Austrian Tor Exit Node Operator Found Guilty As An Accomplice Because Someone Used His Node To Commit A crime
from the bad,-bad-news dept
Three years ago we wrote about how Austrian police had seized computers from someone running a Tor exit node. This kind of thing happens from time to time, but it appears that folks in Austria have taken it up a notch by... effectively now making it illegal to run a Tor exit node. According to the report, which was confirmed by the accused, the court found that running the node violated §12 of the Austrian penal code, which effectively says:Not only the immediate perpetrator commits a criminal action, but also anyone who appoints someone to carry it out, or anyone who otherwise contributes to the completion of said criminal action.In other words, it's a form of accomplice liability for criminality. It's pretty standard to name criminal accomplices liable for "aiding and abetting" the activities of others, but it's a massive and incredibly dangerous stretch to argue that merely running a Tor exit node makes you an accomplice that "contributes to the completion" of a crime. Under this sort of thinking, Volkswagen would be liable if someone drove a VW as the getaway car in a bank robbery. It's a very, very broad interpretation of accomplice liability, in a situation where it clearly does not make sense.
Tragically, this comes out the same day that the EFF is promoting why everyone should use Tor. While it accurately notes that no one in the US has been prosecuted for running Tor, it may want to make a note about Austria. Hopefully there is some way to fight back on this ruling and take it to a higher court -- and hopefully whoever reviews it will be better informed about how Tor works and what it means to run an exit node.
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Filed Under: accomplice, aiding and abetting, austria, secondary liability, tor, tor node
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When you add "on the internet" relativity kicks in and causes Govt employees' brains to fart it seems. This is even worse on a quite specific demographics outside the government too but that's for another article.
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The premise is that VW (an incorproated entitiy and here in the USA, therefore a Person) would be liable for your crimes, for selling YOU a car that YOU used to drive as a get away Volkswagon.
They may as well have named the EU central bank as an accomplice for all crimes commited wile using Euros to facilitate them...
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If I rent a car from Hertz (a large US rental company) and use the car in a crime, they are liable?
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tor exit nodes are the same as ISPs / infrastructure
Unless they do this, they have to drop all charges to tor exit node operators and pay damages to those falsely arrested and imprisoned.
I would sue the government for wrongful arrest and imprisonment.
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Re: tor exit nodes are the same as ISPs / infrastructure
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So, when do they arrest all telecom execs for the same thing?
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Roads aid many criminals, therefore making governments criminal enterprises.
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http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-file-sharing-ruled-illegal-by-german-court-121123/
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arm waving frantic
I have to shake my head when you write things like this, I know you know this just isn't the case. You might have a valid point if VW's customers were all engaged in criminal activity or covert acts, but they are not, plain and simple.
When you open your network connection as a TOR exit node, you do some with the understanding that the only people on TOR are people who want to do things and not get traced. They are intentionally using an obfuscation network to hide their activities. Knowing that, providing them with internet access helps facilitate whatever bad thing it is that they are trying to accomplish.
With that basic knowledge, providing that connection is being an accessory to the crime, and a significant one at that, because without the TOR exit nodes, perhaps the crime would not have been committed at all.
The TOR exit node operator here doesn't even have to know of a particular case or situation. He would only have to know that his action (to open the node to anyone and everyone) is likely to lead to some sort of criminal activity being conducted over it. He wasn't forced to run a TOR node, it's not the ISP default, it's not a bug in a router or wireless setup. It's someone purposely downloading and installing the TOR software and allowing people to use his internet connection without restriction.
He could have chosen not to do it.
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Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Don't feed the trolls.
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Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: arm waving frantic
Remember folks, a desire for privacy is the same thing as admitting guilt!
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Re: arm waving frantic
Seriously?
What about all the people who use Tor to bypass blocks? That's a common use of Tor: bypassing firewalls. The intent is not to hide their activities, the intent is to be able to do them at all.
Seriously?
How did you do the jump from "hiding their activities" to "doing something bad"? Do you really think that only people who want to do bad things hide their activities?
I hide my browsing of porn. Nobody knows I sometimes visit porn sites. But browsing porn is not something bad, it's something normal; it's just something that I feel self-conscious about.
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Read what you just said. They are using Tor to bypass blocks... in other words, they are trying to hide their identity in order to access material that is otherwise not available to them (for reasons like Geo blocking).
The reasons don't have to be nefarious, they don't have to be doing truly bad things... but on a very basic level shows what Tor is used for. Helping someone bypass a GEO block is in itself potentially a legal issue, one that hasn't been pushed too hard yet. However, you can see recently Hulu working to block known VPN providers to stop their services from being used outside the US.
I hide my browsing of porn. Nobody knows I sometimes visit porn sites.
Yup, as always, there are some legit uses. Even then, some people may use it because the material they seek is not legally available in their country as an example. Big users of VPNs and such for porn are from the middle east, where it is very much illegal.
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Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Just because something is "the law", doesn't mean people should blindly follow those law. Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement are a good example of standing up to bad laws.
I also consider patents to be bad laws dictated by greed. Honestly, who tries to patent the worlds food supply? Greedy psychos, that's who. Who tries to increase the costs of life saving medicines by 500%? Greedy psychos.
The list just goes on and on when it comes to patents. Who tries to lockup the knowledge and advancement of the human race? Patent maximalists, that's who.
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Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Just because it upsets your corporate overlords, does not make it illegal, or even potentially illegal.
AJ you are a moron. I take it you are still cheating on your exams, as someone this stupid would not pass without having the answers given to them
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Re: Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Indeed. I use VPNs largely for work purposes, but I also use them to access my Netflix account. A legally paid for, fully authorised account that I can use anywhere on my regular trips to the UK and the US, but not from my home in Spain - because those corporations haven't given their blessing. No similar local competitor exists, to the best of my knowledge.
Of course, the moron's preferred solution to this is not to licence Netflix to service the other countries they cannot currently service. Nor is it to perform a desperately needed revision to the licencing structure so that service providers don't have to piss around on a country-by-country basis (DVD region codes cover the entire continent, why can't streaming licences?).
No, his solution is to outlaw the mechanisms by which paying customers can access the content they wish to pay for. Genius.
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Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
Funny how you admit this, but your "point" is always predicated on the idea that every use will be illegal.
"providing them with internet access helps facilitate whatever bad thing it is that they are trying to accomplish"
Yet, even you admit that they may well not be doing any "bad thing" at all...
Sorry, dumbass, requiring privacy does not mean you are doing anything wrong. You know this, yet you simplify your argument to an outright lie every time you post here.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
While the insult was uncalled for, the point is valid, and there's a really easy way to counter the idea of 'the only reason someone would want to be anonymous online is if they have something to hide': offer the one claiming it the chance to post under their real name, first and last, with personally identifiable, and verifiable, information.
If they decline, they are either admitting that they are engaged in 'bad'/illegal activities, or they're a hypocrite, holding others to standards they themselves refuse to match. If the first, well, at least they're honest about it, if the second, you can dismiss anything they claim out of hand as the useless prattle of a hypocrite.
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Re: Re: Re: arm waving frantic
> identity in order to access material that is otherwise
> not available to them (for reasons like Geo blocking)
Which is not a crime or even a civil offense. The fact that Warner Bros., for example, doesn't want me to watch a streaming video while I'm in France doesn't obligate me to abide by their wishes. They're free to try and block me, but if I bypass the block by making it appear I'm somewhere else, I've committed no offense.
Same with region coded DVD players. I'm under no obligation-- either legal or moral-- to abide by the entertainment industry's marketing window strategy, and if I unlock my DVD player so that it can play discs from any region in the world, that's perfectly legal, even though it subverts their business plan.
Business plans are not laws and they don't bind anyone outside of the business to abide by them.
> The reasons don't have to be nefarious, they don't
> have to be doing truly bad things... but on a very
> basic level shows what Tor is used for.
Yeah, it can be used to give a little power back to people to nullify the negative effect of a lot of corporate shenanigans. In other words, it can be used to negate the bad things that others are doing.
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Re: arm waving frantic
TOR is used for anonymizing, for routing around political blocks, for routing around regional blocks, for routing around ISP blocks. None of that is inherently criminal and in fact several are lauded as enabling freedom in repressive regimes by both Western and Eastern media. It is not different from allowing your computer to be part of a poxy network (and in fact is exactly what it is, with an additional layer of routing and encryption on top of it).
Nothing about the use of TOR is inherently good or bad, criminal or legal. Saying it is simply shows you have no idea what you are talking about.
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Re: arm waving frantic
I am an attorney. I use Tor a lot.
Just because someone wants to avoid being traced does not mean they are involved in criminal acts. This is along the same lines as "If you have nothing to hide..."
By your analogy, because some people use cars to commit crimes, then all people use cars to commit crimes, and therefore, not only the owners of Volkswagen, but the car dealers that sell Volkswagen cars (they provide the vehicle...) are just as liable as the Tor node operator.
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
False.
I am an attorney. I use Tor a lot.
Just because someone wants to avoid being traced does not mean they are involved in criminal acts. This is along the same lines as "If you have nothing to hide..."
By your analogy, because some people use cars to commit crimes, then all people use cars to commit crimes, and therefore, not only the owners of Volkswagen, but the car dealers that sell Volkswagen cars (they provide the vehicle...) are just as liable as the Tor node operator.
I guess the O.P. of this particular thread would surmise you are a "criminal" attorney.
/s
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Better Call Saul!
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Re: arm waving frantic
TD chose to permit me to post.
Ergo, by your reasoning, TD is guilty of abetting whatever the crime is that I'm committing by saying that you are the sort of submissively boot-licking toady, the copyright industry and federal spying shops hope to make out of us all.
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Re: arm waving frantic
So aren't TOR users. There are entire sites dedicated to academic research inside the TOR network. It would do you a lot of good if you actually knew about what you are talking about.
When you open your network connection as a TOR exit node, you do some with the understanding that the only people on TOR are people who want to do things and not get traced.
Because there are no reasons to want anonymity other than criminal activity. The Founding Fathers (of the US) would beg to differ.
He would only have to know that his action (to open the node to anyone and everyone) is likely to lead to some sort of criminal activity being conducted over it.
Much like every single service out there. Close everything, let's go back to the stone ages because someone might engage in criminal activities over something that's available to the public!
Gosh, you are a moron.
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
> criminal activity. The Founding Fathers (of the US) would
> beg to differ.
the founding fathers were very much criminals thank you very much
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
The stone ages? Heaven forbid! The TOR users would just start hitting everyone else over the head with rocks!
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Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: Re: arm waving frantic
when they came for those who didn't read the EULA and/or Privacy Policy, i said nothing because i had.
when they came for me, there was nobody left to provide snarky commentary on the stories of my arrest
(irony of posting as AC not missed)
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Re: arm waving frantic
You might have a point if users of Tor were all engaged in criminal activity or covert acts, but they are not, plain and simple.
More and more people are using Tor/I2p/Freenet/YaCy/proxies/etc.. for the simple reason that they don't like their private internet activities being monitored 24/7 by invasive governments and corporations.
Anonymity is traditionally considered a natural right in the US. Being anonymous isn't a criminal act in itself, nor is it even a true indicator of criminal activity.
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Re: arm waving frantic
If the cops do not seize the assets of the big corporate fiber networks and ISPs, then it is purely an illegal arrest with prejudice.
Return the operator's equipment, release them, a couple million in "oops, we're sorry we trampled all over your rights and fucked you over" money and we'll call it good.
Otherwise, we'll see your tor exit operator arrest, and raise you by cutting your entire country off from the rest of the world for all communications equipment.
Reroute all outgoing traffic to your shithole's government switchboard.
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Re: arm waving frantic
urine idjit...
i have used tor approximately 5-6 times, mostly just to play with it, and EVERY SINGLE USAGE was 'legal' and had NOTHING to do with criminal activity of any sort...
was using some torrents to download stuff manufacturers SHOULD HAVE PROVIDED, but did not: a repair manual for a car, a manual for something else, a couple musicians giving away their music, etc...
really, HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE YOU: IF your criteria is 'someone onceded did something not-nice with a tor (or fill in the blank) so we must banhammer it to smithereens, THERE WOULD BE NOTHING LEFT ON THE PLANET...
in fact, oog once hit boog on the head with a rock, so we can't even have the planet, its simply too dangerous...
go curl up in a ball and pee your panties; the rest of us want to live a life unencumbered by the stupidity of the lowest common denominator...
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Re: arm waving frantic
So you agree that VW is liable for criminal actions committed in their cars. They don't have to know of a specific case, they just have to know that their cars are likely to lead to some sort of criminal activity being conducted in them.
Why didn't you just say that in the first place instead of the gibberish you did say?
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Re: arm waving frantic
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Re: arm waving frantic
Everything can be twisted into being a crime these days, welcome to 1984.
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Re: arm waving frantic
So you are saying that the Broadcasting Board of Governors, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory,DARPA and U.S. State Department are all criminal organisations ( You are aware who created TOR right and the purpose behind them creating it?
once again, you are an absolute moron
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I used to wonder about this, too. Then I figured it out:
Whatever is actually Stephen Colbert.
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Re: arm waving frantic
This is where your argument falls apart, you are asumming that everbody wishing to hide thier identity are up to no good, thats like assuming that everybody who wants to drive a VW only wants to do it to get away from bank robberies. Wanting privacy does NOT imply criminality.
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Re: arm waving frantic
> in criminal activity or covert acts, but they are not, plain and simple.
Neither are Tor's users all engaged in criminal activity, and being 'covert', i.e., private, is neither criminally nor morally wrong.
You seem to be suggesting that it's some kind of offense to not want total strangers to have access to your private communications.
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Re: arm waving frantic
> the node to anyone and everyone) is likely to lead to
> some sort of criminal activity being conducted over it.
That same standard could be applied to hold ISPs criminally liable for anything customers do. Given the amount of crime conducted on the open internet, an ISP would have to know that by offering the public internet access, it would likely to lead to some sort of criminal activity being conducted over their network at some point.
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Re: arm waving frantic
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V.W.
Good thing they weren't using a G.M. vehicle. A failed ignition switch would have thwarted the getaway before it began.
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Re: V.W.
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Re: arm waving frantic
So by the same reasoning, anyone offering anonymous internet access to a third party is an accessory because it's inevitable that someone will use the resource to commit a crime.
This is not how accomplish liability works in the US, and the consequences of such a theory would be disasterous.
Also this tortured logic makes any online platform responsible for allowing anonymous user generated content.
You can base64 encode a child pornography image and store it in a Wordpress blog or in an anonymously created Dropbox account.
So Dropbox and Wordpress are accomplishes to crime, because they allow anonymous users to submit any data and must know that some will use the anonymity for illegal purposes.
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Re: arm waving frantic
So what we have is the parardoxical contradiction, that established ISPs aren't no longer required to keep logs because such retention violates user privacy, but Tor exit nodes are now accomplishes to crime committed through their infrastructure.
One possible distinction between a Tor exit node and an official ISP could have been that the later are by law required to keep logs in order to assist the police, but this is no plausible distinction if neither must keep logs.
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No. If law enforcement becomes interested in traffic from your exit relay, it's possible that officers will seize your computer. For that reason, it's best not to run your exit relay in your home or using your home Internet connection.
Instead, consider running your exit relay in a commercial facility that is supportive of Tor. Have a separate IP address for your exit relay, and don't route your own traffic through it.
Of course, you should avoid keeping any sensitive or personal information on the computer hosting your exit relay, and you never should use that machine for any illegal purpose."
https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html.en
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Anyway, until a crime has actually occurred it is very very hard under the Criminal legal system used in places like Canada, the United States and so on to be held or even investigated as accessories before the fact which is what Austria is pulling here. It's all very interesting and a fascinating discussion to have but it's all theoretical until it lands in a criminal court where the presumption of innocence holds sway rather than a presumption of guilt. It will be interesting to follow such a case if it is ever prosecuted.
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Can the whole postal service go to jail?
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Re: Can the whole postal service go to jail?
Actually all you need to do is use the mail system to facilitate a crime. The use of the mail system itself can be totally legal. If you hire a hitman, or use the mail system to plan a heist, it apparently has facilitated your crime.
I would think the postal service (at least the US one) would find itself on shaky ground with this kind of thinking. Mail transactions are more anonymous than electronic ones. If you add to it companies that let you rent a mailbox - come to think of it, they tend to be used by people seeking anonymity.
However, I think the device that facilitates the most crime via anonymity is, in fact, government currency. If you want to hire someone for nefarious purposes, cash is king. When is the last time you handed a strung out hooker your American Express Platinum card? I think the Austrian treasury department should be watching carefully.
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WOW..
Yahoo, MSN, Excite, Ventrilo, Mumble, and 1000 other chat programs..
THEN ADD any ONLINE video game with ANY sort of CHAT feature...
And you make a suggestion that IT should FLOOD in a vertain place, MAKES you liable for it raining??
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According to the guy who got sued he won't go to a higher court.
First he is broke and couldn't afford it.
Second during the investigation his family, friends and even his boss (if I understood it correctly) were questioned and followed. He doesn't want that this happens again.
And third he can live with the outcome because there won't be anything in his records. Afaik he had to choose between 3 months in prison or 3 years probation and took the probation.
german summary
https://network23.org/blackoutaustria/2014/07/02/kein-einspruch/
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But why only one accomplice?
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Ruling does not shock me. They would still rubber stamp orders sending Jews to gas chambers, if possible. That seems to be part of their DNA.
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A Tor relay is an IP address...
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... or maybe not...
So I'm not necessarily mad about the court's decision here.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2452320/tor-exit-node-operator-convicted-of-abetting-spread-of-c hild-porn.html (July 9, 2014)
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Re: ... or maybe not...
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judgement
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