According to the Criminal Complaint against Ulbricht, based on the data collected from the site image the FBI seized in July 2013, there were just under one million registered users (which doesn't necessarily represent that many unique users because of duplicate accounts).
From its launch in February 2011 until July 2013, there were just under 1.25 million transactions conducted between approximately 150,000 buyers and 4000 vendors.
By contrast, around that same time, Amazon was selling about 3.5 million products per day.
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Uhhh, your quote says the murder for hire accusations/stings appear to be a scam targetting Ulbricht with no actual victims.
Whether it was or wasn't, 5 of the 6 were accusations, with no official charges, and no convictions of guilt. Dunno if that proves anything.
Not defending Ulbricht here, but that's a weird quote to back up the statement that he hired hitmen to kill six people.
The guy tried to get 6 people killed to protect his black market of illegal items. That is what the quote is saying. Turns out there were not really people with the knowledge to turn him in but he was willing to kill them anyway. I think that is why the sentencing is so long.
The deep web is a few areas, there is the biggest one I believe TOR, also clearnet and one other if I remember correctly.
I think silk road was on TOR ( https://www.torproject.org/ ) ... While these projects are initially about anonymity and freedom the attract a lot of criminals and illegal stuff. Silk road being of course the most infamous, but there is child porn, hiring hit men, illegal credit card number selling, etc.. You can think of it, its probably available. With the advent of bitcoin, its making it even easier for people to go in an hire hackers and all kinds of stuff.
Our IT company held a conference a few months ago, we had an FBI speaker as well as some cyber security guy, they both touched on TOR and the darknet as growing hubs that will become centers for all kinds of crime for sale on a marketplace that is anonymous and very difficult to stop.
I watched the Alex Winter documentary last night. It was really informative.
But I really don't understand the position Ross Ulbricht's supporters take, especially the ones that hold up the signs that say "web hosting isn't a crime". It's like someone robbing a bank and getting in a car chase with the police, then complaining that driving a car isn't a crime.
He waived his right to be anonymous once he started the illegal enterprise. It's not really a slippery slope to me. If his 4th amendment rights were violated (and I am not convinced either way on that yet), then I hope the police are held accountable, but I don't think that changes his guilt or responsibility in all of this.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
i am trying to wrap my head around a website (that may presumably be something like this) where you would hire a hitman or discuss your latest criminal undertaking.
i wonder what kind of gif's they use to underscore thier points of view?
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The guy was a parasite plain and simple, he lived off of the misery of others.
He might have been a technology guy, but the simple fact was that he created an environment for drug dealers to pray on people and he profited from it. In my mind he is no better then the dealers and others that used that technology to destroy lives.
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The guy was a parasite plain and simple, he lived off of the misery of others.
He might have been a technology guy, but the simple fact was that he created an environment for drug dealers to pray on people and he profited from it. In my mind he is no better then the dealers and others that used that technology to destroy lives.
Or...he created an environment where consenting adults could make grown-up decisions about what to put into their own bodies. I'm curious, do you consider Anheuser Busch and their ilk, who also profit off of the misery of others?
Or...he created an environment where consenting adults could make grown-up decisions about what to put into their own bodies. I'm curious, do you consider Anheuser Busch and their ilk, who also profit off of the misery of others?
People who are addicted to heavy drugs in my mind are no longer consenting adults to anything because they are consumed by their addictions. They are no longer in control of their decision making processes, because their process is around taking the drugs not only for whatever escape or high it gives them, but at some point they are merely taking the drug to function.
While I partially think that your beer thing has some valid things that need to be looked at, however There is the ability to drink responsibly. There is also at the very least legal oversight in how liquor is made and marketed and sold. There isn't the same in the drug trade.
I don't give two craps about grass for example. But man when you start talking about drugs like crack, and Meth and heroin and synthetic and non synthetic opiates we are talking a different level and higher speed addiction.
Talk to people that have been hooked on the harder drugs, and the last thing that they will say was that they were making responsible decisions when it came to their addictions.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Talk to people who are recovering alcoholics, and the last thing that they will say was that they were making responsible decisions when it came to their addictions.
People who are addicted to heavy drugs in my mind are no longer consenting adults to anything because they are consumed by their addictions. They are no longer in control of their decision making processes, because their process is around taking the drugs not only for whatever escape or high it gives them, but at some point they are merely taking the drug to function.
While I partially think that your beer thing has some valid things that need to be looked at, however There is the ability to drink responsibly. There is also at the very least legal oversight in how liquor is made and marketed and sold. There isn't the same in the drug trade.
I don't give two craps about grass for example. But man when you start talking about drugs like crack, and Meth and heroin and synthetic and non synthetic opiates we are talking a different level and higher speed addiction.
Talk to people that have been hooked on the harder drugs, and the last thing that they will say was that they were making responsible decisions when it came to their addictions.
so is what your saying is that the personal accountability to only fall on the side of the user or addict? And not on the person that's pushing this stuff or selling it?
Or facilitating the sale of it?
Yes, every addict will say that they had personal accountability, but with a lot of them, that personal accountability is so far down on the chart of things to think about.
that's the lifestyle of the addict my friend.
Even with alcoholics, personal accountability takes a secondary role to serving the addiction.
To me, I don't think there is such a thing as a lot of casual users to heroin, or Meth or Oxy or some of the other things. Dealers know it and push it and make their money based on that. Their marketing is based around servicing and expanding the addiction.
I don't really think that you can say the same thing about beer.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Or...he created an environment where consenting adults could make grown-up decisions about what to put into their own bodies. I'm curious, do you consider Anheuser Busch and their ilk, who also profit off of the misery of others?
Not just adults. If you watch the documentary, the Silk Road first became known to police when a parent reported their teenager received drugs in the mail shipped inside a cartoon show DVD box.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 06-01-2015 at 11:25 AM.
People who are addicted to heavy drugs in my mind are no longer consenting adults to anything because they are consumed by their addictions. They are no longer in control of their decision making processes, because their process is around taking the drugs not only for whatever escape or high it gives them, but at some point they are merely taking the drug to function.
While I partially think that your beer thing has some valid things that need to be looked at, however There is the ability to drink responsibly. There is also at the very least legal oversight in how liquor is made and marketed and sold. There isn't the same in the drug trade.
I don't give two craps about grass for example. But man when you start talking about drugs like crack, and Meth and heroin and synthetic and non synthetic opiates we are talking a different level and higher speed addiction.
Talk to people that have been hooked on the harder drugs, and the last thing that they will say was that they were making responsible decisions when it came to their addictions.
You talk about addiction and drug use as if they are on the same side of some imaginary binary. I happen to know plenty of people who use hard drugs more responsibly than many people use alcohol. The reason alcohol has the oversight it does is because it's legal. There are plenty of horror stories of people dying, going blind, etc. in countries where booze is still illegal. The way Silk Road operated, with its ratings system and message boards actually made it a safer experience for drug users, as they were able to weed out the scammers and cutters pretty quickly.
Obviously I'm not thrilled that Ulbricht was trying to have people offed, but the whole war on drugs shares in some of that.
Not just adults. If you watch the documentary, the Silk Road first became known to police when a parent reported their teenager received drugs in the mail shipped inside a cartoon show DVD box.
Yeah, I meant to mention that was one of the problematic aspects of it.
You talk about addiction and drug use as if they are on the same side of some imaginary binary. I happen to know plenty of people who use hard drugs more responsibly than many people use alcohol. The reason alcohol has the oversight it does is because it's legal. There are plenty of horror stories of people dying, going blind, etc. in countries where booze is still illegal. The way Silk Road operated, with its ratings system and message boards actually made it a safer experience for drug users, as they were able to weed out the scammers and cutters pretty quickly.
Obviously I'm not thrilled that Ulbricht was trying to have people offed, but the whole war on drugs shares in some of that.
you're not the only one that has had to deal with friends and others that are hard drug users.
No use us debating this, we're not going to change each others minds.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
you're not the only one that has had to deal with friends and others that are hard drug users.
No use us debating this, we're not going to change each others minds.
Which is why anecdotal evidence is a terrible way to develop policy. The empirical evidence shows that prohibition doesn't work, so let's enact policy that reflects that, rather than the uninformed and biased opinions of individuals.
