[Freedombox-discuss] Dumb idea: Alternative to Tor that promotes good behavior

[Jonathan Wilkes]

On 10/27/2013 01:26 PM, Bill Cox wrote:
> I would love feedback on an idea for promoting more internet freedom.
>
> Here's the problem: Tor has little public support, because most Tor
> traffic is wasted on supporting bad behavior.  When I ran a Tor node, it
> became clear that most of my bandwidth was being wasted on video
> downloads.  People want to promote free speech, not child pornography.

The real solution is to improve hidden services so they can be an 
alternative
to insecure internet services.  Exit nodes are like off-ramps, and 
nobody likes
having one next to their house.  But relay-only nodes are like 
by-passes, and
encryption essentially lets relay operators build them without ever 
letting any
of the creeps cruise around in their neighborhood.

Of course one could still rail against the possibility that the 
encrypted data
might still be "bad data", but at least for me that's a much weaker 
argument.
For example, I don't know anyone who refuses to use the tools granted to
them in the justice system because they are so often used to defend
drug dealers, murders, and thieves.  I also don't know anyone who
doesn't believe in maintaining city, state, and interstate 
infrastructure, _even_
when just the act of driving carries a rather large risk of death when
compared to other forms of transportation.

-Jonathan