"Anonymous" File-Sharing Darknet Ruled Illegal By German Court

An anonymous reader writes "A court in Hamburg, Germany, has granted an injunction against a user of the anonymous and encrypted file-sharing network RetroShare. RetroShare users exchange data through encrypted transfers and the network setup ensures that the true sender of the file is always obfuscated. The court, however, has now ruled that RetroShare users who act as an exit node are liable for the encrypted traffic that's sent by others."

Comments

Remedy probably forthcoming shortly :P

[Anonymous Coward]

I can see it happening already, someone will donate to the judge a cheap and crap computer (Raspberry Pi fits the bill perfectly) and run up a Tor exit node on it. Much hilarity ensues. :-)

It's academic anyway, because this is a ruling that will get overturned in the EU for being in conflict with basic freedom of speech. Encryption of communications is not illegal in EU.

What's more, Europeans tend to be strongly opposed to the excesses of the copyright lobby, and strongly supportive of freedom of file sharing. The politicians even listen to them on this subject, as the official political representation shows. So, that judge is out on a rather lonely limb, and a stupid limb if he'd thought about the implications for two seconds before running off to the golf club. It's unlikely to stand.

Re:Exit node malware coming soon

[Runaway1956]

Wait - who said that you get to define "darknet"?

Seemingly, the most accepted definition of a darknet would be, "I'm actually anonymous, there are no lights shining on me, I can be who and what I want to be, and no worries about the law, or the church, or my kin, or mobs chasing me down!"

For the most part, the people on the darkwebs I have navigated don't give a damn who sees their material. Their primary concern is that an oppressive government doesn't come kicking their doors down. Their secondary concern is to avoid embarrassment for the stuff being traced back to them. MOST people want other to read, or view, their original material. Whether that material be political in nature, or religious, or even CP, the people who produce it are indeed distributing the stuff as widely as they dare.

The public can download I2P or any other darknet software, install it, and browse the material published there. The government can do the same. Darknetizens WANT their voices to be heard.