Owen DeLong wrote:
I strongly disagree with you.
TOR exit nodes provide a vital physical infrastructure to free speech advocates who live in jurisdictions where strong forces are aligned against free speech. I'm sure most TOR exit node operators would happily provide all the details they have if presented with an appropriate subpoena. I really cherish this idea of privacy on the internet. It's a strong tool for enabling democracy and freedom of speech. [snip]
Isn't William's problem because he used an IP address that was registered to him on the Polish server? If not, what am I missing? SANS has chimed in via their latest Newsbites: --TOR Operator Charged For Content Sent Through His Servers (November 29 & 30, 2012) An Austrian man who operated TOR servers has been charged with distributing child pornography. Authorities detected the images passing through the servers maintained by the man. Police seized 20 computers and other equipment from William Weber's home. TOR is an acronym for The Onion Router, a project developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory that allows people surf the web anonymously. It is often used by political dissidents, journalists, and law enforcement officers, and has also been used by criminals. The offending images were being distributed by a server in Poland and sent through Weber's servers. Weber operated exit servers; traffic from these nodes can be traced back to the servers' IP addresses. While the authorities became "friendlier" after understanding where the images came from, there is a precedent for holding TOR operators liable for content that passes through servers they operate. The Electronic Frontier Foundations acknowledges the risk that accompanies operating exit nodes and advises that "it's best not to run your exit relay in your home or using your home Internet connection." http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/tor-operator-charged-for-child-po... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20554788 http://www.zdnet.com/austrian-man-raided-for-operating-tor-exit-node-7000008... [Editor's Note (Ullrich): IMHO, the TOR operator acted like a transit ISP/NSP in this case. (Hoan): In many countries it is not illegal to run a Tor exit node. However, for anyone considering, or are already, running a Tor exit node you should familiarise yourself with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Legal FAQ on the topic at https://www.eff.org/torchallenge/legal-faq/]