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eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml   4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Legal FAQ for Tor Relay Operators"

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml   5) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html     6) <div class="main-column">
eff/tor-legal-faq.html     7) 
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eff/tor-legal-faq.html     9) 

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  10) <h2>Legal FAQ for Tor Relay Operators</h2>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    11) <hr />

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    12) <p>FAQ written by the Electronic Frontier

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    13) Foundation (<a href="http://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>). Last updated 25 Apr 2005.</p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    14) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    15) <p><strong>NOTE:</strong> This FAQ is for informational purposes only
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    16) and does not constitute legal advice.  EFF has not analyzed any

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    17) particular factual situation or laws in drafting this FAQ. Our aim is
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    18) to provide a general description of the legal issues surrounding

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  19) Tor in the United States.  Different factual situations and different legal
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  20) jurisdictions will

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    21) result in different answers to a number of questions.  Therefore, please
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    22) do not act on this information alone; if you have any
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    23) specific legal problems, issues, or questions, seek a complete review of
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    24) your situation with a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    25) </p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    26) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    27) <p>Also, if you received this document from anywhere besides <a

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  28) href="https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html">https://www.torproject.org/eff/tor-legal-faq.html</a>,

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    29) it may be out of date. Follow the link to get the latest version.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    30) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    31) <hr />
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    32) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    33) <a id="Lawsuits"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    34) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Lawsuits">Has anyone ever been sued for running Tor?
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    35) </a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    36) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    37) <p><strong>No.</strong> Further, we believe that running a Tor node,
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    38) including a Tor exit node that allows people to anonymously send and
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    39) receive traffic, is lawful under U.S. law.</p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    40) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    41) <a id="IllegalPurposes"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    42) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#IllegalPurposes">Should I use Tor,
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    43) or encourage the use of Tor, for illegal purposes

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    44) such as spamming, harassment, distribution of child porn, or copyright

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    45) infringement?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    46) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    47) <p><strong>No.</strong> Tor has been developed to be a tool for free

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    48) speech, privacy, and human rights.  It is not a tool designed or intended

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  49) to be used to break the law, either by Tor users or Tor relay

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    50) operators.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    51) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    52) <p>We further recommend that you not keep any potentially illegal files

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    53) on the same machine you use for Tor, nor use that machine for any illegal

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  54) purpose.  Although no Tor relay in the US has ever been seized, nor any relay

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  55) operator sued, the future possibility cannot be ruled out. If that

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    56) happens, you will want your machine to be clean.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    57) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    58) <a id="Promise"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    59) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Promise">Can EFF promise that I won't get

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  60) in trouble for running a Tor relay?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    61) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    62) <p><strong>No.</strong> All new technologies create legal uncertainties,

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    63) and Tor is no exception to the rule. Presently, no court has ever considered any

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    64) case involving the Tor technology, and we therefore cannot guarantee
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    65) that you will never face any legal liability as a result of running a

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  66) Tor relay. However, EFF believes so strongly that those running Tor
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  67) relays shouldn't be liable for traffic that passes through the relay
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  68) that we're running our own Tor relay.

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    69) </p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    70) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    71) <a id="Represent"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    72) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Represent">Will EFF represent me if I get

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  73) in trouble for running a Tor relay?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    74) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    75) <p><strong>Maybe.</strong> While EFF cannot promise legal representation

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  76) of all Tor relay operators, it will assist relay operators in

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    77) assessing the situation and will try to locate qualified legal counsel
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    78) when necessary.  Inquiries to EFF for the purpose of securing legal
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    79) representation or referrals should be directed to staff attorney Kevin

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    80) Bankston (bankston at eff.org or US +1 (415) 436-9333 x 126). Such
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    81) inquiries will be kept

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    82) confidential subject to the limits of the attorney/client privilege.

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    83) Note that although EFF cannot practice law outside of the U.S., it will

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  84) still try to assist non-U.S. relay operators in finding local

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    85) representation.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    86) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    87) <a id="DevelopersAreNotLawyers"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    88) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DevelopersAreNotLawyers">Should I contact
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    89) the Tor developers when I have legal questions about Tor or to inform
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    90) them if I suspect Tor is being used for illegal purposes?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    91) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    92) <p><strong>No.</strong> Tor's core developers, Roger Dingledine

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    93) and Nick Mathewson, are available to answer technical questions, but
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    94) they are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice.  Nor do they have any

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml  95) ability to prevent illegal activity that may occur through Tor relays.

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    96) Furthermore, your communications with Tor's core developers are

eff/tor-legal-faq.html    97) not protected by any legal privilege, so law enforcement or civil
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    98) litigants could subpoena and obtain any information you give to
eff/tor-legal-faq.html    99) them.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   100) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   101) <a id="RequestForLogs"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   102) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#RequestForLogs">If I receive a request from

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 103) law enforcement or anyone else for my Tor relay's logs, what should

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   104) I do?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   105) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   106) <p><strong>Educate them about Tor.</strong> In most instances, properly

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 107) configured Tor relays will have no useful data for inquiring parties,

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   108) and you should feel free to educate them on this point.  To the extent
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   109) you do maintain logs, however, you should not disclose them to any third
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   110) party without first consulting a lawyer.  In the U.S., such a disclosure

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 111) may violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and relay

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   112) operators outside of the U.S. may be subject to similar data protection
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   113) laws.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   114) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   115) <p>You may receive legal inquiries where you are prohibited by law from
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   116) telling anyone about the request.  We believe that, at least in the
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   117) U.S., such gag orders do not prevent you from talking to a lawyer,
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   118) including calling a lawyer to find representation.  Inquiries to EFF for
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   119) the purpose of securing legal representation should be directed to staff

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   120) attorney Kevin Bankston (bankston at eff.org or US +1 (415) 436-9333
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   121) x126). Such inquiries

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   122) will be kept confidential subject to the limits of the attorney/client
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   123) privilege.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   124) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   125) <p>EFF is currently working on informational materials to help you
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   126) respond to the most likely types of legal requests or notices, so watch
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   127) this space.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   128) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   129) <a id="DMCA"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   130) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DMCA">My ISP/University/etc just sent me
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   131) a DMCA notice. What should I do?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   132) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   133) <p>The EFF has written a <a

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   134) href="tor-dmca-response.html">short template</a>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   135) to help you write a response to your ISP/University/etc, to let them
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   136) know about the details of DMCA safe harbor, and how Tor fits in. Note

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   137) that this only refers to a U.S. jurisdiction.</p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   138) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   139) <p>If you like, you should consider submitting a copy of your notice
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   140) to <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/">Chilling Effects</a>. This
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   141) will help us recognize trends and issues that the lawyers might want to

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   142) focus on. Chilling Effects encourages submissions from people outside
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   143) the United States too.</p>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   144) 

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 145) <p>EFF is actively seeking Tor relay operators willing to stand up

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   146) and help set a clear legal precedent establishing that merely running
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   147) a node does not create copyright liability for either node operators
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   148) or their bandwidth providers. If you want to be the EFF's test case,
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   149) <a href="http://archives.seul.org/or/talk/Oct-2005/msg00208.html">read
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   150) more here</a>.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   151) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   152) <a id="ExitSnooping"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   153) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#ExitSnooping">Should I snoop on the plaintext

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 154) that exits through my Tor relay?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   155) 

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 156) <p><strong>No.</strong> You may be technically capable of modifying
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 157) the Tor source code or installing additional software to monitor
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 158) or log plaintext that exits your node. However,

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 159) Tor relay operators in the U.S. can create legal and possibly even

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   160) criminal liability for themselves under state or federal wiretap laws if

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   161) they affirmatively monitor, log, or disclose Tor users'

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   162) communications, while non-U.S. operators may be subject to similar laws.

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   163) Do not examine the contents of anyone's communications without

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   164) first talking to a lawyer.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   165) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   166) <a id="DirectoryWarranty"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   167) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DirectoryWarranty">Do Tor's core developers

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 168) make any promises about the trustworthiness or reliability of Tor relays

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   169) that are listed in their directory?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   170) 
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   171) <p><strong>No.</strong> Although the developers attempt to verify that

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 172) Tor relays listed in the directory the core developers maintain are

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   173) stable and have adequate bandwidth, neither they nor EFF can guarantee
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   174) the personal trustworthiness or reliability of the individuals who run

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 175) those relays.  Tor's core developers further reserve the right to
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 176) refuse a Tor relay operator's request to be listed in their
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 177) directory or to remove any relay from their directory for any

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   178) reason.</p>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   179) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   180) <a id="License"></a>
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   181) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#License">Is the Tor software subject to
eff/tor-legal-faq.html   182) any license terms?</a></h3>

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   183) 

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 184) <p><strong>Yes.</strong> The Tor software is distributed under the
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 185) Modified BSD license, and is reproduced below.  The Vidalia software is distributed under
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 186) the GPL v2.  Privoxy is distributed under the GPL v2.  
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 187) "src/common/strlcat.c and src/common/strlcpy.c" by Todd C. Miller are
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 188) licensed under the Modified BSD license. </p>
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 189) 
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 190) <p>If you have Tor as a static binary with OpenSSL included, then you
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 191) should know: "This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 192)  for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)"</p>
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 193) 

eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 194) <p>The Tor software license is the Modified BSD, which is available at
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 195) <a
eff/en/tor-legal-faq.wml 196) href="https://gitweb.torproject.org/tor.git/blob_plain/HEAD:/LICENSE">LICENSE</a>.

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   197) 

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   198) </div><!-- #main -->

eff/tor-legal-faq.html   199)