- tor-relays - lists.torproject.org

Having trouble with setting up a relay in a censored country.
by nyyymi 15 Jan '25

15 Jan '25

Hello. For the past few days I've been trying to open a tor-relay on my old laptop running arch. The tor service starts fine but when I check nyx no traffic goes through me, both download and upload is 0. Nyx shows Unknown:portnumber. I doubt that the port is closed or somehow unavailable since arch's defaults are wide open. And for some reason my tor version (0.4.8.13) shows up as "unknown" as well. I thought the issue may lie in torproject's ban in Russia but somehow other people run relays just fine? (https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/country:ru) I've set up obsf4 as well but It didn't change anything Im quite new in all of this so bear with me. Thanks -Arttu

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Question: Relay speed South Africa
by Carlo P. 15 Jan '25

15 Jan '25

Hello experts, I have, from the same provider, two VPS with same specs (also same port speed of 200MBit/s, verified via speedtest-cli) - one in Germany, one in South Africa. Whilst the German one behaves as expected (two fast relays on it), the two relays in South Africa won't really get up to speed - barely traffic, and advertised bandwidth below 2MB/s . In general, search for country:za on metrics does not really look too impressive. Do you have any idea about the reason, i.e. why, despite the VPS having the bandwidth, the relays do not get up to speed? Thanks - C. -- Sent with https://mailfence.com Secure and private email

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My web-bridges looks offline in the Relay Search
by Brook Rameev 10 Jan '25

10 Jan '25

Hello! Today all my web tunnel relays become offline according to https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/BrookRameev (my web tunnel bridges have the 'W' suffix). But they are surely online (except BrookRameev7W, which is surely dead). I see traffic on them, I see no problems in logs, nothing changed in their configuration. I also checked them using tor browser. All of them "went down" at the same time: " 1 hour 17 minute and 48 seconds" from the current moment. The problem relates only to webtunnels, ordinal relays work normally. Good luck.

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Tor node shutdown
by Tschador 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

FYI: My Tor node »TorMachine« (6A7551EEE18F78A9813096E82BF84F740D32B911) will be shut down on 2024-12-31. Sorry folks – but I'm too old for the job. Good luck and all the best wishes for the future!

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Re: Strange UFW logs from another Tor node - update.
by code9n＠pm.me 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

On Thursday, December 26th, 2024 at 12:00, tor-relays-request(a)lists.torproject.org <tor-relays-request(a)lists.torproject.org> wrote: > > > Send tor-relays mailing list submissions to > tor-relays(a)lists.torproject.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send a message with subject or > body 'help' to > tor-relays-request(a)lists.torproject.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > tor-relays-owner(a)lists.torproject.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of tor-relays digest..." > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: What're these ufw block logs saying? (George Hartley) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2024 19:55:08 +0000 > From: George Hartley hartley_george(a)proton.me > > Subject: [tor-relays] Re: What're these ufw block logs saying? > To: "tor-relays(a)lists.torproject.org" > tor-relays(a)lists.torproject.org, "code9n(a)pm.me" code9n(a)pm.me > > Message-ID: <9ct9ASpMXXnKRo6w2spT3sRh5hspGh1EqSneiQFDwbhNlI4ZZLyU8F2f3 > 3x_KowFg5e-IYk7P0soKNit50FrGm61lKh50WazDZNkCyfJ5qs=(a)proton.me> > > Content-Type: multipart/signed; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; > micalg=pgp-sha512; boundary="------b4924ec6e97f2ee894d2a6644c496d719be > 5fc5bbba1fc1072274ea1ae63bf7c"; charset=utf-8 > > Hello, > > this is weird indeed, but the packet size is interesting. > > For example, using the tool MTR, you can trace the route to another host using different protocols: > > 1.) ICMP being the obvious default. > 2.) TCP. > 3.) UDP. > > If all these TCP packets were just below 100 bytes, that would be my guess. > > Looking up the relay, there is a name, e-mail contact and PGP key ID for this node operator: > > "Tom" > tom(a)kh6ilt.org > 0x620836CF > > Just ask this operator first to check his server for something that could cause this, and if he is running something special alongside Tor. > > Then, if that does not sufficiently explain or resolve the spurious packets, I would recommend to install tcpdump, and to use a syntax like: > > > sudo tcpdump tcp and src host 155.138.146.249 and not dst port 443 -w dump.pcap > > > You will need elevated privileges in order to run tcpdump. > > This will guarantee to exclude all legitimate Tor traffic originating from his server by excluding destination port 443, and log the remaining packets to file "dump.pcap". > > You can add the -i <interface> parameter to the beginning of the tcpdump argument list if you have multiple public interfaces. > > > Like so: > > tcpdump -i eth0 <other arguments> > > > Once the dump is finished, you can send signal 2 / SIGINT if the process is running in the background, or simply press CTRL + C.. both ways lead to a graceful exit of tcpdump: > > > kill --signal 2 tcpdump > > > Now you can inspect the traffic using a GUI tool like Wireshark (highly recommended) which can parse .pcap files and decode / recognize many types of packets. > > Please report back what you find! > > All the best, > -GH > > > On Monday, December 23rd, 2024 at 6:46 PM, code9n via tor-relays tor-relays(a)lists.torproject.org wrote: > > > Hi, > > > re. my (guard / middle relay) : 181.215.226.65 : 443 : http://hctxrvjzfpvmzh2jllqhgvvkoepxb4kfzdjm6h7egcwlumggtktiftid.onion/rs.ht… > > > I'm getting traffic from another (non-exit) relay : 155.138.146.249 : 9001 : http://hctxrvjzfpvmzh2jllqhgvvkoepxb4kfzdjm6h7egcwlumggtktiftid.onion/rs.ht… ( CCed) > > > always from port 9001 but to different, high number destination (on my vps) ports which ufw is blocking. > > This isn't Tor traffic I'm blocking, right? That would only come to my ORport? Is this abuse attempts? Under the cover of Tor relay traffic? They're quite infrequent (sample) : > > > Dec 23 14:33:29 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2228957.705152] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=37256 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 14:33:34 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2228962.788380] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=37256 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 14:52:36 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230104.586835] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 14:53:16 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230144.487410] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 14:53:54 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230183.086653] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:16:42 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231550.336547] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK RST URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:18:15 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231644.112246] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:22:31 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231900.117391] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=52 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK RST URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:42:30 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233098.835686] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:43:34 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233162.852181] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 15:45:42 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233290.874044] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK PSH RST URGP=0 > > > Dec 23 16:14:43 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2235032.148940] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=1124 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=47586 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 > > > Thanks, > > > Pete > >

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Re: Question about middle relays and common web usage annoyances
by Zachary 29 Dec '24

29 Dec '24

I wanted to chime in. I run an entry-middle relay in my basement connected to 300mbps fiber. It doesn’t push much traffic but it’s mine and I’m proud. The bank where I do my banking blocked our IP. After carefully explaining the situation to their IT team, they contacted their web host and had them whitelist my IP. It changed recently because I registered a new router on my ISP’s network, and they happily whitelisted that one too. My bank is a small town bank where everyone knows everyone, and I’m sure it would be much harder at some big corporate bank. Nonetheless, it’s always possible to make a change! Zachary

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Question about middle relays and common web usage annoyances
by tor＠computhings.be 26 Dec '24

26 Dec '24

Hello, I'm located in Belgium. I keep two small middle relays (no exit, not even guard)… https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/89B4597169A9DBB171F0B4629C73… https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/07E3A0DC6AD4A5F07D1AF942626E… If I browse the web using a common browser using the basic services of the ISPs (no torbrowser, no tor network) and at least since may 2023, I've observed that some websites (banks, federal services,…) simply don't respond when I want to open their webpages. If I use another IP from the same locations (using vpn, ssh proxy, whatever), those same websites simply respond and works without issue. If I switch back to the local ISP IP, those are unreachable, and so on. If I contact those ISPs or the banks IT services, for them there are no problem. For me, it's clear that hosting simple middle relays puts my ISPs IPs to some black lists handled by who knows who. If hosting basic middle relays is blocking common web services, it will be hard / nearly impossible for me to encourage family, friends or customers to host a basic middle relays. Maybe there is no need for more and more middle relays, I don't know. Does someone encounter the same kind of annoyances ? regards, tierce

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What're these ufw block logs saying?
by code9n＠pm.me 24 Dec '24

24 Dec '24

Hi, re. my (guard / middle relay) : 181.215.226.65 : 443 : http://hctxrvjzfpvmzh2jllqhgvvkoepxb4kfzdjm6h7egcwlumggtktiftid.onion/rs.ht… I'm getting traffic from another (non-exit) relay : 155.138.146.249 : 9001 : http://hctxrvjzfpvmzh2jllqhgvvkoepxb4kfzdjm6h7egcwlumggtktiftid.onion/rs.ht… ( CCed) always from port 9001 but to different, high number destination (on my vps) ports which ufw is blocking. This isn't Tor traffic I'm blocking, right? That would only come to my ORport? Is this abuse attempts? Under the cover of Tor relay traffic? They're quite infrequent (sample) : Dec 23 14:33:29 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2228957.705152] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=37256 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 14:33:34 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2228962.788380] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=37256 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 14:52:36 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230104.586835] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 14:53:16 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230144.487410] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 14:53:54 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2230183.086653] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=55546 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 15:16:42 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231550.336547] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK RST URGP=0 Dec 23 15:18:15 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231644.112246] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 15:22:31 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2231900.117391] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=52 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=40998 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK RST URGP=0 Dec 23 15:42:30 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233098.835686] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 15:43:34 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233162.852181] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Dec 23 15:45:42 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2233290.874044] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=588 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=32822 WINDOW=0 RES=0x00 ACK PSH RST URGP=0 Dec 23 16:14:43 xxxxxxxx kernel: [2235032.148940] [UFW BLOCK] IN=eth0 OUT= MAC=00:16:3e:b0:d2:70:e4:5d:37:86:2c:2c:08:00 SRC=155.138.146.249 DST=181.215.226.65 LEN=1124 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=55 ID=0 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=9001 DPT=47586 WINDOW=1027 RES=0x00 ACK PSH URGP=0 Thanks, Pete

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An update regarding the raid in August
by Artikel 5 e.V. 24 Dec '24

24 Dec '24

Hello everyone! The holidays and the 38C3 are coming up. Unfortunately nobody from our organization will be able to attend the congress in person this year. In case that the police raid in August is going to be a topic for the relay operators meetup, we would like to provide you with a small update regarding the current state here. The legal complaint procedure is still ongoing but last week -after several delays- we were finally able to get access to the court records for the case. We are not allowed to (and will not) directly quote/publish any of this material. We can however make the following information public at this point: - This case is about an (unsuccessful) cybergrooming attempt from Q2/2024. - We have a list of IP-Adresses supposedly used by the perpetrator. - Only one of them is one of our exit nodes. - Others point to other exit nodes. - Some of these other exit nodes are also run by German organizations. - To our knowledge, none of these other organizations were visited like we were. - In contrast to what the prosecution stated as part of the complaint procedure, several pages in the case file clearly state that they knew and fully understood that the server in question was never located at the home/mail address of our organization. - This was clear even before the case was handed off to the local department responsible for our current registered address. - At least some of the people involved also fully understand Tor and the implications. - As we suspected, they also knew (and documented) upfront that this was a home address and not some sort of rented office or server farm. - In combination, it looks a lot like several involved parties did not fully read and/or understand the entire file before playing their part in the puzzle. It pretty much confirms what we already suspected. Whether all this is a simple result of repeated organizational failure, unfortunate lack of technical understanding or even malicious intent against us or the Tor network in general, is an interpretation we will leave up to you. Just be aware that if you are operating Tor exits in Germany, this could currently happen to you as well - even if you follow ALL the best-practices rules and recommendations currently out there. Maybe we just have the "luck" of being registered at the wrong city with the wrong people working on these cases. Maybe not. In any case... enjoy the holidays and (if you attend) the congress in Hamburg as well. Kind regards, Gero for Artikel 5 e.V.

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Re: Question about middle relays and common web usage annoyances
by Isaac Grover, Aileron I.T. 24 Dec '24

24 Dec '24

Good morning tierce, I suspect that the sites you're unable to access are using https://www.dan.me.uk/dnsbl or another blocklist provider that naively blocks middle relays and/or entry relays instead of/in addition to exit relays. If you don't want to or can't pay for third-party hosting to move your middle relay outside your network, one solution would be to contact your ISP and move from your single IP address to a block of five IP addresses, with one IP address dedicated to your middle relay and the other IP addresses dedicated to your browsing and other traffic needs. Make your day great, Isaac Grover, President/vCIO Aileron I.T. – “ Because #ProactiveIsBetter ” O: 715-377-0440, F:715-690-1029, W: www.aileronit.com -----Original Message----- From: tor(a)computhings.be Hello, I'm located in Belgium. I keep two small middle relays (no exit, not even guard)… https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/89B4597169A9DBB171F0B4629C73… https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/07E3A0DC6AD4A5F07D1AF942626E… If I browse the web using a common browser using the basic services of the ISPs (no torbrowser, no tor network) and at least since may 2023, I've observed that some websites (banks, federal services,…) simply don't respond when I want to open their webpages. If I use another IP from the same locations (using vpn, ssh proxy, whatever), those same websites simply respond and works without issue. If I switch back to the local ISP IP, those are unreachable, and so on. If I contact those ISPs or the banks IT services, for them there are no problem. For me, it's clear that hosting simple middle relays puts my ISPs IPs to some black lists handled by who knows who. If hosting basic middle relays is blocking common web services, it will be hard / nearly impossible for me to encourage family, friends or customers to host a basic middle relays. Maybe there is no need for more and more middle relays, I don't know. Does someone encounter the same kind of annoyances ? regards, tierce ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ tor-relays mailing list -- tor-relays(a)lists.torproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to tor-relays-leave(a)lists.torproject.org ------------------------------ End of tor-relays Digest, Vol 167, Issue 13 *******************************************

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