[Tor2web-talk] Tor2web filterlist sharing

[Virgil Griffith]

When Aaron Swartz and I started tor2web we had this same discussion as
to whether have a blocklist at all.  Aaron pushed for not having one
at all.  Our lawyer curtly said that, at least while residing in the
United States, operating this service without a blocklist was
immensely foolish.  And moreover, given that lawsuits over tor2web are
inevitable, if we wish to position ourselves for winning the longer
war, the first of major battle should be about *anything other than
childporn*.

Tor welcomes a diversity of users, and I recognize that both
jurisdictions and personal risk tolerances vary.  However, as a
historical matter, this was the consensus we three came to.

-V


On Sun, Jan 4, 2015 at 7:44 PM, Thomas White <thomaswhite at riseup.net> wrote:
> I'd just like to state my objection to such lists being used. In
> discussion with another person, we have agreed for our Tor2Web
> instance we will not be using it because firstly I do not believe we
> should act as the censors of people (especially without a court
> order). Secondly as the URLs are in the form of an MD5 there is no way
> to vet the list.
>
> As bad as the content is that it was designed to block, I would say it
> would be going beyond and certainly outside the principles of a
> project like Tor to begin blocking it. Tor, in theory, can actually
> block hidden services - but they don't because to maintain a voluntary
> list is to accept responsibility as the filter - certainly under UK
> law where I reside at least. If people get a court order for it to be
> blocked then I can understand since the continued operation of the
> service is more important than a single URL. With that being said, to
> proactively block sites and share the list around as a "feature" of
> Tor2Web is slightly chilling.
>
> I made a vow never to be the censor and never discriminate against
> anything unless I am given a direct court order to do so (in which I
> would fight as much as is reasonable) - I take that commitment very
> seriously.