Friday, August 7, 2009

Tor iPlayer Access

Update: April 2012 - the text below is old and while Tor is too slow to access iPlayer, but it probably still could be used.
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My old version of Tor seems to have stopped working for iPlayer Access.

As I am not using Tor to access the BBC programming as the VPN works really well for me it seems pointless to spend the time to debug the new installation.

The latest version (Aug 2009) is 0.2.1.19-0.1.15 (my earlier versions are 0.1 something)
The install downloads a new torrc file - can't be bothered to reconfigure - not sure if StrictExitNodes command still works.

As the Tor website says:
"......... with Tor, as do people wanting to post socially sensitive information in chat rooms, like rape or abuse survivors and those with illnesses. The Tor network also provides protection for people looking for another layer of privacy from the millions of websites and ISPs bent on collecting private information and tracking their moves online."
This is not what I am trying to do, watching BBC outside the UK does not qualify. Nor is the use of Tor for downloading from P2P sites!

Links:


Please note that the first comment on this post was made in response to a visitor posting a link to their solution to me not being able to access the BBC using Tor. I removed the link as I saw it as self-promotion.
I have been using Tor successfully for a number of years for many purposes including access of iPlayer programming.

6 comments:

UK Musings said...

Please don't spam this blog!

In fact as an update my method of using Tor to access the BBC is working well and I did not need to resort to adding the fingerprints to the torrc file.

My config seemed to have got messed up before and I wasn't even getting a list of connected Tor servers (from the Vidalia Control panel - let along a TorStatus report)

Osman Elsahib said...

sir, I'm sorry that you mis-understood me, i'm just trying share knowledge, and if that bothered you, i apologize once more.

UK Musings said...

Apology accepted, Osman - it may be that I am over zealous in my link policy in comments on this blog.

However, I still have a few issues with the how-to-hide-ip website and the page on how-to-use-an-ip-from-a-specific-country-while-running-tor (visitors can search for this and I am sure they will find it)

Mr Ioan Dan Gurghian of Targu Mures Transylvania seems to be more interested in promoting his website than he does in providing information in how to select Tor Exit Servers in the UK. This is what I was re-acting to and at first thought that you and he were the same!

While the information provided on the website is largely factual, in my experience the technique he describes is far too complex for more potential iPlayer users to configure. It seems to be used as a "ruse" to get the visitor to purchase his services.

Also the fact that the link to the TorStatus report is pointing to a website that Firefox has security issues with (such that you have to add a security exception so that you can load it) and the fact that there are other servers that offer this status report, there are no instructions on how to determine what servers exit in the UK and those that don't.

The fact that there is a step missing (apparently)) from the Tor configuration - as pointed out in one of the comments --- A configuration of the socks port that is automatic when you install the "new" version of Vialia on your computer, further compounds the issue

Anonymous said...

Hey TempusFugit,

The bbc iplayer has also stopped working for me when I watch f1 live, as I keep getting a "This content doesn't seem to be working" message. Was just wondering how can I solve the problem, and if it can't be solved, can you share with me the link of the VPN service that you are using?

Thanks a lot

UK Musings said...

I use the Lamnia service.

Don't forget to tell them I referred you and enjoy the GP.

You will need to get your finger out as it might take a while (with a possible time difference) but they should be able to get you hooked up before the main race tomorrow.

You should be able to watch it live, something I was never able to do on a Tor connection.

Moline said...

I was trying to find out how to use Tor to watch the BBC Olympic coverage from Illinois