[tor-relays] Legal Troubles

[renke at mobtm.com]

Hi *

> I am just doing some planning for my own exits at the moment and
> researching the legal provisions and experience for a variety of
> jurisdictions.

my story is rather typical - I'm not proud of it but hopefully someone will learn my lesson w/o legal fees :)

I'm located in Germany and ran an exit at my home DSL, in 2008 and 2009 (that's half of the "I'm not proud" part). Someone opened/cracked a box and used it to distribute child pornography, the owner realised this some time later and the police found my IP address in the logs. After nearly one year (I'm still baffled, one would hope this kind of crime is handled faster) my flat was searched and every single computer seized: To be clear, I was the one charged with this crime, the prosecutor wasn't aware (or ignored) the Tor node. After 1.5 years (or so) the case was closed because the prosecutor wasn't able to prove my guilt[0]. During the criminal proceedings I discussed with my lawyer if we should disclose the Tor node but we decided this would only complicate the matter.

Today I run only a middle relay, exit nodes in Germany should imho always part of an umbrella organisation (e.g. an "Eingetragener Verein" [registered association?], ignoring this is part 2 of "I'm not proud") so an individual is not personally liable (if someone is interested: I donate to the Wau Holland Stiftung[1], one project of this trust is supporting the Tor network). 

Renke

[0] I know I'm not guilty ;)
[1] http://www.wauland.de/en/index.php