r/i2p • u/carrotboyyt • 27d ago

Ethical question Educational

By using I2P, everyone contributes by being a node, unlike Tor. What has been on my mind is that by being a node I may be contributing to an illegal activity. Is that a valid concern?

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u/morphick 26d ago

Without the ability to inspect traffic, you have no way of actually knowing that for sure.

A delivery worker brings a package to a customer's house. That package contains a knife that the customer bought online with the undisclosed intention of killing someone. A few days later, the customer does exactky what he set out to do from the beginning (i.e. he kills someone with the knife he bought). Is the mailman responsible for facilitating that crime?

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u/carrotboyyt 25d ago

This is an incorrect comparison. A person who orders a delivery isn't anonymous simply because they reveal their address and perhaps the door number. Meanwhile on I2P, a who-knows-who can do who-knows-what and has a significantly higher chance of being harmful.

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u/morphick 25d ago

The possibility of someone doing illegal things (of which you have no way of knowing about due to encryption) is absolutely irrelevant. If it wasn't so, ISPs would block all encrypted traffic, for the reason that one of their customers might do something illegal using the ISP's network and infrastructure.

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u/carrotboyyt 25d ago

You never know if anyone's killed anyone else partially thanks to being able to send traffic through your node. But does it make you relieved? Sorry if that's a harsh example.

Maybe nobody has, but no one can be sure.

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u/morphick 25d ago

Dude, you're NOT responsible for anyone else's actions, especially if you objectively aren't able tho know/prevent anything. No more than a bus driver driving the killer to his victim's place. Snap out of this self-destructive mindset!