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First Library To Support Anonymous Internet Browsing Halts Project After DHS Email
An anonymous reader writes with an update to the news we discussed in July that a small library in New Hampshire would be used as a Tor exit relay. Shortly after the project went live, the local police department received an email from the Department of Homeland Security. The police then met with city officials and discussed all the ways criminals could make use of the relay. They ultimately decided to suspend the project, pending a vote of the library board of trustees on Sept. 15.
DHS spokesman Shawn Neudauer said the agent was simply providing "visibility/situational awareness," and did not have any direct contact with the Lebanon police or library. "The use of a Tor browser is not, in [or] of itself, illegal and there are legitimate purposes for its use," Neudauer said, "However, the protections that Tor offers can be attractive to criminal enterprises or actors and HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] will continue to pursue those individuals who seek to use the anonymizing technology to further their illicit activity." ...Deputy City Manager Paula Maville said that when she learned about Tor at the meeting with the police and the librarians, she was concerned about the service’s association with criminal activities such as pornography and drug trafficking. "That is a concern from a public relations perspective and we wanted to get those concerns on the table," she said.
God I'm so sick of this bullshit:
It's legal, and there are legitimate uses for it ... but we're going to list off a bunch of scary hypotheticals, and insinuate how you'd be responsible for everything on the planet.
I hope the library board sends back a big fuck you like librarians sometimes do ... give up the right to anonymity on the notion that it might might lead to something bad is the argument of cowards and fascists.
No matter what anybody likes to think, the US stopped being a free country or a champion of liberty and democracy 14 years ago. And you'll never get it back.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Only criminals want anonymity ... you want anonymity ... Citizen, why are you planning criminal activity?
You'll need to come along with us for questioning. Papers please, comrade.
This is a shady security department reaching out to a small town police force to make a "suggestion" to the library about all of the evils which could ensue.
That's about as completely scary as you can imagine, really. Freedom can be taken away with veiled innuendo by an agency who claims to be just pointing this stuff out.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
The terrorists have won. They now have us so frightened that we are being forced to give up our liberties and our freedom. And the odd part is that the very organization that is supposed to be protecting us against the terrorists, the TSA, has become the terrorists' weapon of choice against us..
In unrelated news, after a visit by DHS, Home Depot decided to voluntarily stop carrying crowbars, bolt cutters, saws, boxcutters and hand tools of all kinds after learning that these tools can be attractive to criminal enterprises or actors. The use of a crowbar is not, in [or] of itself, illegal and there are legitimate purposes for its use. When asked for comment, a Home Depot manager said that when she learned about the illicit uses for tools at the meeting with the police and general contractors, she was concerned about the company's association with criminal activities such as burglary and even murder.
Next up Civil Liberties and how they protect criminals....
They ultimately decided to suspend the project, pending a vote of the library board of trustees on Sept. 15.
So a library manager made a decision, that decision generated some contention (for better or worse) and so the matter is submitted it to democratic decision making by the proper authority. If there's a story here, it's what and how the library board of trustees decides and who tries to influence that decision.
Heck, for all we know the board might enthusiastically endorse the project. But seriously /. couldn't wait those 4 days to find out the decision.