Slashdot Mirror


University Professor Chastised For Using Tor

Irongeek_ADC writes with a first-person account from the The Chronicle of Higher Education by a university professor who was asked to stop using Tor. University IT and campus security staffers came knocking on Paul Cesarini's door asking why he was using the anonymizing network. They requested that he stop and also that he not teach his students about it. The visitors said it was likely against university policy (a policy they probably were not aware that Cesarini had helped to draft). The professor seems genuinely to appreciate the problems that a campus IT department faces; but in the end he took a stand for academic freedom.

9 of 623 comments (clear)

  1. But... by Stanistani · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nothing really happened to him... no sanctions, penalties, threats of actions... they didn't even say "Halt thy nefarious actions, or I shall chastise thee anon!"

    Overblown.

  2. It can't be _THAT_ effective... by mark-t · · Score: 2, Funny

    After all, they were able to identify him as one of the users of the application.

  3. Re:Campus Intelligence Agency... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just wait until they take you to a small off-campus building and lock you up there for a while.

    Those MIT hackers won't get away with it again.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  4. He's lucky... by BronsCon · · Score: 3, Funny

    If using the service was against university policy, they very well could have Tor him a new one.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  5. This could have been prevented by brouski · · Score: 3, Funny

    If he had only used Log Deleter 5.0, there would have been no record of his router hopping.

    --
    Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
    1. Re:This could have been prevented by PrinceOfStorms · · Score: 2, Funny

      Link please!

  6. Double entendre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    From TFA: "Someone looking up potentially sensitive information might prefer to use [Tor] -- like a person who is worried about potential exposure to a sexually transmitted disease and shares a computer with roommates."

    So, sharing a computer with roommates might give you an STD and Tor will protect you from it? Hmmm...

  7. Re:Piss poor by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    WTF is Tor?

    It's where the virus Megabyte lived with his army of viral binomes and henchmen Hack and Slash while plotting to take over Mainframe and the Supercomputer.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  8. Re:Bravo by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1, Funny

    I expect Blue Cross buys a lot more gall bladder operations than you do. Ever hear of a bulk discount? Should you be able to buy all products at the same price Wal-Mart pays too? Seems to me such an idea is kind of anti-capitalistic. Sort of like a... centrally planned economy!