Hoi!
This is a cross posting tor-talk/tor-relays (Due to the current attention on the recent events in Austria. Thanks for understanding.)
Niko Alm (of Austrian political party NEOS) has made an official parliamentary inquiry to the Austrian ministry of justice about the legal status of Tor.
Blog posting: http://alm.at/tor/ (in german language) Inquiry: http://neos.eu/klub/20140708_AF-TOR-BMJ.pdf (in german language)
In theory running a relay/exit _should_ be covered by Austrian E-Commerce law §13. It's just not legally proven that Tor also falls under the definition of a “communications network” from a legal point of view. Technically everyone would certainly agree that this is the case.
From what I understand the goal is to get an official statement by the Austrian ministry of justice that Tor falls under the legal definition of a communications network. Which would mean, that Relay-Ops are not liable for the traffic passing through their relays given they do not initiate the traffic by themselves do not select the recipient of the information do not select or alter the transmitted information This includes caching.
Austrian E-Commerce law, §13 legal text (german language) http://www.jusline.at/index.php?cpid=ba688068a8c8a95352ed951ddb88783e&la...
Best regards MacLemon