Thanks to encryption, UK efforts to block torrent sites are pointless
In the UK, ISPs are required to block access to a number of big-name torrent sites -- the thinking being that sites such as The Pirate Bay are used primarily for (gasp!) downloading pirated material. Despite the government's desire to control what people can access online, good old HTTPS means that people are able to very easily bypass any blocks that may be put in place.
There are all manner of proxy services and mirror sites that provide access to otherwise-blocked content, but these are really not needed. With the likes of The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents offering secure, encrypted connection, accessing the goodies they contain could involve little more than sticking an extra 's' in the URL.
Based on feedback from its visitors, TorrentFreak has been able to determine that a number of torrent sites (including The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents, RARBG and Torrentz) are all accessible in the UK if people simply opt to visit the HTTPS versions. While this is not a new trick by any means, it seems that the word is spreading and HTTPS torrenting is increasing in popularity.
In some instance, rather than offering HTTPS as an option, a number of torrent sites default to the secure connection, automatically sidestepping ISP-level blocks. TorrentFreak explains:
The HTTPS issue is not new and it appears that many ISPs don’t have a countermeasure in place. According to our information, only Sky is structurally blocking secure versions of various pirate sites.
The precise technical explanation for the issue is unclear, but since HTTPS connections can strip HTTP headers it may be harder to detect that a blocked site is being accessed.
In theory ISPs could also block the site’s IP-addresses, but since many use shared IPs from CloudFlare this would also take down other unrelated websites.
It may not work forever, so if HTTPS is giving you access to sites that would otherwise be blocked, make the most of it while you can.
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