The Incredible String Band

[NewCents]

They once did an album on Electra titled "The 1000 Layers of the Onion".  I wonder if the developers of tor took something from that.  Food for thought...

We all love tor, don't we?  Its technology is, after all, what enables bitcoin to survive.

Yet the Administrator of this site blocks all registrations emanating from a tor exit node.  Did you know that?  It's true -- try it for yourself.

Now, realize that the Admin does this at some cost.  He must subscribe to a service that feeds him a list of tor exit nodes, through which he can then parse all new registrations.  Why would he pay for such a service?  The registration failure notice says that it's for anti-spamming purposes.  That's crap, of course -- the Admin wants your IP, plain and simple.  He wants to know who you are and where you are.  Gee...isn't that the exact opposite of what tor and bitcoin are all about?

Would the Admin like to step up and explain his actions, or will he just delete this thread?

My guess is the thread goes.  But ...

I'll be back.

[legitnick]

NewCents stop complaining about the admin. This thread made barely any sense, by the way.

[NewCents]

The board moderators are reading the PMs.  This board is run like a privatized version of the NSA.
There's nothing "personal" or "private" here.

[Mike Christ]

The board moderators are reading the PMs.  This board is run like a privatized version of the NSA.
There's nothing "personal" or "private" here.

Nobody said there was.  You're on a public forum which is privately owned.

[Obama]

lol this is cool

[NewCents]

The board moderators are reading the PMs.  This board is run like a privatized version of the NSA.
There's nothing "personal" or "private" here.

Nobody said there was.  You're on a public forum which is privately owned.

That's correct -- nobody said there was any privacy here.  But what the moderators (read NSA) do behind closed doors is not public knowledge.  They make the rules and post them and we are supposed to follow them.   Fair enough.  Then they snoop on our "private" messages.  Nobody acknowledges or, if they're aware of it, complains about it.  Users of the forum should know this.  It's up to them whether they stay or leave.  Just like US citizens who object to the NSA reading their emails are free to renounce their citizenship and leave the country. (At least they are for now.  But the noose is tightening.  It's starting with money and currency controls.  Where else?)

So, all you newbies and veterans, too -- be aware that your "private" messages are being read, so you need to go outside the forum to discuss private issues.  And be aware that the spirit behind the open source movement and a free, open Internet  does not exist here.  Oh -- it exists in the hearts and minds of the vast majority of users, I am sure.  But it does not exist in the minds of the owners of the forum.  And be aware that I am very probably just scratching the surface here.  Who knows what else these folks are up to?  Recent revelations about the NSA's cozy relationship with yahoo, et al, must give one pause.

Hey -- Boss Admin -- can you pin this in the Newbie forum?  All newbies should read this.  After they read your rules, of course.

[Mike Christ]

snip

You did read the little thing when you sign up, right?  Yes, the forum mods and admin can read your PMs.  In fact, beneath each PM reads:

Note: PM privacy is not guaranteed. Encrypt sensitive messages.

Unless you plan on creating a forum which solves this problem, you're basically as good as a bag of hot air.  Solve problems, stop repeating them.  AFAIC, there's nothing I'm transmitting to and from people that's sensitive information, it's mostly the same shit I'd post publicly.  If I needed to transmit sensitive info, I wouldn't do it on here, especially not with this under every PM:

Note: PM privacy is not guaranteed. Encrypt sensitive messages.

You do see it, right?

[NewCents]

Yes, I see it now, after it was pointed out to me.  It's the fine print, you know...So now I have been warned.  The particular post at issue was not sensitive in any way.  It contained a link to a site which contained copyrighted material.  Note that I did not post that link on the public forum.  I sent it to a BM who had expressed interest in the subject and asked that he not post it in the public forums.  For this, I was eviscerated.

        Hmmm ... terrible crime, that.  Wouldn't you say so, Holmes?

                - Arthur Conan Doyle

But you don't address my other issues.  This site is obviously recording your IP address when you register.  Why?  What business of theirs is that?  And the site specifically disallows tor registrations, to boot.  If that isn't a slap in the face, I don't know what is.  There are thousands of free VPN proxie services out there, and they constantly come and go.  Nobody can keep track of them and provide a list of exit nodes as does the tor community.  Registrants can use any of these proxies to register.  It's pathetically simple.

So, realizing that they cannot possibly stop anonymous registrations, the admins decide to stop the ones they DO know about -- the ones from the tor community.  That really, really sucks.  To explain why, let me draw an analogy from real life:

When hurricane Catrina hit the Big Easy, and riots, murders, robberies and looting ensued. the police were ordered to confiscate all firearms within the city.  How did they approach this problem?  They obtained a list of all registered firearms in the city, and then went door-to-door and confiscated them.  What else could they do?  Sure, the criminals in the city had firearms, but the police didn't know where they were and so could not confiscate them.

And what was the result of this police action?  Honest, law-abiding citizens, who had prepared in advance for just such an emergency, were forcibly disarmed and left at the mercy of armed gangs roaming the city.

What's my point, you ask.  And what has this to do with tor and with this forum?  This, and I direct it to Boss Admin:  tor technology enables bitcoin to survive.  To treat tor users as unworthy of forum membership is to admit that you see anonymous Internet usage as a problem.  Why is that?  Where is your head?  What is bitcoin all about, if not this?

[NewCents]

Oh .... just to be precise, and clean myself up:

The Incredible String Band has released some 37 albums.  (But I bet you never heard of them).
Check them out on Amazon.

The album I referred to in my initial post was  "5000 Spirits Or the Layers of the Onion".
I admit I haven't followed them over the years.  That happens, even with my favorites.