William Weber, a LowEndTalk member, was raided by Austrian police in 2012 for operating a Tor exit node that was allegedly used to distribute child pornography. While he was not arrested, many of his computers and devices were confiscated. He was later found guilty of supporting the distribution of child pornography through his Tor exit node, though he claims it was unintentional and he was simply supporting free speech and anonymity. He was given a 5 year probation sentence but left Austria shortly after. Though some articles portray him negatively, it is debatable whether he intentionally supported child pornography distribution or simply operated in the legal grey area of Tor exit nodes.
I don’t get the hate. It’s his fault for running a TOR exit? Would you rather have the CIA run every exit and render the network useless?
What about the people he has helped circumvent censorship in countries where they are hunted? For a crime that he hasn’t committed he is sentenced, overlooking the good that he has done.