9 ms·

Tor Exit Nodes in Libraries – Pilot

215 points by briansmith 11y ago

fweespeech 11y ago
I wonder how many DMCA requests they will get and if the administrative overhead with it will kill the Pilot.
- noondip 11y ago
  From http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/dmca/guidance http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/dmca/guidance: Section 404 of the DMCA updates section 108 of the Copyright Act to allow libraries and archives to take advantage of digital technologies when engaging in specified preservation activities. The amendment to subsection 108(a)(3) is intended to ease the burden on libraries and archives of the current law's requirement that a notice of copyright be included on copies that are reproduced under section 108. Under this amendment, such notice would be required only where the particular copy that is reproduced by the library or archive itself bears a notice. The amendment to subsection 108(b) permits a library or archive to make up to three copies or phonorecords, rather than just one, for purposes of preservation and security or for deposit for research use in another library or archives, and permits such copies or phonorecords to be made in digital as well as analog formats. The amendment provides that any such copy in a digital format must not be otherwise distributed in that format and must not be available to the public outside the premises of the library or archives.
  - fweespeech 11y ago
    That isn't immunity to frivolous DMCA notices or the ability to ignore DMCA notices. By serving as an exit node, they are able to take it off premises. > The amendment provides that any such copy in a digital format must not be otherwise distributed in that format and must not be available to the public outside the premises of the library or archives.
    - wcchandler 11y ago
      Yeah, that's a specific example they point out in the guidelines. But there's another section that also applies to higher ed institutions which remits all damages and criminal charges if they prove they had no knowledge of it (actively) going on. That's the provision they'll probably hide under. edit: I should clarify, most DMCA complaints are from third parties who get paid from the settlements. Eliminating the financial incentive to pursue legal action pretty much eliminates the threat of prosecution.
      - fweespeech 11y ago
        Does that exemption hold true the second or third time they get hit with a legal notice about the same issue and their Tor exit node?
    - duskwuff 11y ago
      Or notices from law enforcement, in the event that their exit node is used to commit a crime.
- SG- 11y ago
  Well they likely already get some since they have quite a few people using their wifi.
- driverdan 11y ago
  While they're not an exit node, none.
fossuser 11y ago
If you think the Tor project is working on an important problem, consider running a relay. It's inexpensive, easy to administer, no hassle (if not an exit) and I think the scale is such that a couple thousand additional relays would make a noticeable difference to the network. You can even have it AWS where it will get automatic updates with almost no effort: https://cloud.torproject.org/ https://cloud.torproject.org/ If you want to run it on OS X: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/6567/how-do-i-manually-setup-a-relay-on-os-x https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/6567/how-do-i-manual... I think it's pretty cool that you can help enable people to safely bypass censorship/surveillance from across the world.
- rocky1138 11y ago
  What sort of legal protections does Canada have for people running a Tor node?
  - Zikes 11y ago
    A relay which is not an exit is practically zero risk. The design of the Tor system means you'll be receiving an encrypted packet from one source, unwrapping one layer of encryption, and passing it on to the next relay in the chain, with no knowledge of the original source, final destination, or true packet contents.
- drinknderive 11y ago
  What sort of legal protections does USA have for people running a Tor node?
  - anfedorov 11y ago
    It's probably legal, but it hasn't yet been tested in courts: https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en
  - pfg 11y ago
    Generally speaking, running a relay node is considered to be fairly safe and hassle-free. Running an exit node is more of a hassle, you'll usually be receiving a lot of DMCA notices and a lot of ISPs won't permit running exit nodes from their network. There has been at least one case outside of the US where an exit node operator was prosecuted and found guilty of aiding in distributing child porn [1]. [1]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140701/18013327753/tor-nodes-declared-illegal-austria.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140701/18013327753/tor-n...
arat 11y ago
If you know a librarian who might be interested in participating in the future, consider encouraging him or her to fill out this questionnaire: https://libraryfreedomproject.org/questionnaire/ https://libraryfreedomproject.org/questionnaire/
ceequof 11y ago
https://pando.com/2014/07/16/tor-spooks/ https://pando.com/2014/07/16/tor-spooks/ In 2006, Tor research was funded was through a no-bid federal contract awarded to Dingledine’s consulting company, Moria Labs. And starting in 2007, the Pentagon cash came directly through the Tor Project itself — thanks to the fact that Team Tor finally left EFF and registered its own independent 501(c)(3) non-profit. How dependent was — and is — Tor on support from federal government agencies like the Pentagon? In 2007, it appears that all of Tor’s funding came from the federal government via two grants. A quarter million came from the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), a CIA spinoff that now operates under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. IBB runs Voice of America and Radio Marti, a propaganda outfit aimed at subverting Cuba’s communist regime. The CIA supposedly cut IBB financing in the 1970s after its ties to Cold War propaganda arms like Radio Free Europe were exposed. The second chunk of cash — just under $100,000 — came from Internews, an NGO aimed at funding and training dissident and activists abroad. Tor’s subsequent tax filings show that grants from Internews were in fact conduits for “pass through” grants from the US State Department.
- mburns 11y ago
  https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en The NSA fully-funded and wrote SELinux, too. So what?
  - daveloyall 11y ago
    I am naive on this topic. Sincere question: don't these facts call the utility of SELinux and Tor into question? If the answer is "because math", well... I don't speak math. Being illerate in this manner, I must depend on the reputations of the parties involved (and the reputations of the parties that report who was involved!). So... Can a person who does not trust the NSA trust products they paid for?
    - INTPenis 11y ago
      You can definitely trust the sensational value in finding out that any project advocating freedom and data security would be exploited by a government. That's what I do, it's not perfect but I love reading source code and figuring out how things work so I know others, much smarter than me, love that too. The public cases of the US government going after Tor, for example, have all read like external attacks on the protocol design flaws to build a larger case. I would be more suspicious over placing exit nodes in libraries because I assume they're state owned in the US. Don't know since I'm not from there though. I just think it's sort of ironic because the attacks that have been performed all required possession of exit nodes.

215 points by briansmith 11y ago

fweespeech 11y ago

I wonder how many DMCA requests they will get and if the administrative overhead with it will kill the Pilot.

noondip 11y ago
From http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/dmca/guidance http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/dmca/guidance: Section 404 of the DMCA updates section 108 of the Copyright Act to allow libraries and archives to take advantage of digital technologies when engaging in specified preservation activities. The amendment to subsection 108(a)(3) is intended to ease the burden on libraries and archives of the current law's requirement that a notice of copyright be included on copies that are reproduced under section 108. Under this amendment, such notice would be required only where the particular copy that is reproduced by the library or archive itself bears a notice. The amendment to subsection 108(b) permits a library or archive to make up to three copies or phonorecords, rather than just one, for purposes of preservation and security or for deposit for research use in another library or archives, and permits such copies or phonorecords to be made in digital as well as analog formats. The amendment provides that any such copy in a digital format must not be otherwise distributed in that format and must not be available to the public outside the premises of the library or archives.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  That isn't immunity to frivolous DMCA notices or the ability to ignore DMCA notices. By serving as an exit node, they are able to take it off premises. > The amendment provides that any such copy in a digital format must not be otherwise distributed in that format and must not be available to the public outside the premises of the library or archives.
  - wcchandler 11y ago
    Yeah, that's a specific example they point out in the guidelines. But there's another section that also applies to higher ed institutions which remits all damages and criminal charges if they prove they had no knowledge of it (actively) going on. That's the provision they'll probably hide under. edit: I should clarify, most DMCA complaints are from third parties who get paid from the settlements. Eliminating the financial incentive to pursue legal action pretty much eliminates the threat of prosecution.
    - fweespeech 11y ago
      Does that exemption hold true the second or third time they get hit with a legal notice about the same issue and their Tor exit node?
  - duskwuff 11y ago
    Or notices from law enforcement, in the event that their exit node is used to commit a crime.
SG- 11y ago
Well they likely already get some since they have quite a few people using their wifi.
driverdan 11y ago
While they're not an exit node, none.

fossuser 11y ago

If you think the Tor project is working on an important problem, consider running a relay. It's inexpensive, easy to administer, no hassle (if not an exit) and I think the scale is such that a couple thousand additional relays would make a noticeable difference to the network. You can even have it AWS where it will get automatic updates with almost no effort: https://cloud.torproject.org/ https://cloud.torproject.org/ If you want to run it on OS X: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/6567/how-do-i-manually-setup-a-relay-on-os-x https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/6567/how-do-i-manual... I think it's pretty cool that you can help enable people to safely bypass censorship/surveillance from across the world.

rocky1138 11y ago
What sort of legal protections does Canada have for people running a Tor node?
- Zikes 11y ago
  A relay which is not an exit is practically zero risk. The design of the Tor system means you'll be receiving an encrypted packet from one source, unwrapping one layer of encryption, and passing it on to the next relay in the chain, with no knowledge of the original source, final destination, or true packet contents.
drinknderive 11y ago
What sort of legal protections does USA have for people running a Tor node?
- anfedorov 11y ago
  It's probably legal, but it hasn't yet been tested in courts: https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en
- pfg 11y ago
  Generally speaking, running a relay node is considered to be fairly safe and hassle-free. Running an exit node is more of a hassle, you'll usually be receiving a lot of DMCA notices and a lot of ISPs won't permit running exit nodes from their network. There has been at least one case outside of the US where an exit node operator was prosecuted and found guilty of aiding in distributing child porn [1]. [1]: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140701/18013327753/tor-nodes-declared-illegal-austria.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140701/18013327753/tor-n...

arat 11y ago

If you know a librarian who might be interested in participating in the future, consider encouraging him or her to fill out this questionnaire: https://libraryfreedomproject.org/questionnaire/ https://libraryfreedomproject.org/questionnaire/

ceequof 11y ago

https://pando.com/2014/07/16/tor-spooks/ https://pando.com/2014/07/16/tor-spooks/ In 2006, Tor research was funded was through a no-bid federal contract awarded to Dingledine’s consulting company, Moria Labs. And starting in 2007, the Pentagon cash came directly through the Tor Project itself — thanks to the fact that Team Tor finally left EFF and registered its own independent 501(c)(3) non-profit. How dependent was — and is — Tor on support from federal government agencies like the Pentagon? In 2007, it appears that all of Tor’s funding came from the federal government via two grants. A quarter million came from the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), a CIA spinoff that now operates under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. IBB runs Voice of America and Radio Marti, a propaganda outfit aimed at subverting Cuba’s communist regime. The CIA supposedly cut IBB financing in the 1970s after its ties to Cold War propaganda arms like Radio Free Europe were exposed. The second chunk of cash — just under $100,000 — came from Internews, an NGO aimed at funding and training dissident and activists abroad. Tor’s subsequent tax filings show that grants from Internews were in fact conduits for “pass through” grants from the US State Department.

mburns 11y ago
https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en https://www.torproject.org/about/sponsors.html.en The NSA fully-funded and wrote SELinux, too. So what?
- daveloyall 11y ago
  I am naive on this topic. Sincere question: don't these facts call the utility of SELinux and Tor into question? If the answer is "because math", well... I don't speak math. Being illerate in this manner, I must depend on the reputations of the parties involved (and the reputations of the parties that report who was involved!). So... Can a person who does not trust the NSA trust products they paid for?
  - INTPenis 11y ago
    You can definitely trust the sensational value in finding out that any project advocating freedom and data security would be exploited by a government. That's what I do, it's not perfect but I love reading source code and figuring out how things work so I know others, much smarter than me, love that too. The public cases of the US government going after Tor, for example, have all read like external attacks on the protocol design flaws to build a larger case. I would be more suspicious over placing exit nodes in libraries because I assume they're state owned in the US. Don't know since I'm not from there though. I just think it's sort of ironic because the attacks that have been performed all required possession of exit nodes.