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On the 15th of March, the German Bundesrat (Federal Council) voted to amend the Criminal Code in relation to internet based services such as The onion router (Tor). The proposed law has been lambasted as being too vague, with privacy experts rightfully fearful that the law would be overapplied. The proposal, originating from the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach, would amend and expand criminal law and make running a Tor node or website illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison. According to Zeit.de, if passed, the expansion of the Criminal Code would be used to punish anyone “who offers an internet-based service whose access and accessibility is limited by special technical precautions, and whose purpose or activity is directed to commit or promote certain illegal acts”.
The proposal (German)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 17 2019, @03:34AM (4 children)
Seems like we should simply make the actions illegal and not worry about what methods were used. Like banning knives to prevent stabbings, a law that targets the tool is easily misapplied, maliciously modified down the road, and often causes more problems than it fixes.
"What’s worse is that the proposed changes are so vaguely worded that many other services that offer encryption could be seen as falling under this new law. While the proposal (full German text) does seem to have been written to target Tor hidden services which are dark net markets, the vague way that the proposal has been written makes it a very real possibility that other encrypted services such as messaging might be targeted under these new laws, as well."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 17 2019, @04:04AM (3 children)
Wrong target? I don't think they've missed their target, at all. The aim is censorship. This gives them one more tool to prevent double-bad think and double-bad speech, and to punish those who engage in double-bad speech. The censors know what they are doing.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday March 17 2019, @07:21AM (2 children)
It's not just badly worded, it's atrociously worded to the point of being almost incomprehensible legal gibberish. Until someone publishes what the actual wording of the changed legal text is, it's almost impossible to figure out what it will or won't say.
That said, German law is famous for its "gummiparagraphen", elastic paragraphs that sound over-reaching when you read them but are never applied in the strictest form in which they're written.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 17 2019, @08:44AM
tl;dr ... Summary "mission accomplished".
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday March 19 2019, @12:10AM
Mind you, it's still clearer than many tech patents.