Hi list,
as I am in the progress of looking for a dedicated box to host a high volume relay on,
as one of my current Tor-VPSs has some TCP limitations so I took it down. After doing
some reasearch, my shortlist came up with OVH. After reading their (awfully translated:
Babelfish French to German anyone?) AUP/TOS, I found that Tor nodes in any flavor
are forbidden on their network. So I got curious and checked the pertinent Tor node
lists for boxes within AS-OVH.
To my surprise, several dozen servers happily popped up as a result. I got even more
curious and called the German affiliate about their policy regarding proxies and Tor
nodes in general. To my surprise, the person there seemed familiar with what Tor is
and had some insights about the policy as well.
He told me what I read in their special rules about root servers and there are no
exceptions. So, I inquired about all the nodes already in place within their AS. Guy
didn't break a sweat and calmly explained that there are special contracts for them.
And therein lies the rub: if you want to place a Tor node, exit or relay, inside their
network, you have to explain your intent, security measures, shoe size etc. in writing.
Apparently, you also need to log the connections for the authorities so they can deal
with *insert high profile evildoer reason here* should the need arise.
Anyone with an OVH server reading this? Care to comment?
What to conclude from that? I am not too sure myself. Ban AS16276 from the Tor network?
This would probably enlist copycats who are afraid to deal of the legal consequences
and soon every big hoster is banned. Wouldn't hurt for some, mind you ;) After that, the
small ones will likely get zeroed in by the authorities and a lack of financial resources will
be the end to them.
Thoughts?