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http://tor.eff.org/

Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.

Has anyone experience of using this tool, and what are your experiences. In addition what are your views on the possible abuse of this system?

Sep 11 2006:

Last week, a few Tor exit nodes were seized by the German police in a massive sting against child pornography. From our friends on the ground in Germany, we hear that dozens and dozens of other computers unrelated to Tor may have been seized too.

So far as we know, only six of those were Tor servers. We have heard from the server operators. None of them has been charged. We hope that this is just a misunderstanding that can be solved by educating German law enforcement about Tor.

This is not a "crackdown on Tor", as has been widely reported. This seems to be part of a wide sweep on computers associated by IP address with a large child porn bust. There does not seem to be any specific targeting of Tor — Tor is used by journalists, human rights activists, dissident bloggers, and a vast array of blameless users.

We hope that the volunteer Tor server operators in Germany will get their equipment back after this has blown over, and there will be no action against Tor.