Re: suspicions Chinese node name piracy

[Scott Bennett <bennett@xxxxxxxxxx>]

     On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:30:18 +0100 Florian Reitmeir <florian@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote (and left out Olaf's email address again):
>On Sat, 19 Jan 2008, Olaf Selke wrote:
>
>> Florian Reitmeir wrote:
>> >On Sat, 19 Jan 2008, Olaf Selke wrote:
>> >>today I found the tor network status update script for my TNS site 
>> >>http://torstatus.blutmagie.de broken. The Perl code feeding the 
>> >>underlying MySQL db relies on a unique router name for the tor server 
>> >>being queried. Since some hours besides my own tor node there's listed a 
>> >>second tor node in China named "blutmagie" in the descriptor table. It 
>> >>appears to be using a Chinese dialup address. Oops!
>> >>
>> >>Fixing the TNS Perl code was not very hard, but what may be the reason 
>> >>some idiot in China choses the same router name like me?
>> >because there is no trademark on router names?
>
>> personally I don't care very much about someone else using my router 
>> name, but there seems to be some motivation to do so. Would you label 
>> your router in a foreign language you probably don't understand?
>
>maybe
>
>if i see a "big" host, and i have the ability to name mine route the same, 
>i think i would try it. just to see what happens.
>
     Well, I don't like it at all.  I've just added to my torrc file:

# The following node is a Chinese impostor of the legitimate blutmagie.
ExcludeNodes $891BA086DEEABAD7FFB83F5541395328629CADC6

>> On December 22nd police contacted me regarding an incident in Macao. 
>> Someone threatened Chinese authorities using my exit gw. Compared with 
>> other police inquiries against me this time I had the feeling they 
>> really got pressure from Berlin.

     Bummer.  However, this can be used as one more example of a reason your
legislative representative should revisit the new law(s) in Germany and get
rid of it/them.
>
>but the police got your name because of your ip address, not because of your
>tor-router-name? and there are really many chinese people out there.
>
     Or someone looked up the real blutmagie's descriptor and gave that
information to the cops, perhaps not even realizing that an impostor had come
into the picture.


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
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