[xophe]

Yes, exactly this.

If they lose, then there's going to be precedent for when the stakes are high. And I can't see how they can totally escape culpability, since they can't even turn over the source if they wanted to.

The anonymity Tor provides is fundamental from an Internet activist perspective but in the eyes of the law (and the world outside our tech bubble) it's aiding and abetting. There's a reason why we're not allowed to have encrypted landlines.

I don't feel good about this at all.

[DanBC]

> There's a reason why we're not allowed to have encrypted landlines.

Wait, what? Is that true? It isn't true, as far as I know, in the UK.

[schoen]

Also not true in the U.S. (unless "not allowed to" means "the government has successfully deterred it" rather than "it's illegal").

[NotAtWork]

> There's a reason why we're not allowed to have encrypted landlines.

We can, it just requires that end users manage the keys if they don't want them turned over to the government by a third party (eg, the telephone company).