On Thursday 04 December 2008 11:54:51 OgnenD wrote: > Hello, > > I am sure someone had digested this before but what would be some issues > with purchasing (say) twenty different boxes around the USA with good pipes > and allowing people to use them as tor relays/exit nodes (while charging a > monthly fee for it)? The way I see it, greatest obstacle to using tor every > day is speed, but I might be wrong.
A couple things: such KNOWN and set boxes would be subject to taps (probably wouldn't matter much if they are relays but it becomes a potential problem if they are exits). Second, I believe (correct if wrong) that if you, a private citizen, are donating your system for use as a relay/tor server you have no real or even potential legal "obligation" to keep logs for presentation to authorities when they ask for them (with a bogus non-warrant FBI "National Security Letter" for instance). If you are now a fee-for-use entity (basically commercial) you are potentially subject to such nonsense. The point of tor isn't to lock people out by charging for service, it is to act as a totally open access system for ALL people regardless of economic status. Charging locks out a lot of people, especially in foreign countries with naughty governments and shitty economic situations.
