[tor-relays] Reimbursement of Exit Operators

[Moritz Bartl]

On 09/21/2013 01:48 PM, tor at t-3.net wrote:
> - If authorities can ever build a case where Tor can be accused of being
> a dirty little network which hosts criminal content and profits from it,
> it seems that it could be fucked.

That's exactly why we encourage exit operators to defend the right for
anonymity in the clear, instead of hiding. I feel much better knowing
who runs the high bandwidth relays. If the alternative is to not know
who and why exactly does it, and if the financial flows are disguised,
this would make me and others uncomfortable, right?

> I don't want to scare anyone away with this stuff. Just feel like we
> should be more careful than what I was reading. Doesn't feel right to
> encourage exit node operators to show up on IRC with their bank account
> #s ready to go.

I believe you misunderstand the relationships we're having with the exit
relay operators that are currently partners. All of them are public,
non-profit, registered entities, and usually already list their bank
account on their websites for donations. See
https://www.torservers.net/partners.html for a list and links. All our
partners speak up in the public, on events, on Cryptoparties, in the
European parliament and whatnot. It's not like they can or want to hide
themselves. When I talk of a personal relationship, I ask for more than
simply popping up on IRC and giving me your bank account details.

We don't hire consultants or exit relay operators. We reimburse part of
the costs that occur when you operate a high bandwidth relay, mainly
traffic costs. In an ideal world, more people would run exits and donate
spare bandwidth. Unfortunately, the minority that abuses Tor mostly
destroys this option. Many ISPs don't want to deal with the abuse, you
should use dedicated hardware and IPs for exits, etc.

1 Gbit/s in USA and Germany is 500 Euro, 1 Gbit/s in Denmark is 1000
Euro, 1 Gbit/s in Hong Kong is 8000 Euro. I think it is fair to

 - give people and organizations that want to contribute the ability to
do so with donations
 - help operators with some of the costs

Yes, this could be even more professional. Some people see a business
model here. From the start, we've been offering the "we will run your
relay" model, where you can choose relay name, exit policy and customize
the website that shows up on the relay IP. Since Tor relays can and will
be used by all users and you don't exactly buy a "personal service", it
makes sense to do it as a non-profit rather than a for-profit (the
literal translation from the German equivalent, and more fitting in my
eyes, is "beneficial to the public"). Remember that you can still
perfectly well pay people for their work as a non-profit if you want to.

The most important thing to remember here is that we really don't want
to change the economics of the current network. We want to add to it.

-- 
Moritz Bartl
https://www.torservers.net/