[liberationtech] Torservers awarded $250, 000 by Digital Defenders

[griffin at cryptolab.net]

Congratulations!!  You all do amazing work -- a model for consistency 
and transparency that all organizations should aspire to. =)

all the best in the new year,
Griffin Boyce

Il 13.12.2013 00:57 Christian ha scritto:
> Hej!
> 
> Torservers.net has been awarded $250,000 over two years by the Digital
> Defenders Partnership to strengthen and improve the Tor network, the
> anonymity system crucial to journalists and human rights defenders 
> using
> the Internet.
> 
> <https://blog.torservers.net/20131213/torservers-awarded-250000-by-digital-defenders.html>
> 
> Tor is free software and an open network that helps internet users to
> defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that
> threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business 
> activities
> and relationships, and state security. It is used by hundreds of
> thousands of daily users worldwide to secure their online 
> communication,
> avoid tracking, and circumvent censorship.
> 
> Tor protects users by bouncing communications around a distributed
> network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents
> somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you
> visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical
> location.
> 
> Torservers.net provides high bandwidth infrastructure for the Tor
> network since 2010. We have grown to 10 volunteer-run organizations in 
> 8
> countries. Torservers.net distributes donations and grants across
> independent organizations of IT security professionals, and helps build
> a sustainable network by teaching others how to run stable Tor
> infrastructure.
> 
> The Digital Defenders Partnership was established in 2012 to provide
> rapid response to threats to internet freedom. The Partnership aims at
> keeping the internet open and free from emerging threats, specifically
> in internet repressive and transitional environments. It also wants to
> increase and better coordinate emergency support for the internet’s
> critical users, such as bloggers, cyber activists, journalists and 
> human
> rights defenders, whenever and wherever they are under threat.
> 
> Thanks to the newly awarded grant of $250,000 over two years,
> participating Torservers organizations will be able to sustain at least
> 3 Gbit/s of exit traffic, and 2000 fast and up to date bridges. Tor
> bridges are required in many countries with state-level censorship. 3
> Gbit/s are 949 terabytes, almost a petabyte of user data, every single
> month, per direction.
> 
> Call for organizations
> To strengthen the Tor network and prevent attackers, it is crucial to
> spread operation across as many groups as possible. Thanks to the
> Digital Defenders, Torservers.net can now extend its work and help less
> technical organizations with the setup and maintenance of Tor services.
> The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is the first civil
> society organization to join the Torservers program with its Cyber 
> Arabs
> group. This collaboration allows Cyber Arabs to give stable and working
> Tor access to activists and journalists in the Arab world. If you are
> part of an organization interested in supporting Tor, please contact
> Torservers.net. They have various options available, and are happy to
> teach tech staff and journalists.
> 
> “Since we started Torservers.net a few years ago, Tor finally became
> fast enough to be used for all Internet communications” comments Moritz
> Bartl, co-founder of Torservers.net. “New people also join the Tor
> network every day. With the help of the Digital Defenders, we have the
> chance to make the network bigger, safer and more resilient to the
> benefit of everyone with the desires to protect their online activities
> from surveillance.”
> 
> Contact
> Juris Vetra
> Zwiebelfreude e.V.
> c/o DID Dresdner Institut für Datenschutz
> Palaisplatz 3
> D-01097 Dresden
>  Germany
> 
> Fax: +49-(0)911-30 844 667 48
> Phone: +49-(0)351-212 960 19
> press at torservers.net