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As mentioned earlier this week, I changed the server for my hoster from server4you to Hetzner. Because the contract for my old server is still running until the 14th of April, I thought I can make some good use of it by running an Tor exit node on it. Tor, “The onion router” is a world-wide network of server to anonymize network connections, and used for example by freedom-loving people in repressive countries, or by Facebook users in repressively proxied university networks…

Naturally, such a system is also used by people with lesser motives, and after nearly one week of running the server, some complaints were reaching server4you – a honeynet supposedly detected botnet activity from my IP address, another company hired by Paramount Pictures claimed that someone downloaded “Iron Man 2” over BitTorrent via my server. These were forwarded to my by server4you, demanding an explanation. I explained that I am running a Tor node, that such things are unavailable, and that neither I nor server4you is going to be held responsible.

Nevertheless, they insist that I should stop whatever I am doing (I am not sure if they really understood what tor is), and when I said that I won’t, they decided to unilaterally and immediately end my contract by tomorrow. Thus a powerful exit node that might have made life better for Tor users is doing to disappear again. They will not reimburse the advance fee that I had paid in advance and made a non-specific threat about further claims they might have.

So server4you was, at least in my case, not only an unreliable and inflexible provider, they also prefer to cut off their customer’s server just because of two complaints by third parties. I conclude that this is not a hoster that you should trust important services to.

And I am not a unique case: There are reports of similar server shut-downs by server4you (in German).