Sandy the C2Net Censor tossed the following question to flames: Secret Squirrel <nobody@squirrel.owl.de> writes:

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM wrote:

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c.musselman@internetmci.com (Charley Musselman) writes:

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C'punks -- When I told a friend about the alt.drugs.pot cultivation newsgroup and suggested that he use an anonymous remailer to post to the group, he laughed and said, "Who do you suppose runs the remailers? ATF, FBI, DEA, that's who!" Gee, it makes sense to this paranoid. Does anyone know the answer? Specifically, how can we choose a trusted remailer?

Even if the feds are not directtly involved, the so-called "cypher punk" remailers are run by people who should not be trusted. Check out their remailer-operators list: it's full of announcements that some specific person posted something via the remailer that the operator didn't like.

Examples, please?

Plenty. There was a whole thread about the operator of the defunct lead remailer disclosing his users' identities. Here's a recent one: ]Received: from get.wired.com (HELO wired.com) (204.62.131.5) ] by anon.lcs.mit.edu with SMTP; 6 Feb 1997 23:37:35 -0000 ]Received: from avenger.hotwired.com (avenger.hotwired.com [206.221.193.5]) by wired.com (8.7.6/8.7.3) with SMTP id PAA09050; Thu, 6 Feb 1997 15:37:34 -0800 (PST) ]Message-Id: <3.0.32.19970206160603.0086acb0@get.hotwired.com> ]X-Sender: toxic@get.hotwired.com ]X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) ]Date: Thu, 06 Feb 1997 16:06:04 -0800 ]To: remailer-operators@anon.lcs.mit.edu ]From: Jeff Burchell <toxic@hotwired.com> ]Subject: Commercial SPAM from ClaritaInc@aol.com ]Mime-Version: 1.0 ]Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ] ] ]Tofu trapped a bunch of shit coming from ClaritaInc@aol.com. They're ]posting to usenet, advertising things for sale (Including a $10 pamphlet ]explaining how to send anonymous internet email, and the standard ]make.money.fast chainletter scheme) ] ]I've source blocked them, I suggest you do the same. ] ]-Jeff Jeff also said the following, which seems to contradict the above: ]Delivered-To: remailer-operators@anon.lcs.mit.edu ]Received: from get.wired.com (HELO wired.com) (204.62.131.5) ] by anon.lcs.mit.edu with SMTP; 7 Feb 1997 01:17:48 -0000 ]Received: from avenger.hotwired.com (avenger.hotwired.com [206.221.193.5]) by wired.com (8.7.6/8.7.3) with SMTP id RAA26127; Thu, 6 Feb 1997 17:17:47 -0800 (PST) ]Message-Id: <3.0.32.19970206174616.0086c8e0@get.hotwired.com> ]X-Sender: toxic@get.hotwired.com ]X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) ]Date: Thu, 06 Feb 1997 17:46:16 -0800 ]To: remailer-operators@anon.lcs.mit.edu ]From: Jeff Burchell <toxic@hotwired.com> ]Subject: Useage Policy. ]Mime-Version: 1.0 ]Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ]Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable ] ] ]I'm in the process of setting up an autoresponder on the ]abuse@mailmasher.com address. I'd appreciate people's feedback to this ]autoresponder message, and the policies that it describes... ] ] ]Hi. This is in regards to a letter you sent to abuse@mailmasher.com. I ]hate autoresponders too, but I=92ve found that this is a special case and is ]probably warranted. ]I=92ve been running anonymous services for a couple of years now, and have ]answered thousands of pieces of email regarding MailMasher users. Please ]take my word on this one, you really need to at least skim the rest of this ]message. ] ]I will read your email, I promise. However, if your email can be answered ]by something that is contained in THIS message, I won=92t respond to it. ]Sorry. I run MailMasher as sort of a hobby, while holding down a dayjob ]and I really don=92t have time to answer all mail personally. ] ]And now on to the important stuff=85 ] ]First, the answer to the most frequently asked MailMasher question=85 If a ]user of the MailMasher is Harassing or otherwise bothering you, it can be ]stopped. Send a blank message to blockme@mailmasher.com. Your email ]address will be added to a list of addresses that MailMasher will refuse to ]mail to, and you=92ll never get anything from here again. ] ]MailMasher is an anonymous service. This means that even I don=92t know who ]is using it. Any internet user can use a web interface to create an ]anonymous MailMasher email account. I don=92t ask them who they are, and my ]machine doesn=92t keeps logs that could be used to identify users. So ]please, don=92t ask me to identify a user. I can=92t do it.=20 ] ]I also don=92t filter anything for content. Several years ago, in what has ]now come to be known as the Prodigy case (Stratton-Oakmont & Porush v. ]Prodigy. Details at ]http://www.eff.org/pub/Legal/Cases/Stratton_Oakmont_Porush_v_Prodigy ) A ]legal standard was set. Basically, if a service provider deletes posts, ]intercepts emails or otherwise tries to exercise editorial control over any ]of its users, then the service provider can be held responsible for ALL of ]the content that goes through the service. MailMasher transfers around ]10,000 messages a day. It is impossible for me to monitor traffic like ]that. Therefore, I do not even know what most MailMasher users are using ]their accounts for. It really isn=92t any of my business, and because I ]don=92t make it my business, legally, I can=92t be held responsible for the ]actions of MailMasher users. ] ]I also don=92t delete accounts. Because, when I delete an account, the user ]can always come right back and create another one with a different address. ] If someone is going to be behaving badly on the Internet, I for one would ]prefer that they always do it from the same email address, so I can just ]add them to my killfile or email filters. ] ]So, to summarize: ] ]1. I intentionally have made it impossible for anyone, including myself to ]determine the identities of MailMasher users. ]2. I will not under any circumstances monitor a user or delete an account. ]3. I will make a good faith effort to keep you from being bothered by ]MailMasher users, through the use of a destination block filter. ]4. I neither condone nor condemn any action taken by any MailMasher user, ]either in conjunction with their MailMasher use or not. ] ]So=85 you ask, Why would I want to run a service that lets the spammers, an= ]d ]the porn freaks, and the warez kiddies do their thing? The answer is ]simple: because it also allows for much much more. A MailMasher user can ]communicate without repercussions to people all over the world. I have ]received many thank-yous from users sometimes explaining what they used my ]service for. There are people in certain countries who have a very ]legitimate fear of speaking out, who use this and other anonymous services ]to communicate with the U.S. Countless people have used anonymous services ]to very openly discuss items that are considered secret to certain members ]of the Church of Scientology. Victims of all sorts of abuse can speak ]truly anonymously (sometimes for the first time). Even abusers can speak ]freely, which helps with recovery. ]It is for these examples that I run this service. I think a little noise ]and junk is a small price to pay for all of this. You take the good with ]the bad. ] ]This is free speech in one of its most raw forms, staring you in the face. ]You may not like it; It may offend you; It might even encourage illegal ]behavior, but it is speech, and in the United States, it is protected by ]the Constitution. =20 ] ]Thank you for your time. If you=92d like to contact me again, without ]tripping this autoresponder, send mail to remailer-admin@mailmasher.com. ] ]-Jeff Burchell, MailMasher Admin ] --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps