The agency is called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, or BBG. The represents all U.S.-based civilian international broadcasting. Their new technology is called "feed over email," or FOE, and it uses a powerful encryption algorithm to deliver content, including censored content, safely via email.
The BBG conjured up this idea to help deliver their own content, and it remains unclear if citizens will be able to use FOE to access websites or information outside the agency's current stable of content providers, which includes such outlets as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Martí and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
"Chinese netizens have been using proxy servers to access the information blocked by the government for a long time, [and] FOE is just a more convenient tool," said Hu Yong, speaking for the BBG.
But the technology looks promising. According to online reports, it disposes of the need for proxy servers, which have traditionally been used to get around online filters. For example, if someone wanted to smuggle illicit information into China, they'd deliver it from a server location outside the country. Unfortunately, Chinese authorities are starting to make progress busting operations like that.
FOE, by contrast, would use simple email encryption to deliver the goods. Support for such encryption is currently available through such popular webmail services as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. In addition, users could modify the service to receive censored content on their mobile devices.
Besides China, the BBG hopes to make FOE technology available in countries like Vietnam and Iran.
