[tor-talk] William was raided for running a Tor exit node. Please help if you can.

[Peter Kristolaitis]

I didn't say anything about trying to run away.  That probably won't 
accomplish a whole lot in the long run.   But when all of your bank 
accounts and credit cards are frozen, and your house is a crime scene, 
at least you have the means to rent a hotel room, contact 
family/lawyers, etc.

And no, I'm not OK with people keeping any money that was donated for a 
specific purpose in excess of what was actually used.  You'd hope that 
he'd be a good guy about it and give back the portion that wasn't used, 
or clearly state that any excess will go to charity or something.  
However, there's no such guarantee (short of doing it through a trust 
fund with his lawyer), and just like any philanthropic venture, it's up 
to each donor choose when/if they'll help out.   It's just like 
Kickstarter -- you hope to get something good out of it, but if it 
bombs, well... you pay your money and you take your chances.

- Pete



On 11/30/2012 05:02 PM, Naslund, Steve wrote:
> OK, there must be a lot more paranoid people out there than I thought
> there were.  I personally don't have a "runaway kit" stashed away.  I
> will get right on that. So when that "mouth breather cop" won't believe
> you are innocent, your answer is to grab your stuff and go on the lamb
> for awhile?  I am sure he will let you out to go to the bank, get your
> stuff, and leave town.  I think you have seen way to many movies.
>
> So if the cops show up at his door tomorrow and say "Here's all your
> stuff back, there was no evidence of a crime.", you are OK with this
> guys keeping the "defense fund"?
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Kristolaitis [mailto:alter3d at alter3d.ca]
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 3:53 PM
> To: nanog at nanog.org
> Subject: Re: William was raided for running a Tor exit node. Please help
> if you can.
>
>
> On 11/30/2012 04:01 PM, Naslund, Steve wrote:
>>     I am a little concerned that this guy keeps a safe deposit box with
>> a burner phone and cash around.  Is he a CIA agent? :)
> Anyone who DOESN'T have such things stashed away somewhere is, IMHO,
> incredibly naive and taking on quite a large amount of risk.
>
> The likelihood (and hope) is that you'll never need it.  But on the off
> chance that you get f***ed by the legal system because of some power
> hungry, mouth-breather cop who can't/won't understand that you've done
> nothing wrong -- or worse, that you're easily provably within the law,
> but he "believes" that you're not and drags you through the process
> anyways -- you'll be very happy that you stashed away that old unlocked
> cell phone, old laptop, change of clothes and cash.
>
> I'm a (legal) firearms owner... up here in Canada, where some previous
> governments enacted extreme anti-gun legislation, that pretty much means
> that if I so much as sneeze in a way that a cop doesn't like, I can have
> my life ruined pretty damned fast (not quite, but really close).  I
> wouldn't bet against me having an excrement-hitting-the-oscillator stash
> like this guy does.  ;)
>
> (Note:  I don't mean to imply that all cops are power hungry
> mouth-breathers intent on destroying the lives of citizens.   Most cops
> are fundamentally good people and do a great job.  But like every other
> profession, there ARE bad cops out there, and it's within the realm of
> possibility that you'll deal with one of them one day.)
>
>> Why would I donate to his legal defense when he has not been charged
>> yet?  A little premature, no?
>>
> If you think that legal costs in a criminal case only start when you've
> been formally charged, you're grossly misinformed.   At what point you
> personally decide to donate is one thing, but implying that someone
> doesn't need a defense fund prior to charges being laid is a bit naive
> about how the process works.
>
> - Pete
>
>
>