, 3 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 2 critical, out of 10 comments about the project. Thread score +0.09.
Docs: 1 for, 1 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 againstIdea: 1 for, 0 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clever idea and cool concept for circumventing censorship.
From 3 comments
This is a cool bot. I wonder how well this concept can work for two way communication: not just GETting webpages but also allowing messaging when it’s blocked.
dannyw on HNExcellent idea! Congrats on launching, and I love the minimalist website. Quick note, /ar/ and /zh/ don’t currently seem to work.
Cenk on HNThis is really cool, nice work. In addition to censorship-circumvention, it also provides a way to read the content of potentially-malicious sites without risk of browser…
jstanley on HN
Minimalist website design.
From 1 comment
Excellent idea! Congrats on launching, and I love the minimalist website. Quick note, /ar/ and /zh/ don’t currently seem to work.
Cenk on HN
Objections
Using the tool may expose users to censors who can detect requests (honeypot risk).
From 2 comments
Seems like this just creates a honeypot where censorship regimes can easily detect people attempting to circumvent their systems. Use this tool and you're liable to be a list.…
programmarchy on HNIf you don't trust the tool, don't use it. The fact that '[b]ypassing censorship is a criminal activity in a number of countries' seems to be what drove the creator of this tool…
Yetanfou on HN
Terms of service wording on terrorism and exploitation is too specific.
From 2 comments
The terms of service seem a bit odd to me: ``` I do not tolerate: - Exploitation of _children_ (including child pornography) - _Religious_ terrorism ``` May I suggest changing…
Yetanfou on HN@werber mentioned it in his comment as well, and I agree that the list is oddly specific, because it's solely based on me (with very little regard to whether something is legal…
boramalper on HN
PDF output carries its own security risks.
From 2 comments
>it also provides a way to read the content of potentially-malicious sites without risk of browser vulnerabilities being exploited PDFs have the same kind of vulnerabilities,…
heinrich5991 on HNSome PDF readers can execute JS which can be embedded in PDF files. Just use a reader which doesn't support embedded JS (or switch it off if it does support it) to avoid this…
Yetanfou on HN
Requests
Support chunked transfer-encoding.
From 1 comment
This is really cool, nice work. In addition to censorship-circumvention, it also provides a way to read the content of potentially-malicious sites without risk of browser…
jstanley on HN
Add GitHub link to the site.
From 1 comment
Very minor nitpick: Would be nice if the github link was also on the site. I like the idea a lot though! Very interesting.
notamy on HN
Sign returned files with a GPG key.
From 1 comment
It would be nice if the returned files or PDFs were (GPG) signed with an official cecibot key, for tamper protection.
implying on HN
Support two-way messaging when blocked.
From 1 comment
This is a cool bot. I wonder how well this concept can work for two way communication: not just GETting webpages but also allowing messaging when it’s blocked.
dannyw on HN
Questions
Is the maker afraid of repercussions for the software?
From 1 comment
Are you afraid for repercussions for writing the software and/or your statement(s) about the regime?
Fnoord on HN
Why do /ar/ and /zh/ pages not work?
From 1 comment
Excellent idea! Congrats on launching, and I love the minimalist website. Quick note, /ar/ and /zh/ don’t currently seem to work.
Cenk on HN
Alternatives named
Tor, including bridges.
From 1 comment
Hello HN, author here! I am a developer from Turkey, currently residing abroad for studying CompSci. Throughout the years I watched the Internet censorship in my country getting…
boramalper on HN
VPNs.
From 1 comment
Hello HN, author here! I am a developer from Turkey, currently residing abroad for studying CompSci. Throughout the years I watched the Internet censorship in my country getting…
boramalper on HN