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Absinth writes:
From MSNBC, "It (the site) attempted to operate as a 'discussion-only' forum where people could share their sexual interest in young boys without committing any specific offenses, thus operating 'below the radar' of police attention. Having made contact on the site, some members would move to more private channels, such as email, to exchange and share illegal images and films of children being abused.
The statement said Europol analysts had cracked the security features of a key computer server at the center of the network which uncovered the identities of suspected child sex offenders. And, after his arrest, the forum's Dutch administrator helped police break encryption measures that shielded users' identities, allowing police to begin their covert investigations.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement( ICE ) has also issued a news release."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by koja on Wednesday March 19 2014, @01:51PM
Honestly I am not running a Tor relay just because I don't want SOME traffic it might be used for. Less than 100% libertarian probably...
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @02:20PM
I ran a TOR node for about 1 day.
I started digging around on the 'darknets' and 'websites'. The crap on there is the most seedy of seedy. I came quickly to the conclusion I did not want to help these people out. I thought I could help people in other countries get access to information. What I found was it may be used for that. But its main purpose is to break laws and be 'anonymous' while you do it. It did not fit my moral compass at all. Shame :(
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @03:17PM
That is the unfortunate reality. The same tools that provide a measure of shelter to oppressed people under the thumb of tyrannical governments, pretty much by necessity can also be used to shelter scum wishing to hide their actions from more legitimate authorities. I don't really see any other option, especially considering just how blurry the line can be between tyrants and legitimate authorities.
So the question becomes, which is more important? To give shelter to those with a legitimate need, or to deny it to the scum?
I suppose we could try things like TOR routing blacklists that deny access to know scum-oriented sites, but even if such a thing is technically feasible (I don't know) that seems like something that would be prone to lots of abuse, while being only mildly effective - much like the internet porn filters various governments have tried to implement.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @04:59PM
> So the question becomes, which is more important?
> To give shelter to those with a legitimate need, or to deny it to the scum?
There will always be scum, even in the most totalitarian system they will be there, if nothing else they will insert themselves into the system itself under the guise of being responsible for stopping scum and using that privileged access for their own ends. The oppressed, by definition, won't have that kind of ease of access.
(Score: 1) by idetuxs on Wednesday March 19 2014, @07:24PM
Even? I read your next sentence but, totalitarian system aren't supposed to stop scum. Not at all. That's not in the definition.
If you think totalitarian governments stop bad people. Then the media (or whoever) have done a good job.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @07:52PM
Of course that's what totalitarian systems are for. That's ALWAYS the justification they hang their hat on. And it sort of works too, for example you could walk the streets of moscow in the dead of the night under the USSR without fear of being mugged or raped, that's not true now. The fact that the people running them also get a lot of benefit out of the arrangement does not negate that. Two things can be true at the same time. In fact, the world is rarely ever black and white.
(Score: 1) by tathra on Monday March 24 2014, @01:15AM
their definition of "scum" isnt the same as yours.
(Score: 1) by idetuxs on Wednesday March 19 2014, @07:28PM
Mod up please.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @03:50PM
> I came quickly to the conclusion I did not want to help these people out.
Do you have a problem paying your taxes? They pay for public roads that child molesters drive their victims on. What about all the innocent people killed in wars you funded?
What about the next snowden? Would you prefer that he not be able to confidentially expose official malfeasance if it means some pedos have to work even harder to stay underground?
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @04:57PM
Do you have a problem paying your taxes?
That is a spurious argument and you know it.
The *intended* use of tor is to be anonymous. However, most people just use it to do things that are basically illegal. Using a road is not the same thing and you know it. You are using the 'buh buh buh this other case' argument. Which is basically the same as saying 'but all my friends are doing it'.
What about the next snowden?
What about him? Notice he didnt really use TOR? For good reason. His data was better handed off to some reporter.
Would you prefer that he not be able to confidentially expose official malfeasance
It is not my job to make it easier or harder for law enforcement to do its job. You are using the argument that we should make it easier for them to do their jobs using the very tool intended to help people out to hide from them?
My beef with TOR was it is sold as a 'save the people from oppression' tool. When we all can log in and see with our own eyes what is going on.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @08:03PM
> That is a spurious argument and you know it.
No, that is a spurious argument and you should know it because you didn't bother to explain why. Declarations without support are not valid arguments, if anything they are an admission that you can't actually support your claim.
See how I just provided you with an example of how to do it correctly?
Do what I say and what I do! Here's another one:
> Notice he didnt really use TOR? For good reason. His data was better handed off to some reporter.
Forest and trees man! Snowden was an expert in the technology, the tor browser bundle is designed for people who are not experts. Expecting all whistleblowers have that kind of technical expertise is to make modern whistleblowing impractical.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dotdotdot on Wednesday March 19 2014, @02:32PM
This. I couldn't sleep at night if even 1% of the traffic I was relaying was this kind of stuff.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 19 2014, @04:05PM
> Less than 100% libertarian probably...
Certainly less than 100% anarchist.