How to Watch Al Jazeera English In the US - Step by Step Instructions

Al Jazeera English (AJE) has decided to cut off online streaming to the US rather gracelessly. This is an attempt to direct current US viewership to their new offering, Al Jazeera America (AJAM). But, like many people, I don't watch Al Jazeera on a television (if I do, I happily stream it from my netbook to TV) and I am not very excited about what is being blasted as "watered down" US coverage. I want to finish watching The French African Connection and I require the Empire episodes. I want the cautious political analysis of Marwan Bishara, not whatever CNN-inspired line the new advertiser elite who put together AJAM.

Ahead of the August 20th launch date for AJAM, AJE cut off all streaming to the US market. This was by no means a popular action - see Glenn Greenwald's excellent write-up on the issue (and while you're there, wish him luck with his recent battles with the UK/US over media free speech). Either way, here is how to access the AJE content from within the US:

  Edit 3-26-15: Tor has changed its structure - these are the new, easier steps to get Al Jazeera video streams in the US:

A. Download & Install Tor

B. Open Tor, and Download & Install Flash Player

C. Click the orange "TorBrowser" button on the far top-left of the Tor window.

D. Click "Add-ons" (beside the blue puzzle piece icon)

E. Click "Plugins" (beside a blue 2x2 LEGO brick)

F. In the list, find "Shockwave Flash"* beside which is a drop-down menu. Choose "Always Activate" on that menu.

*(You may have to restart Tor if you don't see Shockwave Flash in the list - go back to step 'C' if that is the case).

G. Close the Add-ons Manager Tab (listed at the very top of the Tor window).

H. Navigate to aljazeera.com and view your preferred content!*

*(You may find that Al Jazeera still thinks you are in the US and will not play video. Go to the next step to solve that problem)

Troubleshooting: sometimes Tor network uses an identity that is in the US, which will not allow streaming from AJE. Follow the next steps to fix this.

I. Click the small green onion on the top-left of the Tor window under the orange button.

J. Click New Identity; return to step 'H' to try streaming

If you are still having trouble with Flash Player, follow these steps:

K. Click the small green onion on the top-left of the Tor window under the orange button.

L. Choose  "Preferences..."

M. Choose the "Security Settings" tab

N. Uncheck "Disable browser plugins (such as flash)" and "Restrict third party cookies..."

O. Click OK

P. Return to step 'H' to try streaming

Q. If flash still doesn't work, return to step "C" to activate Flash Plugin. If AJE thinks you are in the US again, return to step "I" for a new identity.

  

Further Errata:

Revealed NSA involvement in the Tor project means that the security features we disable to activate Flash Player were weakening the "security" of a system heavily surveiled by the NSA anyways. I actually don't think that watching the channel variously endorsed by US presidents and State Dept officials will put you on any intelligence agency radar. But if you truly need your viewing habit protected and private, it is not likely that this (or any other online method) will accomplish that. Bulk data collection, that is mass surveilance in the form of internet "trunk" data copying means that our government has every means to collect every piece of data on certain routing lines, and enough time to decode anything it targets intensely enough.

Sensible measures should especially be in place should you be involved in practices targeted by the NSA (like whistleblowing of any sort) - keep your sensitive information on a disk that you don't access while online, and only access them from a computer you can certify is free of spyware/malware etc. etc. - preferably one that has its online connectivity totally deactivated.

(Below are listed the previous steps, in case they are still useful for anyone)

1. Download & Install Tor Browser Bundle.

Tor is a powerful tool for hiding your identity online. It is especially useful for accessing restricted information and web pages, as well as being a primary hub for black markets. The Tor system uses "onion routing" to hide the terminus of connections among layers of other connections.

If you are currently using Tor for security purposes, you need to create a separate installation or alternate profile if possible. For this tutorial, we are going to be disabling many of the security features because those features deactivate video streaming and other javascript-based services which we need. We are only trying to make a web page think that we have an ip address from another country.

The archive will ask you to choose a location to extract to. I chose "C:\Program Files\" to fit the widows folder archetype - an additional folder ("Tor Browser") will be created so don't worry about including it here. It's also a good idea to make a shortcut on your desktop: use your right mouse button to drag & drop "Start Tor Browser.exe" on the desktop. It will look like this, probably with less snow:

 

2. Install the Latest Flash Player for Firefox.

But first, install Firefox if you don't yet have it.

Install Macromedia Flash

Be sure to uncheck "McAfee Security Scan Plus" adware before you click the download button. Download the file, go to tools > downloads, and double-clock on “install_flashplayer…”

3. Copy Flash files to the Tor Browser

Create a new folder:  “C:\Program Files\Tor Browser\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox\plugins\”

In a new window, navigate to “C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash” or “C:\Windows\System64\Macromed\Flash”. Copy these files from this folder to the folder you just created:

Copy these files: "NPSWF32_11_8_800_94.dll" & "flashplayer.xpt"

NOTE: If you have issues with virus protection or plugin container, copying all of these files instead of just 2 my resolve that issue.

4. Configure Tor

Now we’re done playing with files. There are a few more steps to take before Tor can show videos not regularly accessible in your country. When you open Tor, two windows appear – a browser and a “Vidalia Control Panel” window. Open Tor and click on the green onion that appears next to the address bar. Choose “Preferences.” Click on the “Security” tab. Unselect options as follows:

Then click “OK”

Go to Tools > Add-Ons then choose “Plugins.” Enable “Shockwave Flash…” Close the “Add-ons Manager” tab.

Go to the “Vidalia Control Panel.” Click on “Settings” button, “Advanced” tab and then “Edit current torrc” under “Tor Configuration file” section.

A basic text editor will appear. Add the following lines to this file:

ExitNodes {DE},{FR},{AT},{BE},{DK},{ES},{GB},{GR},{GI},{IM},{IS},{IE},{LI},{LU},{NO},{SE}

StrictExitNodes 1

Select the text you just pasted. Choose “Apply Selection Only.” You should see something like this:

Click “OK”

Switch to the Tor browser. Go to English.Aljazeera.Net and enjoy content just like before!

5. Other Stuff

When you first try to connect, the web page will probably take some time to load. However, once you are streaming video, it should not stutter. If it does, close & reopen Tor from the "Vidalia Control Panel" to establish a fresh connection.

When starting a stream, you may need to click on the plugin ("Activate Plugin") and then press "play" once the AJE content appears.

Your anti-virus software may interfere. Do not turn it off. AVG did not cause me problems on my 64 bit Windows7 system, but Avast on my 32 bit XP system stopped the plugin and, after changing Avast settings (follow the Avast pop-up and uncheck the option it specified as a trip for the plugin) I had to restart, as the pesky "plugin container" program was now frozen. You may need to copy ALL files from "...\Macromed\Flash\" to "...\Plugins\" in step 3 to make this process run more smoothly, which is what I did on my Windows7 system.

Please let me know if you have problems so that I can update this tutorial. Any feedback is appreciated.