this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2023
434 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

37705 readers
353 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
alyaza@beehaw.org
TheRtRevKaiser@beehaw.org
gyrfalcon@beehaw.org
rs5th@beehaw.org
coldredlight@beehaw.org
Los@beehaw.org
SemioticStandard@beehaw.org
TheRtRevKaiser@kbin.social
remington@beehaw.org
434
Man Found Guilty of Child Porn, Because He Ran a Tor Exit Node (The Story of William Weber) - LowEndBox (lowendbox.com)
submitted 1 year ago by trashhalo@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
117 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

William Weber, a LowEndTalk member, was raided by Austrian police in 2012 for operating a Tor exit node that was allegedly used to distribute child pornography. While he was not arrested, many of his computers and devices were confiscated. He was later found guilty of supporting the distribution of child pornography through his Tor exit node, though he claims it was unintentional and he was simply supporting free speech and anonymity. He was given a 5 year probation sentence but left Austria shortly after. Though some articles portray him negatively, it is debatable whether he intentionally supported child pornography distribution or simply operated in the legal grey area of Tor exit nodes.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's been working fine for 20+ years already, with consequences foreseen from the beginning:

  • Don't trust exit nodes, they get the final packets and can do with them whatever they want.
  • If you put identifying data in an unencrypted packet, the exit node will know who you are.
  • If you send identifying data (encrypted or not) to a website, the website will know who you are.
  • Trust destination websites only barely more than you'd trust them normally, and only as long as you keep the NoScript enabled.
  • If your entry node colludes with your exit node, they might analyze data traffic patterns to try and identify you.

If you want to hide your porn habits from your techie flatmate with a logging router, Tor works great. If you're a CIA agent in Iran wanting to send some report back home without getting found out, Tor works great. If you're a whistleblower wanting to send an anonymous tip to the Washington Post, Tor also works great. If you're curious to see that foreign mercenary group's website that's blocked in your country... SWIM had to try some different circuits, but Tor also worked there.