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Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: astor on November 30, 2012, 01:11 am

Title: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: astor on November 30, 2012, 01:11 am
This has been all over tech news sites today.

http://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/6283/raided-for-running-a-tor-exit-accepting-donations-for-legal-expenses

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/tor-operator-charged-for-child-porn-transmitted-over-his-servers

http://raided4tor.cryto.net


He also got busted with a little marijuana and hashish. Wonder if he got them off SR. :)
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: gypsy on November 30, 2012, 02:21 am
LE didn't just take this guy's computers, below is copied from one of the articles above:

"My storage cubes (HP MicroServers) were confiscated without any regard for the hardware—the power cords were simply ripped out instead of properly shutting them down," he wrote in a blog post published Thursday morning. "After finishing the search in my living room, they continued in my bedroom, where they confiscated my legal firearms, as well as my cable TV receiver and my Xbox 360. Despite my statement that all firearms and ammunition were legally owned and registered, having passed all background checks, this was doubted by one of the LKA officers due to the caliber."

The guy is 20 years old. He is not in jail but he's in a heap of trouble - needs 10,000 euros:

"Sadly we have nothing like the EFF here that could help me in this case by legal assistance, so I'm on my own and require a good lawyer," he wrote in a blog post seeking donations.

The article also says this dude isn't the 1st person busted - a German man was busted because bomb threats were sent through his Tor exit node ... all kind of shocking really, risky business having a Tor relay or bridge or whatever it's called. 

Thanks for posting this, astor.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: James Hardens Beard on November 30, 2012, 02:32 am
Man, this is really messed up.
I feel like this is going to be the LE's newest tactic, since they're failing pretty hard at taking SR down from the inside, going after people who are doing nothing more than letting information pass through their computers.

I've said this once, and will probably say it a thousand more times, but fuck the police.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: astor on November 30, 2012, 02:38 am
I think William (the relay operator) realizes the potential importance of his case in setting a precedent in the EU for "common carriers". He posted a bitcoin address to collect money for his legal defense, and I encourage people to donate. As soon as I mix some coins, I will be donating.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: gypsy on November 30, 2012, 02:48 am
Man, this is really messed up.

You can say that again!
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: modziw on November 30, 2012, 03:17 am
If someone can post a link where we can verify the bitcoin address and donate, that would be great.

Modzi
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: midlandsmafia on November 30, 2012, 03:24 am
If someone can post a link where we can verify the bitcoin address and donate, that would be great.

Modzi

Quote
(More detailed informations can be found here: http://raided4tor.cryto.net/ in Dutch, German and English)
((partly censored for my own safety) Court order/search warrant can be found here: http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Beschluss.png )

Yes, it happened to me now as well - Yesterday i got raided for someone sharing child pornography over one of my Tor exits.
I'm good so far, not in jail, but all my computers and hardware have been confiscated.
(20 computers, 100TB+ storage, My Tablets/Consoles/Phones)

If convicted i could face up to 10 years in jail (min. 6 years), of course i do not want that and i also want to try to set a legal base for running Tor exit nodes in Austria or even the EU.

Sadly we have nothing like the EFF here that could help me in this case by legal assistance, so i'm on my own and require a good lawyer.
Thus i'm accepting donations for my legal expenses which i expect to be around 5000-10000 EUR.
If you can i would appreciate if you could donate a bit (every amount helps, even the smallest) either by PayPal (any currency is ok):

My PayPal was limited - Please consider using Bitcoin or Bank transfer (or contact me for other methods) - i expect it to work again tommorow (Friday).
https://paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2Q4LZNBBD7EH4

Or by Bank Transfer (EUR only please):

Holder: William Weber
Bank: EasyBank AG (Vienna, Austria)
Account: 20011351213
Bank sort number: 14200
IBAN: AT031420020011351213
BIC: EASYATW1

Or BitCoin:
1CPKAMtD4bcLrh8SRHfSxBBMmQQ5cqahPZ

I will try to pay them back when i'm out of this (or even before) but i can obviously not guarantee this, please keep this in mind.
This money will only be used for legal expenses related to this case.

If you have any questions or want to donate by another way (MoneyBookers, Webmoney, Bitcoin, Liberty Reserve, Neteller) feel free to send me a mail (william@william.si) or a PM, or contact me in LET IRC.

Thanks!
William
Looks legit to me, got it from http://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/6283/raided-for-running-a-tor-exit-accepting-donations-for-legal-expenses
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: oldtoby on November 30, 2012, 03:39 am
Predictable, really. Play whack-a-node with TORexits and make people scared to volunteer themselves for the job. Not a sole tactic but combined with other approaches (infiltration, interception, etc.), possibly effective.

Interesting legal issue. There shouldn't be anything illegal about being a facilitator of online anonymity, but "hard cases make bad law". Which is why I wish the media would lose interest in SR and chase after something else for awhile.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: fyg on November 30, 2012, 04:09 am
donated a few buttcoins
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: modziw on November 30, 2012, 04:20 am
If someone can post a link where we can verify the bitcoin address and donate, that would be great.

Modzi

Quote
If convicted i could face up to 10 years in jail (min. 6 years), of course i do not want that and i also want to try to set a legal base for running Tor exit nodes in Austria or even the EU.

Thus i'm accepting donations for my legal expenses which i expect to be around 5000-10000 EUR.

Or BitCoin:
1CPKAMtD4bcLrh8SRHfSxBBMmQQ5cqahPZ

William
Looks legit to me, got it from http://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/6283/raided-for-running-a-tor-exit-accepting-donations-for-legal-expenses

I Donated.

A friend of mine had a simple bust a few years back and it got thrown out by the judge at trial. The cost: $35,000

Donate even one coin to this guy. If we all do then it will help him a lot. Especially you fellow vendors making money here.

Donate 10 coins. It will do your real Karma some good.

Modzi
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: shunyata on November 30, 2012, 05:42 am
Disgusting, fucking pedophiles! They will ruin it for us! >:(
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: kmfkewm on November 30, 2012, 11:10 am
Disgusting, fucking pedophiles! They will ruin it for us! >:(

People being anonymous will ruin anonymity for us when the police crack down on anonymity networks ?
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: lettsindig on November 30, 2012, 01:47 pm
as expected imo.
didnt read that whole article but think I know from the headline..

i argued for things like this being a big risk in the #tor chan on freenode last year, but oh no, noone would agree that it would be much of a problem with their magnificent standard templates of excuses from the tor site that youd just post to your ISP when they complain about crime..lol

was just a matter of time before they cant hold up anymore and were forced to come down hard. you are bound by your Isp's license agreement and held responsible for traffic on your own IP.  eventually ISPs gonna be pressured to take action against those where crime comes out of to avoid being prosecuted themselves,  no matter who else you blame it on and what excuses you have, maybe some were slack but that cant last..
this is why Id never never ever dear setting up an exit-relay and allow random anonymous people surf with my IP and risk people distributing childporn,spam,scam,plan terrorism etc. on an IP Im responsible for that may appear as me.. crazy if you ask me, surely wouldnt last forever imo.

ohwell, besides many isps disallowing running tor nodes anyway even if you setup a non-exit relay cos the ip gets blacklisted many places, shouldnt be as much of a problem for SR for now I think, besides possibly losing extra nodes, as they cant say for sure what the internal (encrypted) node traffic (over .onion domains) as here on SR is used for, alot used legitimately for chinese dissidents,journalists and the likes.. guess it just depends how important they think it is to allow these people to continue with that vs. all the crime (like SR) that is bound to be included.
I bet over time shits gonna happen more here too somehow, theyll prolly call it 'most likely facilitators of crime' or something like that (and correctly so) and force tor-nodes over on short-lasting compromised botnet-style nodes or something, if at all continued..

hopefully will be solutions or alternatives by then..
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: WinterMoon on November 30, 2012, 02:43 pm
Since SR depends on Tor, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that William Weber is part of our extended SR 'family' and that he needs our help.

This may well be a precedent setting case and precedents cost money.  If you think Tor is worth defending please donate BTC if you are able. 

I'm going to try to follow this case ...  [steps off soapbox & says thank you]
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: j3an on November 30, 2012, 03:05 pm
Donated; exit nodes are the blood that runs though TOR's veins. If anyone has anything left over from an order, ship it : D
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: dieselpepper on November 30, 2012, 03:13 pm
Running your Tor exit node on an VPS that you payed for anonymously (registering a new account over Tor and paying with MySimon or other anonymous prepaid credit card) might be the solution to this.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: WinterMoon on November 30, 2012, 03:27 pm
Donated; exit nodes are the blood that runs though TOR's veins. If anyone has anything left over from an order, ship it : D

^ Yes!  Everyone please send your spare BTC to this address:    1CPKAMtD4bcLrh8SRHfSxBBMmQQ5cqahPZ

Thank you.  I will be quiet now  :-*
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: astor on November 30, 2012, 06:31 pm
It's interesting that you can look up his donation address in the block chain

https://blockchain.info/address/1CPKAMtD4bcLrh8SRHfSxBBMmQQ5cqahPZ

and see that he has received 199 BTC, which is almost 2500 USD at the current exchange rate. He has probably received even more via traditional payment methods, so he should have at least 5000 EUR already.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: techmo on November 30, 2012, 06:58 pm
Running your Tor exit node on an VPS that you payed for anonymously (registering a new account over Tor and paying with MySimon or other anonymous prepaid credit card) might be the solution to this.

This!!!
Seems like the best way to ensure TORs resiliency and to protect those willing to put time and money into setting up nodes.  You can already purchase a VPS with bitcoins (probably anonymously).  Someone needs to make an image that can easily be deployed to a VPS to integrate it into the TOR network.  Is anyone aware of such a thing?

Running an exit node out of your home on physical hardware is way too risky!


As much as I'd like to see this poor guy get off without being charged, if your concern is the sustainability of TOR and not this guy's legal troubles, your BTC may be better used if put toward setting up new nodes...  The old "take one down, five pop up" philosophy.


-Smoke
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: shunyata on December 01, 2012, 01:28 am
Disgusting, fucking pedophiles! They will ruin it for us! >:(

People being anonymous will ruin anonymity for us when the police crack down on anonymity networks ?
Perverts using tor for their sick purpose just give more ammunition to the LE in the battle for public support. I don't like to think that my perfectly harmless activities on SR are under the same protection as child porn fucktards. It is what it is. It's just an unfortunate side effect of anonymity. I wish there was a way to self monitor and protect the hidden net from the real criminals using it.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: Slicksuit on December 03, 2012, 01:24 pm
Donated; exit nodes are the blood that runs though TOR's veins. If anyone has anything left over from an order, ship it : D

^ Yes!  Everyone please send your spare BTC to this address:    1CPKAMtD4bcLrh8SRHfSxBBMmQQ5cqahPZ

Thank you.  I will be quiet now  :-*

Is that the address to donate to, to help him out?

If so, I'll be donating a spare 3 or 4 coins.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: kmfkewm on December 03, 2012, 05:13 pm
Disgusting, fucking pedophiles! They will ruin it for us! >:(

People being anonymous will ruin anonymity for us when the police crack down on anonymity networks ?
Perverts using tor for their sick purpose just give more ammunition to the LE in the battle for public support. I don't like to think that my perfectly harmless activities on SR are under the same protection as child porn fucktards. It is what it is. It's just an unfortunate side effect of anonymity. I wish there was a way to self monitor and protect the hidden net from the real criminals using it.

You are a real criminal using the darknet. Everybody thinks that they are special but in reality you will share the same cell with someone busted with CP if you get busted yourself. I hope that the darknet stays what it is, anonymity for anybody. Either we are all anonymous and have freedom of speech or none of us do. There are just as many people out there who wish you couldn't use Tor to get drugs.
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: Joy on December 03, 2012, 05:45 pm
thats fuckep man..
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: Dopamin on December 04, 2012, 01:02 am
some coins for you buddy :)
Title: Re: Tor exit node operator raided by Austrian LE
Post by: jack2324 on December 04, 2012, 03:10 am
I got some coins to use for an order today, but this is more important.  Sending them all there instead.