
PIA and Freenode joining forces - blibble
https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn
======
martin1975
Makes me feel a tad better for my yearlong PIA subscription :)

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ryanlol
I wonder if this is a sign that freenode is returning to their old ways
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/)

~~~
andoon
I don't think it will sink to what it was when lilo still lived. I find it
funny that article calls him "professional online beggar", because he was way
worse than that. Not that the network was better handled after his
disappearance though.

~~~
mst
Thanks for that! After all, it's not properly a comment thread about freenode
until a newly registered account turns up to piss on our founder's grave.

~~~
deelowe
I didn't know lilo was no longer with us. That sucks...

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donatj
Interesting. I have a lot of trust in PIA for now.

~~~
Veratyr
I think they're one of the better VPN companies but they're under US
jurisdiction, which makes them vulnerable to NSLs and other forms of
government surveillance. Yes they don't log, so they can't be subpoena'd for
past information but they can be compelled to provide ongoing interception.

I'd be interested to know however whether the US government can intercept
traffic to/from:

\- Servers located in the USA but operated by VPN companies incorporated and
staffed outside the USA.

\- Servers located outside the USA but operated by VPN companies incorporated
or staffed inside the USA.

It seems to me that as long as you're using a US-based VPN server, there's
always the risk the cloud or transit provider can be compelled to intercept
traffic regardless of the owner's jurisdiction.

The question of how well protected non-American servers operated by Americans
are still seems to be unanswered too. Microsoft seems to be winning their case
against handing over overseas data[0] but Google seems to be losing[1].

[0]: [https://secure.politico.com/blogs/under-the-
radar/2017/01/mi...](https://secure.politico.com/blogs/under-the-
radar/2017/01/microsoft-data-broad-appeals-court-234098)

[1]: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-
conspiracy/wp/201...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-
conspiracy/wp/2017/02/03/google-must-turn-over-foreign-stored-e-mails-
pursuant-to-a-warrant-court-rules/?utm_term=.8c2a760dfe1c)

~~~
mschuster91
> \- Servers located in the USA but operated by VPN companies incorporated and
> staffed outside the USA.

Not terrorism/other serious crimes, but Megaupload had the same constellation
(they had some US colocated servers), and it will unfortunately likely end
with Kim Dotcom being deported to the US. So yes, such a service constellation
may very well lead to deportations to the US as soon as some bought-off or
incompetent US judge/DA gets his rubberstamp.

The massive outreach of the US (not just this, but also that their citizenship
is bound to paying taxes, even abroad - leading to the massive ... called
FATCA) is something that really angers me. But hey, it's difficult to argue
with a country that might send four dozen Tomahawks based on the current Fox
News programming. (Obviously sarcastic, but the "the US regularly abuses its
foreign power" still stands)

~~~
Veratyr
I don't think this really affects VPNs though. Megaupload is a criminal case
which the US appears to have substantial evidence supporting. I still think
it's an overreach but what crime can the US accuse a foreign VPN operator of,
that would lead to a successful extradition request?

~~~
freeone3000
Accessing child pornography. Participating in terrorism messaging boards.
Commercial copyright infringement. It's easy to imagine a crime.

------
mst
"Purchased by" is a clickbait lie.

Please can we use the actual title of the actual blog post.

Edit: Thanks!

~~~
dang
Ok, title changed from "freenode IRC network purchased by VPN company PIA".

Submitters: Please use the original title unless it is misleading or linkbait,
as
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
asks.

~~~
blibble
it is misleading, it's hard to read the post as anything other than the
announcement of an acquisition, once you remove the corporate waffle

~~~
dang
I understand that reaction and share the dislike of corpspeak. But since
someone involved with the project is disputing that interpretation, we should
stick to what the post actually says.

~~~
joepie91_
Shouldn't we then also ask said person to clarify exactly how the
interpretation is incorrect?

EDIT: Nevermind, seems that was done below.

------
andoon
freenode is such a dumpster fire. Well, it's always been a dumpster fire, but
since a ton of opers resigned because it wasn't clear what was happening with
the donations, it's just getting worse and worse. Let's see what comes from
this.

~~~
throwaway2048
This post is the truth, freenode always has been really poorly managed from
its inception, its amazing it remains so popular.

During the javascript irc flooding attacks a while back, efnet took 1 day to
patch their servers, rizon took 3, freenode took 7 months (of nonstop
netsplits and network breakage)

------
pekk
PIA has already supported Freenode for a long time.

In return, Freenode has consistently sabotaged the Tor service so that the
only way to connect safely is with a VPN.

~~~
mst
tor was being used for password brute force attacks and required significant
infrastructure fixing to make it work safely.

It's now fixed.

If you continue to have problems, please file a support ticket rather than
throwing around unfounded accusations of sabotage.

~~~
Famicoman
How was it fixed, if you happen to know?

~~~
mst
Rewriting a bunch of stuff to achieve a combination of less information
leakage and better rate limiting, I think.

I did briefly attempt to understand the relevant chunk of C code, but my eyes
crossed and I developed a headache.

So sorry if that's a bit vague.

------
betaby
I feel there could conflict of interest. Also it's unclear how now sponsored
server are related or unrelated withing legal frameworks to the fact that the
author has role in PIA.

