Dread Pirate Roberts | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Fri, 29 May 2015 11:41:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Dread Pirate Roberts | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Silk Road founder to face sentencing https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-founder-to-face-sentencing/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-founder-to-face-sentencing/#respond Fri, 29 May 2015 10:30:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=251705 The trial of Ross Ulbricht has been ongoing for well over a year at this point, with lawyers from both sides going back and forth in an attempt to prove and disprove that he was the founder and administrator of the Silk Road Drug marketplace. Now though, with him being found guilty for many of the non-violent …

The post Silk Road founder to face sentencing first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
The trial of Ross Ulbricht has been ongoing for well over a year at this point, with lawyers from both sides going back and forth in an attempt to prove and disprove that he was the founder and administrator of the Silk Road Drug marketplace. Now though, with him being found guilty for many of the non-violent charges against him, he faces sentencing, with his jail term likely to stretch into decades.

Charges included conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking, but the prosecution has pegged him as a drug kingpin and it hopes to see him put away for the rest of his life. There is already a 20 year mandatory sentence for the 31 year old. He previously pleaded with the judge to at least leave him his old age, much of which may be eaten in to by the time he leaves prison.

rossu

Ulbricht, who operated under the pseudonym of Dread Pirate Roberts while he managed the site, is expected to appeal the conviction, though how successful that will be considering he has all but admitted running the site remains to be seen. He also didn't curry much favour with the jury, since it is alleged that he attempted to have several people killed, though no evidence exists that any action took place beyond his conversation transcripts discussing them.

The defence previously claimed that while Ulbricht did found the site, he left when it became too stressful, but returned when lured back by the owners to become the fall guy, as per Reuters. If that statement is true, the real administrators of the site remain at large.

Discuss on our facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: One of the more interesting claims raised by that of Ulbricht's lawyers during the trial, was that the website made drug use safer by making it possible for people to buy and sell substances without meeting in person, where the potential for violence is greater. What do you guys think?

Image source: Free Ross

The post Silk Road founder to face sentencing first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-founder-to-face-sentencing/feed/ 0
Meet Variety Jones, Ross Ulbricht’s secret mentor https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-variety-jones-ross-ulbrichts-secret-mentor/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-variety-jones-ross-ulbrichts-secret-mentor/#comments Mon, 11 May 2015 09:32:21 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=248842 When the online drug marketplace, The Silk Road, was shut down in 2013, it's now convicted owner, Ross Ulbricht was also arrested and charged with its administration, founding and other related crimes. However as information about the case has come to light, it turns out Ulbricht didn't figure out everything on his own and may …

The post Meet Variety Jones, Ross Ulbricht’s secret mentor first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
When the online drug marketplace, The Silk Road, was shut down in 2013, it's now convicted owner, Ross Ulbricht was also arrested and charged with its administration, founding and other related crimes. However as information about the case has come to light, it turns out Ulbricht didn't figure out everything on his own and may in-fact have had a mentor of sorts, who not only helped him improve his operational security, but pointed out many of the original flaws with the Silk Road site. That person's name, was Variety Jones.

Or at least that was one of their pseudonyms. They also went by the name Cimon, but in both instances they came to Ulbricht early on in the site's life cycle, pointing out holes in its security. At the time, Jones was merely a high-volume cannabis seed seller on the site, but before long, they had transitioned into being Ulbricht's confidant and adviser. It was Jones that suggested Ulbricht adopt the Dread Pirates Robert moniker, which could be passed on to new admins down the road and even encouraged the tightening of site rules and improving community engagements through sales and other practices.

silkroad
When in operation, the Silk Road sold everything from cannabis to cocaine

Later, Ulbricht would come to rely heavily on Jones, having them perform text editing on warnings sent to other sellers, test new security features and as Wired points out, even persuading Ulbricht not to be interviewed by Vice Magazine, suggesting that it could lead to his identification.

Though the many hours of conversation between the two would go on to become a major piece of evidence against Ulbricht, it's clear from the messages that passed between them that the relationship was important to the young site owner. Indeed, when problems arose and staff members deserted Ulbricht, it was Jones who initially suggested getting in touch with them to make sure that “he's on our side,” and they were also the one that Ulbricht tasked with finding someone to track down people that owed him money.

While Ulbricht has been cleared of charges related to murder-for-hire services he supposedly engaged, perhaps the most interesting conversation between him and Jones has yet to bear fruit. In a chat between the pair, they wrote that if Ulbricht were ever arrested, they would buy a small helicopter tour company and come “in low and fast,” scooping Ulbricht out of the prison yard.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Considering the man they once called Dread Pirate Roberts has spent over a year and a half behind bars, you have to wonder if he ever looks up at the sky and wonders if that helicopter is ever coming. 

The post Meet Variety Jones, Ross Ulbricht’s secret mentor first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-variety-jones-ross-ulbrichts-secret-mentor/feed/ 1
Ross Ulbricht defence to claim Mt Gox CEO was Silk Road founder https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ross-ulbricht-defence-to-claim-mt-gox-ceo-was-silk-road-founder/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ross-ulbricht-defence-to-claim-mt-gox-ceo-was-silk-road-founder/#respond Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:35:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=231256 The case of the alleged Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht, took an interesting turn today, as the defence began cross-examining department of homeland security (DHS) investigator, Jared Der-Yeghiayan, who said under questioning that he had also investigated the last-owner of the Mt Gox. Bitcoin exchange, Mark Karpeles. He went on to claim that he had reasonable evidence …

The post Ross Ulbricht defence to claim Mt Gox CEO was Silk Road founder first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
The case of the alleged Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht, took an interesting turn today, as the defence began cross-examining department of homeland security (DHS) investigator, Jared Der-Yeghiayan, who said under questioning that he had also investigated the last-owner of the Mt Gox. Bitcoin exchange, Mark Karpeles. He went on to claim that he had reasonable evidence to suspect that Karpeles was the original founder of the Silk Road.

While the federal investigation switched over to the eventually arrested Ross Ulbricht, Forbes has it that the DHS still thinks Karpeles was originally behind the site and that along with fellow alleged site admin, Ashley Barr, they convinced Ulbricht to administer portions of the site. Essentially, making him the fall guy for when the police came knocking.

Der-Yeghiayan's beliefs went much deeper than that though. Along with suspecting Karpeles of being the founder of Silk Road, he also believes that he used the drug marketplace to help bolster the price of Bitcoin and thereby increase his own personal fortunes, which ballooned as the use Mt. Gox grew. Evidence for such a connection comes from the fact that a Karpeles owned business, Mutum Sigillum, purchased domains linked with the Silk Road website. Both a Karpeles run Bitcoin forum and the official Silk Road forums ran the same outdated version of the forum software too.

ross
Ross Ulbricht seemed out of character with what people expected DPR to be. 

“I can only feel defense attorney Joshua Dratel [is] trying everything he can to point the attention away from his client,” said Mark Karpeles in his statement. He has also previously denied any claims that he has had any involvement with Silk Road and claimed that any relation to domains registered by his company must have been a client of his webhosting business, which has been running since 2009.

Despite these claims however, Karpeles met with Homeland Security Investigations in May 2013 (six months before Silk Road was seized) to allegedly discuss charges of running an unlicensed money service – Mt. Gox – and money laundering. Apparently at that meeting, Karpeles lawyer suggested that his client would give up the identity of Dread Pirates Roberts (the Silk Road Admin's alias) in exchange for the charges being dropped.

Karpeles has to date, never been charged, but then it's not particularly surprising considering a lot of that information has not been ruled admissible in court. In-fact, it was described by U.S. attorney Serrin Turned, as unfounded hearsay.

For his part however, Ross Ulbricht is said to have smiled when the investigation into Karpeles was discussed.

KitGuru Says: Certainly intriguing, albeit a lot of hearsay and rumour. However Ulbricht's operation security slip-up did seem a bit amateurish for someone who had supposedly been running the site for some time. 

Image source: Free Ross

The post Ross Ulbricht defence to claim Mt Gox CEO was Silk Road founder first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ross-ulbricht-defence-to-claim-mt-gox-ceo-was-silk-road-founder/feed/ 0
Silkroad 2 listings top 15,000 – more than SR1 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-2-listings-top-15000-more-than-sr1/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-2-listings-top-15000-more-than-sr1/#respond Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:29:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=176628 Law enforcement officers and federal agents the world over that are committed to stopping international drug trade no doubt held a big party when they shut down the original tor accessible drugs marketplace Silk Road back in September last year. They probably did so again as it first two successors, Black Market Reloaded and Sheep …

The post Silkroad 2 listings top 15,000 – more than SR1 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Law enforcement officers and federal agents the world over that are committed to stopping international drug trade no doubt held a big party when they shut down the original tor accessible drugs marketplace Silk Road back in September last year. They probably did so again as it first two successors, Black Market Reloaded and Sheep Marketplace shut down shortly after, but Silk Road 2, the most popular market out there at the moment, is already bigger than the original ever was.

At this time last year, the original Silkroad had maybe a couple of thousand listings, around 1200 of them drugs related. In comparison, Silk Road 2 has over 12,700 drugs listings and over 15,800 in total. Users are reporting an unusual number of scam vendors and listings at the moment, but even factoring in a couple of thousand of those, the online marketplace is booming.

silkroad2
This screengrab is a day old and there's already 200 more listings

In terms of popularity, the big products are of course Cannabis, but prescription drugs are actually the most dominant item on the road.

The alleged owner of SR1, Ross Ulbricht, was said to have had around $80 million worth of bitcoin in Silk Road wallets when he was arrested after two years+ of operation. It seems likely that even though the new Dread Pirate Roberts is investing a lot in developing new features and building a solid number of staff, his personal fortunes could be much higher.

However he faces much more competition than SR1 did. There's plenty of other markets out there, even though the word is still out on many of them as to whether they're scam sites or law enforcement honeypots.

Kitguru Says: It really seems that the authorities are at a loss with this sort of marketplace. Still, at least reviews and advice from the official forum should mean less harm to the users. 

The post Silkroad 2 listings top 15,000 – more than SR1 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-2-listings-top-15000-more-than-sr1/feed/ 0
Meet the owner of the new Silk Road – DPR2 https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-the-owner-of-the-new-silk-road-dpr2/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-the-owner-of-the-new-silk-road-dpr2/#respond Thu, 06 Feb 2014 12:17:55 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=176371 If you've followed the story of the tor accessible marketplace Silk Road, you'll know all about its closure last year and the arrest of the alleged owner, Ross Ulbricht. However it didn't take long after that initial shut down for other sites to take its place, one of them being Silk Road 2. It sailed …

The post Meet the owner of the new Silk Road – DPR2 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
If you've followed the story of the tor accessible marketplace Silk Road, you'll know all about its closure last year and the arrest of the alleged owner, Ross Ulbricht. However it didn't take long after that initial shut down for other sites to take its place, one of them being Silk Road 2. It sailed back into the limelight with the same theme as before and even an owner/admin that used the same moniker: Dread Pirate Roberts. That persona disappeared a few weeks ago amid claims that their security had been compromised, but now they're back – at least in interview form – talking with Ars about the site and the morality behind making all sorts of drugs available to anyone that can figure out PGP, bitcoins and anonymous browsing.

While drugs are certainly the main focus of the site, it does sell other things, but DPR2 believes it's more than just a marketplace for substances: “We represent a right for the individual to choose what they would or wouldn't like to put into their own bodies,” they said, continuing by highlighting reasons why the current drug law system just doesn't work.

silkroad2
While Silk Road 2 offers a lot of items for sale, its main business is drugs

“Did prohibition at all stop people drinking? No. Did prohibition stop people seeking help? Yes, and many people paid with their lives for it. Does prohibition take otherwise productive citizens who've done no harm to others out of society and let them sit in a jail cell to drain resources? I'll let you consider that.”

They even take the opportunity to take a swing at the US government for more than its drugs laws: its terrorism scaremongering: “After 9/11, there was a vast amount of scaremongering over terrorism, and the higher echelons of society saw fit to strip the rights of everyone in the process [… and]  yet we can see such hypocrisy from the US government where everyone must surrender their rights for the actions of a few.”

According to DPR2, tracking down the new Silk Road's servers wouldn't actually be that difficult for organisations like the FBI and NSA, but unlike Ross Ulbricht, DPR2 has safeguards in place that should mean even if he/she is arrested, the site will continue on as before.

“There is only one person in the world that knows who [my second in command] “Defcon” is — me. So unless the feds have me they can never take down the Road, because as soon as I am missing he knows to just move servers and hit the killswitch on my access.”

Are the police already trying to entrap people on the site? Yes they are, but DPR2 has been squashing them wherever possible, claiming to have taken down over 15 different honeypot accounts – though apparently the authorities keep using the same “SuperTrips” moniker for some reason.

In closing, the Silkroad admin simply said: “I have brought Silk Road back to life this time around, but the future of free markets is in the hands of those who are willing to step up after Silk Road falls. There is a revolution coming that is larger than Silk Road has been or will ever be.”

KitGuru Says: The rest of the interview is a very interesting read. Check out the full thing for a lot more insights into the road and its owner's philosophy. 

The post Meet the owner of the new Silk Road – DPR2 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/meet-the-owner-of-the-new-silk-road-dpr2/feed/ 0
Drama persists in online drug marketplaces https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/drama-persists-in-online-drug-marketplaces/ Tue, 10 Dec 2013 13:34:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=166921 Taking a quick look at any of the comings and goings of online drug marketplaces over the past year will give you several different impressions. One is obviously that it's astounding how simple it is to purchase supposedly “controlled,” substances online with a little technical know how, but the second is invariably surprise at how …

The post Drama persists in online drug marketplaces first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Taking a quick look at any of the comings and goings of online drug marketplaces over the past year will give you several different impressions. One is obviously that it's astounding how simple it is to purchase supposedly “controlled,” substances online with a little technical know how, but the second is invariably surprise at how much drama unfolds with them on a daily basis. The original Silk Road was underground for long enough that it enjoyed several years of prosperity, but as its size began to snowball, it struggled to keep a lid on things and eventually its owner was discovered. That trend of hacks, DDOS attacks and scams is continuing with its bastard offspring.

We heard a lot about Black Market Reloaded and Sheep Marketplace, the two big players that took over much of the original SR's traffic. Unfortunately for them though, it seemed they grew too quickly without adequate safe guards and the latter was hacked and scammed out of thousands of bitcoins a few weeks ago. Following the hack, the owners then did a runner with many more thousands of bitcoins, prompting Black Market Reloaded to announce its closure due to not wanting all the heat that would come from being the only big player in town. At the time of writing it's still up, but is in the “shutdown procedure.”

bmr
If BRM's closure completes without incident, it will be the first market of its kind to bow out with arrests or scams

Since then even more marketplaces have sprung up, most notably perhaps, Silk Road 2.0, with perhaps the most noticeable addition of a new Dread Pirate Roberts, the pseudonym that the alleged (and arrested) SR founder, Ross Ulbricht posted under. However despite only being around for a few weeks, the new Silk Road has already run into problems, with an ongoing DDOS attack forcing it offline and leading to the following cryptic, threatening message from the owners:

“We believe we know who is behind the attack too and I want to ensure this is well known – we do not negotiate with people trying to harm our market because we will overcome it eventually. To the people behind this attack I will only give one warning that if this continues then we will return the favor starting with your database which we already now hold – false promises and tall claims cannot fool us because lying though your teeth about your “security” is easily exposed. We like competition, but if you want to take jealously out on this community then I will not sit by idly.”

So it sounds like one of the many sites that have sprung up in recent weeks/months have decided to take on Silk Road, which is something that may have happened with Atlantis and the original SR earlier this year, though it was never confirmed who was responsible for that DDOS attack.

KitGuru Says: What's clear at this point, is that shutting down one of these marketplaces is redundant. They make far too much money too quickly; someone will always fill that niche until there's a properly regulated market elsewhere, similar perhaps to the efforts being made in Colorado, Washington and countries like Peru.

As usual, Kitguru doesn't encourage anyone to visit these sites, but if you are going to, make sure you get a correct URL as there are always a lot of phishing links going around. 

The post Drama persists in online drug marketplaces first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
SilkRoad drug marketplace rises from the ashes https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-drug-marketplace-rises-from-the-ashes/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-drug-marketplace-rises-from-the-ashes/#respond Thu, 07 Nov 2013 09:42:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=161062 It's only taken about a month, but on top of original competitor sites scooping up big handfuls of old members, Silk Road has returned in its 2.0 form, bringing with it some simple changes, but largely sticking to the formula in the hope of bringing back old vendors and customers alike. The tor-only accessible site …

The post SilkRoad drug marketplace rises from the ashes first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
It's only taken about a month, but on top of original competitor sites scooping up big handfuls of old members, Silk Road has returned in its 2.0 form, bringing with it some simple changes, but largely sticking to the formula in the hope of bringing back old vendors and customers alike.

The tor-only accessible site has a new onion address of course, but the login screen looks very similar to the one you can still see on the original Silk Road address – with just a couple of minor alterations.

silkroad
Note the logo in the background and the “This Site Has Risen,” stamp

According to AllThingsVice, functionality on the site is essentially restored to pre-take down levels, with transactions possible and the usual number of product categories available. However there are some new features, like the ability to put up information about you as a customer (only vendors could do this before). There's also a spot for you to add your own public PGP key, should anyone wish to get in touch with you anonymously.

Not all features have been implemented yet, but for some of the outstanding ones, the admins are offering a bounty for programmers and translators, with weekly wages – presumably paid in Bitcoin.

The forum has also been restored, mostly to its former glory. While many old members have flocked back, some of whom have already begun setting up old threads that they ran on the original forums, there is a bit of an influx of spammers and trolls, so for now, registrations there are by invite only.

The main site though isn't preventing new registrations, so it's perfectly easy to sign up and login. Though if you're looking for product, the categories are a little thin at the moment. It's only the day after the relaunch though, so give it some time.

Even the site's figurehead admin, Dread Pirate Roberts has made a return, though presumably this is someone different than the accused admin of the original site, Ross Ulbricht.

KitGuru Says: It goes without saying that Kitguru doesn't encourage any of you to search out sites like this. However if you do, make sure you're using a Tor browser and make sure that the address you visit is the legitimate one as no doubt with Silkroad making a return, plenty of detail scamming, fake login pages will appear over the next few days. 

The post SilkRoad drug marketplace rises from the ashes first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silkroad-drug-marketplace-rises-from-the-ashes/feed/ 0
Silk road downed, Bitcoin price could tumble https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-downed-bitcoin-price-could-tumble/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-downed-bitcoin-price-could-tumble/#respond Thu, 03 Oct 2013 07:52:53 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=155690 The online, tor-accessible drugs marketplace, Silk Road, looks to have been taken down by US federal authorities, with a notice posted up on the main page stating as such. Further reports also suggest that the notoriously anonymous admin of the site, Dread Pirates Roberts (DPR) has been identified and arrested and his financial gains seized. …

The post Silk road downed, Bitcoin price could tumble first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
The online, tor-accessible drugs marketplace, Silk Road, looks to have been taken down by US federal authorities, with a notice posted up on the main page stating as such. Further reports also suggest that the notoriously anonymous admin of the site, Dread Pirates Roberts (DPR) has been identified and arrested and his financial gains seized. The worry for many now – even if they didn't have Bitcoins tied up in the site – is that with such a popular spending destination for the digital currency going dark, will the value of Bitcoin fall?

According to the FBI complaint (via Reddit), DPR was tracked down through old posts made by the San Francisco local, requesting help in setting up a Bitcoin related service. These messages ultimately led to a Gmail account: rossulbricht@gmail.com.

Google of course handed over data on the man when queried, which when combined with a subpoena'd VPN provider that Ulbricht was using, led to his real world location being discovered and he was subsequently arrested.

silkroaddown

While some have questioned whether Mr Ulbricht is in-fact, Dread Pirate Roberts, as his online persona was said to be managed by several individuals, his arrest and the site's seizure will have a big impact. Beyond the thousands of Silk Road users and vendors now mourning the loss of their favourite drug purchasing/selling location, the Bitcoin business as a whole could suffer.

Silkroad was intrinsically linked with Bitcoin's value explosion and subsequent pits and troughs. When DPR spoke with Forbes a couple of months ago, value jumped to the highest it had been in months. At the time of writing, the price of the average Bitcoin has fallen a few dollars from its latest peak, but it's holding steady for now.

It will be interesting to see how the value behaves in the next few days, as anyone with a large stock pile has to be wondering if they're going to be worth as much if there's one less place to spend them.

As for SilkRoad, new alternatives have already appeared, with several posts about them appearing on the Silk Road Forums – which for now, seem to be still be operational. Some are urging caution at the use of any new site, suggesting it could be a US authority honey pot, but that won't stop some jumping ship to test the waters.

KitGuru Says: Do any of you have a nice stockpile of Bitcoins you've been sitting on? If so, does this news make you want to shift it sooner rather than later? 

The post Silk road downed, Bitcoin price could tumble first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/silk-road-downed-bitcoin-price-could-tumble/feed/ 0
Drug market posts Silk Road Charter, extols freedom of expression https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/drug-market-posts-silk-road-charter-extols-freedom-of-expression/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/drug-market-posts-silk-road-charter-extols-freedom-of-expression/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:04:43 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=133106 Drug Marketplace the Silk Road has had a tough time as of late. The past few days have seen it hit with a massive DDOS attack that crippled its infrastructure, sending many members into a frenzy. However, the admins have now got it under control and to celebrate, have posted up a Silk Road Charter, …

The post Drug market posts Silk Road Charter, extols freedom of expression first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Drug Marketplace the Silk Road has had a tough time as of late. The past few days have seen it hit with a massive DDOS attack that crippled its infrastructure, sending many members into a frenzy. However, the admins have now got it under control and to celebrate, have posted up a Silk Road Charter, that lets everyone know just why they operate such a lucrative site.

As part of the announcement that the storm had passed, Silk Road's owner, Dread Pirate Roberts, said that he was thankful for the efforts of staff and outsourced helpers and that ultimately, while the attack was temporarily devastating, it had made the site far stronger. Silk Road's security was now far heftier and would be able to weather much more aggressive attacks in the future.

sr
The Silk Road charter reads less like a dealer's manifesto and more like a declaration of independence

Alongside this, he published the Silk Road Charter, which DPR claims has been in the works for some time and has helped guide him through some “difficult decisions [he's] had to make along the way.” It's a short document, but an interesting one. It suggests that the Silk Road's mission is to:

“Have voluntary interaction between individuals be the foundation of human civilization.” It claims that everyone has self-ownership of their, “own bodies, thoughts and will,” and that everyone is responsible for their own actions. If you infringe on someone else's rights, you should be held accountable however.

It also proposes that everyone should be treated equally, “without exception,” and that everyone should strive to improve themselves throughout their lives and in “all actions.”

Some of it reads like Twitter inspiration, but a lot of it makes great sense and sounds like despite how much money DPR must be making from Silk Road, that there's a higher purpose to its existence. As if to emphasise that, he also announced a sale to apologise for the site's down time, giving everyone 48 hours without commissions. He also asked sellers to pass on at least some of that saving to customers.

KitGuru Says: Doesn't freedom of individuality come from strange quarters? While governments might talk about it, people like Kim Dotcom and DPR really push those ideals forward with the products they offer – even if their legality is often called into question. 

The post Drug market posts Silk Road Charter, extols freedom of expression first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/drug-market-posts-silk-road-charter-extols-freedom-of-expression/feed/ 1
How the Bitcoin crash has affected drug marketplace Silk Road https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/how-the-bitcoin-crash-has-affected-drug-marketplace-silk-road/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/how-the-bitcoin-crash-has-affected-drug-marketplace-silk-road/#respond Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:34:53 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=132463 Since Bitcoin has become more of an accepted form of monetary transaction across the internet connected world, the bubble burst that hit its value last week, was going to be felt far and wide. It's not surprising then that one of the places that helped pioneer the currency has been hit too – that place …

The post How the Bitcoin crash has affected drug marketplace Silk Road first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Since Bitcoin has become more of an accepted form of monetary transaction across the internet connected world, the bubble burst that hit its value last week, was going to be felt far and wide. It's not surprising then that one of the places that helped pioneer the currency has been hit too – that place is Silk Road.

For those that don't know, Silk Road is an online marketplace, only accessible via the Tor network, that sells a variety of products, ranging from collectibles, to fake IDs – but its biggest catalogue of products is drugs. And we're talking everything too: from cannabis, through to heroin and prescription medication. If someone wants to take it, Silk Road has it – and all of it is purchasable using Bitcoin.

Let's be clear from the start, KitGuru neither condones or supports this kind of activity and, where possible, we steer around specifics with this kind of story – because the details could be mis-used. In this case, the various components are important, so we have taken a conscious decision to include them.

The purchasing process works in a fashion familiar to anyone who's bought anything online. Once you've added the Bitcoins to your account (which sends them through a tumbler which further anonymises them) you click “add to cart” on the product you want, send off your postage information to the seller (PGP encryption is recommended by the site's owners and most sellers) and your money enters a temporary escrow account. This holds the money until your product arrives and you “finalise” the payment, which sends it off to the retailer.

It's this holding period that could potentially cause problems for the Silk Road, but it does have safe guards in place. Sellers are able to “hedge” payments, which means that whatever the dollar value of the Bitcoins when they are finally sent to the seller, Silk Road will provide the same dollar value as when there were added by the buyer. This protects everyone, theoretically.

silkroad
Silk Road offers a plethora of different narcotics.

However, even doing so cannot guarantee safety. One source contacted us to explain: “I received a message a few days ago from one of the people I usually order from. It explained that those of us with outstanding payments should not finalise until an issue with Silk Road has been corrected.” Apparently, the seller in this case – one of the most well reviewed on the site – has taken down all of its listings. Despite having its payments hedged, it describes Silk Road pricing as “broken,” because it's based on that of Mt Gox. exchange, which a few days ago froze Bitcoin values. This meant people were buying up coins on other exchanges for far less and exploiting the system.

Ultimately the seller was said to be down several thousand dollars. However, our source informs us that most of that seller's listings are now back online, which would suggest the pricing problem has now been fixed, but it highlights a potential problem with Silk Road's reliance on the Mt. Gox exchange values.

Speaking with Forbes a couple of days ago, the anonymous owner of the site, Dread Pirate Roberts, described the safety measures in place by Silk Road, how ultimately the site itself pays for the ups and downs in Bitcoin value, while the sellers and particularly buyers, should be relatively unaffected by the crash. Ultimately though it's the time your Bitcoins are travelling between wallets, that value changes can really affect you. Once an order is made, you're relatively safe – though it seems not all sellers have been.

KitGuru Says: I'm sure a few of you are tempted to search out Silk Road after reading this. We wouldn't recommend it, but if you do, make sure you find an official address – there are a lot of fake ones floating around that could easily scam money from you. Be safe. 

The post How the Bitcoin crash has affected drug marketplace Silk Road first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/how-the-bitcoin-crash-has-affected-drug-marketplace-silk-road/feed/ 0