End of ROCKate soon

[Benjamin Schieder]

On 06.07.2007 18:50:32, Robert Hogan wrote:
> On Friday 06 July 2007 17:50:08 Benjamin Schieder wrote:
> > Hi people.
> >
> > In response to a law that passed the german legislative today, I will cease
> > production, development and distribution of ROCKate binaries and - maybe -
> > even source code soon.
> > The reasen is §202c StGB which states (IANAL translation):
> >
> > "Producing, acquiring, selling, giving, distributing or making-accessible
> > of passwords or other access codes as well as computer programs whose aim
> > it is to commi a crime ... will be punished with up to one year in jail or
> > a fine."
> >
> 
> IANAL interpretation:
> 
> "Unless the aim of ROCKate is to commit a crime, as opposed to facilitating 
> privacy, then you have nothing to worry about. Honest."

Well, german courts might that Tor is a popular link in attack vectors.
Maybe I'm a bit paranoid here, just not taking chances here.

> Given Germany's recent history with Tor I understand your caution. And I don't 
> think anyone would want to be the subject of a test case.
> 
> If the law is intended to mean "a computer program that facilitates a crime" 
> then it's hard to think where the law could stop. I honestly think they are 
> going after the bots and viruses with this, perhaps even programs that clone 
> smart card information. If the remit is broader I'm really not sure how you 
> could hang this law on Tor without hanging it on PGP as well. And then SSL 
> and so on.
> 
> Are you aware of any other German software projects with similar concerns?

The whole security industry in Germany is currently up in arms. The wording
of the law actually outlaws programs like nmap, wireshark and tcpdump as well
as outlaws usage of actual Virii and Trojans to test defenses.
Phenoelit shut down its german website where programs such as debuggers for
windows, SAP exploits and various brute forcers were hosted.

Greetings,
	Benjamin
-- 
The Nethack IdleRPG! Idle to your favorite Nethack messages!
http://pallas.crash-override.net/nethackidle/
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/attachments/20070706/381c49d7/attachment.pgp>