On 3/22/2011 11:38 AM, Kasimir Gabert wrote:
No idea why funding from one source is an issue. Not a requirement for an organization or project to do well or go south.Of course, if Tor was only funded from one subtree, say the imaginary "US Monitoring Internet Communications Agency" then you might have some reason to be concerned. Take care, Kasimir
Some of Watson's, Gregory's & Kasimir's possible explanations are at least plausible. They may not be correct, but who's to say - & they didn't require conspiracy. I'm not quite as naive as some seem to think. When I refer to "govt(s)", I mean which ever dept(s) are involved in a specific endeavor. Even diff depts involved in same project may not agree. That's weakly related to my question.
The point about supporting the Taliban is well taken. That's happened many times. So are several others - like govts in general, making bad decisions. One of my main questions was about, if Tor is * indeed * anonymous to govts in general, it is one of the most powerful tools for terrorist groups (not nations). Now, if one wants to argue that govt agencies being able to communicate w/ whomever outweighs terrorist groups being able to communicate openly, constantly, w/o fear of intercepted info - how can I argue? I'm not sure most advanced countries are that stupid. Don't know the answer, but know there's usually more than meets the eye.
Doesn't matter who ALL funds Tor (or any project); what matters is who is / can do what w/ the technology or info. It's great lots of people fund it, but doesn't prove anything one way or other. Saying that there's a possibility govtS know (or can do) more about intercepting ANY kind of anonymous communications than the developers, universities, private researchers THINK that govts know, is no more a conspiracy theory than the (now) fact that individuals or depts working on the A bomb did not know what the other depts were doing, or how it would all fit together. That was for the purpose of national security. They would be the same w/ Tor or anything other technology - protect the national security.
To say the same thing as in WWII hasn't repeatedly happened or won't continue to, is naive - for Tor or anything else. I DON'T KNOW if ANY govt, anywhere can intercept Tor communications. *If* they could, I know no govt(s) agencies or developers would be allowed to say so. Like I said, it's a hard sell. People are still waiting for WMDs to be found "over there," because that's what they were told.
Good night & have a pleasant tomorrow. _______________________________________________ tor-talk mailing list tor-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk