Switzerland – a Tool to Test for Bittorrent Blocking from the EFF

The EFF put out a new tool called Switzerland today that employs a semi-dezentralized method to test for any type of protocol interference. The tool is not easy to handle as you do need to be a little tech savvy to use it.

It takes two users to carry out the job – they have to coordinate a test to obtain any results, and the EFF recommends Wiki to find volunteers. You are also required to know how to start a Python script and to have Python installed on your computer. Furthermore, users have to be cautious when it comes to their router – possible disabling any firewall and using a wired connection to exclude any false positives.

Those who have no trouble with these impediments can give this tool a try. here's what the EFF's website reads:

Switzerland is designed to detect the modification or injection of packets of data traveling over IP networks, including those introduced by anti-P2P tools from Sandvine (widely believed to be used by Comcast to interfere with BitTorrent uploads) and AudibleMagic, advertising injection systems like FairEagle, censorship systems like the Great Firewall of China, and other systems that we don't know about yet.

Although the EFF has made a clear step forward with Switzerland, there's definitely room for improvement and we expect future development of the tool.