Re: [tor-talk] Tor banned in Pakistan.

[Phillip <equusaustralus@xxxxxxxxx>]

>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/30/pakistan-bans-encryption-software
>>
>>
> It is very bad news because I am affraid that another tyrannical regimes
> such as Russian can make do it too.
> But it seems to me that Tor-users can use bridges and etc. for avoiding
> repressive measures from "law enforcement bodies" of their countries (if
> the termin "law is applicable to such bodies :) ).

Hi Orionjur,

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Russia is one of the last places I can
imagine banning VPN's and Tor, especially from what I gather from my
contacts in Russia... the FSB already has direct access to all Internet
connection hubs (i.e. in an apartment building), completely by-passing
ISPs and legal requirements!

Have you seen the Russian net? The amount of piracy (as well as Tor
traffic!) that goes through there is staggering! Regardless of all of
the capabilities, authorities are simply not interested in you unless
you *really* step on some toes (and, hint hint, running a Tor relay or
exit node hasn't drawn their wrath so far)... And if you do happen to be
such a person, it is much easier to break your door down using existing
laws (using the crackdown on pirate copies of Windows as an excuse, for
example) than amending the laws to include VPNs!

But you're definitely right about the danger of the capability to block
VPN's - I thought it was restricted to China and other such extreme
regimes. If they can break your door down *just* because they're seeing
encrypted traffic, there's definitely a problem!

Which, of course, doesn't eliminate false positives, like running
Facebook with the https always option turned on, or gmail, or any other
SSL-encrypted site...


-- 

GPG Key: CF345FAE
 

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