Re The dilemma of the dark web: protecting neo-Nazis and dissidents alike

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: August 23, 2017 at 3:20:29 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The dilemma of the dark web: protecting neo-Nazis and dissidents alike
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> The dilemma of the dark web: protecting neo-Nazis and dissidents alike
> Anonymity network Tor has become a safe-space for white supremacists and paedophiles. Yet in nations where access to 
> the net is curtailed, it’s a lifeline
> By Alex Hern
> Aug 23 2017
> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/23/dark-web-neo-nazis-tor-dissidents-white-supremacists-criminals-paedophile-rings>
>
> The neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer finally crossed a line following the killing of a civil rights activist at a white 
> supremacist rally it helped organise in Charlottesville, Virginia: a blogpost attacking victim Heather Heyer lead to 
> it being chased from the web, first by technology companies who steadily refused to provide service, then by hackers 
> who tried to crash the site.
>
> Eventually, it sought refuge in the so-called dark web, launching a special type of site called a Tor hidden service, 
> impervious to conventional internet censorship. In doing so it shone a spotlight, yet again, on a controversial 
> technology that provides protection for dissidents in oppressive regimes at the same time as harbouring Nazis, 
> illicit marketplaces and child abuse rings.
>
> The developer of the protocol that allows sites to exist hidden within the dark web and the encrypted browser used to 
> connect to them and normal websites in a protected fashion, the Tor Project, spoke out shortly after the Daily 
> Stormer created its hidden service:
>
> “We are disgusted, angered, and appalled by everything these racists stand for and do. We feel this way any time the 
> Tor network and software are used for vile purposes.”
>
> But, unlike previous groups the site had turned to for protection, Tor argued the same rights that protect the good 
> protect the Daily Stormer too. “We can’t build free and open source tools that protect journalists, human rights 
> activists, and ordinary people around the world if we also control who uses those tools,” it said.
>
> “Tor is designed to defend human rights and privacy by preventing anyone from censoring things, even us.” The project 
> is unable to deny service to the Daily Stormer even if it wanted to.
>
> Double-edged Tor
>
> It isn’t the first time Tor has found itself facing controversy. The software was initially developed with the help 
> of US government funding to provide access to the open web to users from repressive nations, but has become better 
> known in the west for its use by those who want to evade law enforcement.
>
> Perhaps the most notable examples are dark markets, such as the Silk Road, Alphabay or Hansa – all now closed down by 
> authorities. These used Tor hidden services to connect customers with merchants, overwhelmingly for illegal goods 
> such as drugs, fake IDs and similar, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to facilitate payments.
>
> But Tor has been used for other malicious ends as well. Over the years, law enforcement agencies have discovered and 
> taken down sites that trade in child abuse imagery and others that offer illegal hacking services on the dark web. 
> Terrorists have also been experimenting with the service, although the surprisingly low-tech approach of many 
> would-be murderers reportedly puts them off such secure solutions .
>
> One 2015 survey of the dark web put the proportion of illicit content at around 40%.
>
> Such figures have led nations such as France to wonder if banning the service might be a possibility, but proponents 
> say the 60% of sites that are perfectly legitimate are important to defend.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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