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First commit of the EFF Tor Legal FAQ. This is good for posting to the web site.
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Chris Palmer

Chris Palmer commited on 2004-12-23 22:46:09
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eff/tor-legal-faq.html
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+<html>
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+
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+<head>
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+<title>Legal FAQ for Tor Server Operators</title>
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+</head>
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+
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+<body>
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+
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+<h1>Legal FAQ for Tor Server Operators</h1>
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+
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+<p><strong>by <a href="http://www.eff.org/">The Electronic Frontier
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+Foundation (EFF)</a>. Last updated 23 Dec 2004.</strong></p>
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+
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+<p><strong>NOTE:</strong> This FAQ is for informational purposes only
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+and does not constitute legal advice.  EFF has not analyzed any
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+particular factual situation or laws in drafting this FAQ, but rather
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+has tried to give a general description of the legal issues surrounding
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+Tor for a general audience.  Different factual situations and different
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+legal jurisdictions will result in different answers.  Therefore, please
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+do not act on this information alone; instead seek a complete review of
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+your situation with a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction
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+if you have any specific issues or questions.</p>
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+
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+<p>Also, if you received this document from anywhere besides <a
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+href="http://tor.eff.org/eff/legal-faq.html">http://tor.eff.org/eff/legal-faq.html</a>,
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+it may be out of date. Follow the link to get the latest version.</p>
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+
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+<h2>Has anyone ever been sued for running Tor?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> Further, we believe that running a Tor node is
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+lawful under U.S. law.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Should I use Tor, or encourage the use of Tor, for illegal purposes
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+such as spamming, harassment, distribution of child porn, or copyright
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+infringement?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> Tor has been developed to be a tool for free
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+speech, privacy and human rights.  It is not a tool designed or intended
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+to be used to break the law, either by Tor users or Tor server
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+operators.</p>
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+
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+<p>We further recommend that you not keep any potentially illegal files
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+on the same machine you use for Tor, nor use that machine for any
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+illegal purpose.  Although no Tor server has ever been seized or
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+subpoenaed, the future possibility cannot be ruled out and if that
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+happens, you will want your machine to be clean.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Can EFF promise that I won&rsquo;t get in trouble for running a Tor
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+server?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> All new technologies create legal uncertainties,
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+and Tor is no different.  Presently, no court has ever considered any
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+case involving the Tor technology, and we therefore cannot guarantee
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+that you will never face any legal liability as a result of running a
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+Tor server.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Will EFF represent me if I get in trouble for running a Tor
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+server?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>Maybe.</strong> While EFF cannot promise legal representation
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+of all Tor server operators, it will assist server operators in
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+assessing the situation and will try to locate qualified legal counsel
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+when necessary.  Inquiries to EFF for the purpose of securing legal
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+representation or referrals should be directed to staff attorney Kevin
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+Bankston (US +1 (415) 436-9333 x 126) such inquiries will be kept
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+confidential subject to the limits of the attorney/client privilege.
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+Note that although EFF cannot practice law outside of the U.S., it will
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+still try to assist non-U.S. server operators in finding local
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+representation.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Should I contact the Tor developers when I have legal questions
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+about Tor or to inform them if I suspect Tor is being used for illegal
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+purposes?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> Tor&rsquo;s core developers, Roger Dingledine
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+and Nick Mathewson, are available to answer technical questions, but
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+they are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice.  Nor do they have any
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+ability to prevent illegal activity that may occur through Tor servers.
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+Furthermore, your communications with Tor&rsquo;s core developers are
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+not protected by any legal privilege, so law enforcement or civil
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+litigants could subpoena and obtain any information you give to
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+them.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>If I receive a request from law enforcement or anyone else for my
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+Tor server&rsquo;s logs, what should I do?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>Educate them about Tor.</strong> In most instances, properly
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+configured Tor servers will have no useful data for inquiring parties,
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+and you should feel free to educate them on this point.  To the extent
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+you do maintain logs, however, you should not disclose them to any third
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+party without first consulting a lawyer.  In the U.S., such a disclosure
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+may violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and server
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+operators outside of the U.S. may be subject to similar data protection
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+laws.</p>
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+
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+<p>You may receive legal inquiries where you are prohibited by law from
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+telling anyone about the request.  We believe that, at least in the
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+U.S., such gag orders do not prevent you from talking to a lawyer,
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+including calling a lawyer to find representation.  Inquiries to EFF for
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+the purpose of securing legal representation should be directed to staff
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+attorney Kevin Bankston ((US +1 (415) 436-9333 x126). Such inquiries
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+will be kept confidential subject to the limits of the attorney/client
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+privilege.</p>
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+
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+<p>EFF is currently working on informational materials to help you
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+respond to the most likely types of legal requests or notices, so watch
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+this space.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Should I snoop on the plaintext that exits through my Tor
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+server?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> You are technically capable of monitoring or
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+logging plaintext that exits your node, if you modify the Tor source
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+code or install additional software to enable such snooping.  However,
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+Tor server operators in the U.S. can create legal and possibly even
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+criminal liability for themselves under state or federal wiretap laws if
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+they affirmatively monitor, log, or disclose Tor users&rsquo;
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+communications, while non-U.S. operators may be subject to similar laws.
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+Do not examine the contents of anyone&rsquo;s communications without
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+first talking to a lawyer.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Do Tor&rsquo;s core developers make any promises about the
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+trustworthiness or reliability of Tor servers that are listed in their
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+directory?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>No.</strong> Although the developers attempt to verify that
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+Tor servers listed in the directory the core developers maintain are
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+stable and have adequate bandwidth, neither they nor EFF can guarantee
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+the personal trustworthiness or reliability of the individuals who run
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+those servers.  Tor&rsquo;s core developers further reserve the right to
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+refuse a Tor server operator&rsquo;s request to be listed in their
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+directory or to remove any server from their directory for any
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+reason.</p>
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+
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+
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+<h2>Is the Tor software subject to any license terms?</h2>
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+
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+<p><strong>Yes.</strong> The Tor license is included in the software
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+download and reproduced below:</p>
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+
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+<blockquote>
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+
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+<p>Copyright (c) 2001-2004, Roger Dingledine<br />
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+Copyright (c) 2004, Roger Dingledine, Nick Mathewson</p>
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+
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+<p>Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
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+met:</p>
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+
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+<ul>
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+
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+<li>Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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+notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.</li>
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+
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+<li>Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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+notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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+documentation and/or other materials provided with the
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+distribution.</li>
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+
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+<li>Neither the names of the copyright owners nor the names of its
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+contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
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+this software without specific prior written permission.</li>
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+
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+<p>THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
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+&ldquo;AS IS&rdquo; AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING,
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+BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
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+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
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+COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
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+INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
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+NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
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+USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
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+ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
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+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
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+THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.</p>
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+
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+</blockquote>
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+
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+</body>
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+
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+</html>
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+
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