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Researchers Face Jail Risk For Tor Snooping Study
An anonymous reader writes "A group of researchers from the University of Colorado and University of Washington could face both civil and criminal penalties for a research project (PDF) in which they snooped on users of the Tor anonymous proxy network. Should federal prosecutors take interest in the project, the researchers could also face up to 5 years in jail for violating the Wiretap Act. The researchers neither sought legal review of the project nor ran it past their Institutional Review Board. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has written a legal guide for Tor admins, strongly advises against any sort of network monitoring."
It does seem excruciatingly telling how scientists are threatened with prosecution whereas Illegal Domestic spies are treated with what almost seems like respect by the Federal Government. Kind of a reflection on the state of science vs military these days. Though in all honestly they should not have been doing this in the first place, but it's not easy to know 100% where the line is in research sometimes. So it would seem to me the best idea would be to reprimand them think some kind of appropriate fine, and set a precedent. That way it would be clear for later issues. I don't want to be monitored without my permission, I Don't know about you guys, even if it is for science.