[tor-relays] Question regarding ethical torrent blocking

[Conrad Rockenhaus]

Hello,

I was going to ask someone off-list, but the amount of abuse and DCMA
complaints I have received now have been so much that I have decided that
the best action to take is to set an exit policy. I run a couple of exit
nodes and I have people apparently using them to torrent, which we ask
people politely not to do through Tor....but the policy gets ignored I
guess. Anyway, I'm receiving a sufficient amount of complaints to where I'm
worried that my service may be terminated unless I take action, which would
affect the greater good.

So the question is - I run the default exit policy. I don't like being the
arbiter of what goes through and what doesn't. Is it okay, ethically, from
a free speech standpoint, to reach this point to where we say "we need to
block this content from transversing my node" in response to legal
complaints from others? Are others implementing these blocks and do you
feel that such a block doesn't violate any ethical norm to provide
uncensored access to the Internet?

I'm just curious on what thoughts on this are. I know how to technically
perform the block, I guess I feel like we're one of the last bastions
against censorship on the Internet and people do torrent legitimate stuff.
I don't consider pirating Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls V, Sweetbitter, and
The Evil Within 2 to be protected speech FYI... my worry is just blocking
the legitimate uses of bittorrent.

Thanks,

Conrad Rockenhaus
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