Re: 25 tbreg relays in directory

[Ringo <2600denver@xxxxxxxxx>]

Remotely disabling Tor nodes is a slippery slope. So it sounds like
somebody is abusing the Tor network to do auction fraud, but that kind
of stuff occasionally happens with a system like Tor. Should we filter
exit nodes because we know this is going on? I wouldn't think anybody
would answer yes to that.

We already can disable nodes by marking them 'invalid'. I for one would
never run Tor if I knew that directory servers could run code on my
machine or tell my Tor client to shut down.

As for disabling these nodes because they're zombied, I again don't
think this is Tor's place. If somebody wants to contact the ISP or the
owner of the zombie machines that's one thing but I think as long as
there's a computer routing traffic for us that isn't malicious, we
should keep it. I don't think there should be a 'tor police' that goes
around determining if a node is legitimately obtained or not.

Ringo

Alec Burgess wrote:
> 
> punkle jones (punkle.jones@xxxxxxxxx) wrote (in part)  (on 2009-06-29
> at 10:19):
>>  Unlurking for the first time, I think.
>>
>>  Why not join forces with a popular freeware/shareware product like
>>  Aim or Winamp, with an "uncheck to opt out" option and a description
>>  of tor.  Such a bundle could be preset to relay, and there's got to
>>  be a magic bandwidth that most western users could tolerate.  Is it
>>  ethically wrong to insert TOR into the userspace of the less-informed
>>  by associating it with a popular (hopefully not unsavory) download?
>>  Does this concept fly in the face of free will?  Is it just too
>>  sneaky?  It's not like you'd be putting five new toolbars into their
>>  browser.
> 
> I've been following this thread with interest. From what I've read our
> best guess as to why other users are installing the package which uses
> Tor is to provide the  means to circumvent the restrictions  on quickly
> creating multiple accounts for a particular auction group (*Taobao)*. 
> Correct so far? Presumably the effect of  doing this are likely to be
> unwelcome to *Taobao.com * management and/or other non-participating
> users/bidders/sellers?
> 
> Question: ignoring any possible bad reputation this brings to the TOR
> community at large does this have the side-effect of increasing exit
> nodes and thereby providing more capacity to everyone? Or is typical
> usage for those who want to create the multiple accounts just to open
> them briefly and then cease immediately with no net noticeable effect on
> the TOR network as a whole?
>