Please reply back if I am wrong.
Thanks

When you use wget+tor+http:

1) you are not exchanging your IP with other people via p2p
2) you are remaining within tor during the download
3) you are not sharing this file (uploading) with anyone else other than the exit node’s cache of it should it not be an https link

Problem solved!

Who cares if the transfer is slow, it’s encrypted and you’re not swapping your real IP with a bunch of strangers who also have or want the same files as you.

Most of the P2P-users who download copyrighted material would rather use their bandwidth themselves to:
1) Leech the files as fast as possible.
2) Upload just enough to keep their ratio. (If they’re using trackers where ratio matters, that is. Otherwise they don’t care about ratio and just stops the BT-client ASAP.)
I don’t think it’s very likely that they would use a lot of their bandwidth as a tor (exit)-node.

Personally, I don’t care if people download copyrighted material through my exit-node, if they think that the files will somehow bring them (or others) freedom or democracy.
Actually, it could be an excuse if someone claims that I have downloaded something copyrigthed. “I run a tor exit-node. It must have been someone else.”

What I do care about is this: Let’s say I have configured my tor node to use at most 1Mbit/s total. That’s 512Kbit/s upstream and 512Kbit/s downstream. If someone uses my tor node to download a 1GB movie, he’s using my tor node _alone_ for roughly four and a half hours. During that time _no one else_ can use my tor node.

On the other hand, 4.5 hours is 270 minutes. During 1 minute, you can download 3.75MB on a 512Kbit/s connection.

What do you think I would prefer?
A) ONE user who uses all the bandwidth allocated to the tor node all by himself for four and a half hours for his own selfish needs.
B) 270 users who each uses one minute to download a 3.75MB website with information, that somehow will help those users to get a benefit of democracy, freedom or “some other silly, useless stuff like that”.

I think most admins of tor nodes would prefer option B.

Not because the download in option A is copyrighted, but simply because it made the tor-node useless for alot of other users. Actually not just _that_ tor-node. Remember that tor-connections goes through three nodes, all of which would be affected by the download.

Next time you download something big (copyrighted or not) through tor, please remember this: Your download just contributed to the hindering of freedom for alot of other legitimate users. Who the **** are you? China?!

J, you wrote that “the optimal use of TOR is indubitably subjective”.
If I say that “your freedom is NOT more important that the freedom of others, so don’t abuse the system” is the optimal use of TOR, do you really still think that’s indubitably subjective?
Of course the statement holds for every tor user. It isn’t designed to discriminate against the users who wants the latest movie without paying, but at the moment the total bandwidth of the tor-network simply isn’t big enough to accommodate that wish, so please don’t do it.

If the total combined bandwidth of the exit-nodes is B bits/s and there are U users currently using tor, each user should try to use a bandwidth of at most B/U bits/s. Otherwise other users will be affected.
Since tor-connections goes through three tor nodes, the total combined internal bandwidth of tor should be atleast 3*B bits/s for this to work.

I have a few comments that not everyone might not like, but are true.

First, we can whine and cry about the recent exploitation of TOR in the use of P2P, but that will not curb any P2P efforts. The simple fact of the matter is TOR can be used to anonymize the sharing of - lets say - “sensitive” files which thus decreases the risk and ramifications associated with downloading these files. And it is fair to say any rational individual who could obtain movies, music for free without any risk or threat is going to do so. This is why I - i am sure i’m not the first - predict an enormous entry of P2P bandwidth into TOR, once more people figure out this can be done.

Whether the use of P2P with TOR is right or wrong is irrelevant, one can be idealistic about the optimal use of TOR but that indubitably subjective. I think it is best to take a pragmatic view on TOR and P2P.

Instead of trying to control or restrain individuals behavior - which cannot be done. The increased TOR bandwidth associated with P2P, in time, will only create a more efficient TOR system with respect to speed and anonymity. I believe in the long-run, P2P efforts will prove a great addition to TOR.

As much as I identify with your logic, it is flawed and can never work. The tit-for-tat bandwidth quota-throttling model cannot be applied to the entire internet, no matter how many people want free software and movies. Should we force everyone to upload bogus content equal to each google search they perform? Or perhaps everyone’s reply emails should be exactly equal in length to those written to them (including spam they downloaded through an anonymized IMAP connection)?

Or perhaps you would advocate that we treat every curious Chinese child as a member of the western education system, and require that they submit a position paper back to Tor which is exactly equal in byte-length to each ‘Wikipedia’ or ‘Democracy Now!’ article they read.

For that matter, shall we rewrite the protocol RFCs just for Tor, such that all packet headers are bidirectionally the exact length? Gotta keep that traffic equal! Can’t have people leeching news and weblog postings…

So, you advocate lobbying the ‘TOR makers’ to ‘MAKE people’ do things? Err?? That makes no sense. What they *could* do, is make Tor slower and less effective by adding a bunch of code to give Tor nodes the same packet-shaping abilities that ISPs use to hose BT for their customers, thus eliminating ‘work-arounds’ and wasting cycles on the nodes to block abusers.

We must not cloud ourselves by whining about how unfair it is that the solution is not the correct solution technically. Ideals are only part of the issue.

englische Übersetzung
This text was translated from german into english. Native Speakers, please help me by reporting grammar mistakes.

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