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German TOR Servers Seized

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the sometimes-being-an-AC-is-abad dept.

mrogers writes "Servers participating in the TOR anonymizing network have been seized by public prosecutors during a child porn crackdown in Germany. TOR provides anonymity for clients and servers by redirecting traffic through a network of volunteer-operated relays; the German prosecutors may have been trying to locate an anonymous server by examining the logs of the captured relays."

8 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Re:legal basis by Ice.Saoshyant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Child porn. Apparently, the IPs of some of those servers were found on the logs of child porn web sites.

    The excuse to seize the servers relies on the cops wanting to find any data of those web site users, which they won't, because of the way Tor is built.

    Sad day for annonymous Internet, as more of the crap side of humanity uses services like Tor, and people who do need it, like people in China, are the ones burned.

  2. Re:legal basis by Nuskrad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if you aren't trading child porn, you are fine. Are you worried?

    But the people who had their equipment seized WEREN'T trading child porn (or at least, they've not been arrested or charged with that). They were just running a Tor node, which is perfectly legal, and something I do. So yes, I am worried.

  3. Re:legal basis by joshetc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I walk in my room to find my computer was stolen
    Me: OMG My computer was stolen
    My Friend: If there was no child porn on it you are ok
    Me: What the fuck are you talking about? My COMPUTER IS GONE

  4. Re:legal basis by alcmaeon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    running tor on a server is NOT the reason these people were targetted.

    I disagree. Running TOR is exactly the reason they were targeted. There may be nothing illegal about running TOR, but there is no denying the chilling effect of the government seizing people's computers on the kiddie porn pretext. The fewer people running TOR, the fewer people who can freely criticize governments--any governments, not just those in China.

  5. Re:legal basis by cp.tar · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't need TOR to criticize my government.

    Yet.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  6. Define Child by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sexual crimes against children are some of the most monsterous things mankind can do - and they do occur with a very high frequency...


    Is taking nude photos of a girl who is 17 years and 11 months old some of the most monsterous (sic) things mankind can do? According to Albert Gonzalez it is. Is it monstrous to take nude photos of a woman made up to look like a young girl? Maybe your age limit should be 21 years to be sure.

    The current withchunt on pedophiles fails to make a distinction between act against a 5 year old, and those of a seventeen year old. A Seventeen year old can be accepted in the army and carry a gun, but is not mature enough to make decisions about their own bodies. Makes sense to me...
  7. Re:legal basis by demigod · · Score: 5, Insightful
    You should have considered the consequences of your actions when you configured your computer to allow other people to route data through it.


    1. Routers are compters.
    2. Internet backbone routers are configured to allow other people to route data through them.
    3. All Internet backbone routers must be seized to stop child porn.
    4. We must have no sympathy for the TELCOS or the loss of the Internet. "It's for the children"®

    --
    "The last thing I want to do is deal with a bunch of people who want something."
    Major Major
  8. Re:legal basis by Fred_A · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I dunno where you live, but I don't need TOR to criticize my government.
    That's obviously because you're not very good at it.
    --

    May contain traces of nut.
    Made from the freshest electrons.