Originally posted by the man who put it in my hood
+ Trump plans to free Ross Ulbricht
Originally posted by the man who put it in my hood
I will be examining this closely. This is related to Venezuela.
The “Silk Road” website was an illegal online marketplace run by “Dread Pirate Roberts”, the username used by Ross Williams Ulbricht. This black market on the darknet used Tor Browser , a network which guarantees anonymity for both customers and sellers.
What is Tor Browser?
Tor Browser refers to “The Onion Router”, a software program developed and used by the U.S. military, in particular the U.S. Navy. The aim was to enable anonymous browsing to avoid any risk of theft of sensitive data collected during military missions. Tor software was made public and free when the U.S. military began using their own VPN system (virtual private network; this system encrypts the Internet connection in order to mask location and prevent others from intercepting web traffic).
This software is completely legal in France , although some countries may prohibit its use, which is considered illegal (e.g. China and Venezuela).
Tor is a globally accessible browser for anonymous web browsing. It consists of a so-called “multiproxy” network, which relies on the connection of a large number of other Tor users to mask the IP address of the user in question. Sharing the IP addresses of between 500,000 and 3 million users worldwide every day makes it almost impossible to trace the original IP address .
Tor makes it possible to bypass censorship and carry out illegal transactions , such as ordering illegal substances, weapons or even hitmen, without the risk of these orders being traced by the authorities.
However, Tor isn’t just a software used by criminals ! In fact, it’s not uncommon for ordinary people to use this network legally, simply to protect their anonymity. In its FAQ, Tor states that “ Tor’s mission is to advance human rights with free and open-source technology, empowering users to defend against mass surveillance and internet censorship (…) It’s essential to understand that criminal intent lies with the individuals and not the tools they use. Just like other widely available technology, Tor can be used by individuals with criminal intent.”.
What does Silk Road sell?
The “Silk Road” site sold all kinds of illegal goods and services. It was considered as the “eBay of drugs”.
However, the site’s content was still subject to censorship. Certain products and services, such as the sale of stolen identity or credit cards, as well as goods relating to child pornography, were censored from the site.
Furthermore, although the site initially offered the sale of weapons as a possible transaction, after a while this aspect was moved to another site specifically for these sales. This second site was subsequently closed for lack of activity.
As previously mentioned, it was possible to buy narcotics, weapons, account hacking services, false papers… Only murder and paedophilia were forbidden on this site .
Silk Road was not a direct sales site ; rather, it served to put buyers and sellers in touch with each other. This was done by creating a list of products for buyers . Transactions were made through the site. Yet, payment was blocked by the website until goods were received. Then, the recipient could agree on unblocking the payment (e.g. BlaBlaCar). Like all sites on TOR, the currency used was bitcoin , a virtual currency whose possession is not nominative.
Who is Ross Williams Ulbricht?
Ross Ulbricht is an American living in Texas, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was arrested in October 2013 by the FBI, the DEA and also the CIA, who joined forces to find out who was running the Silk Road website. Ross William Ulbricht was known as “Dread Pirate Roberts” and as the manager of the “Silk Road” site. He was charged in August 2014 with money laundering, drug trafficking and computer hacking, as well as other charges. In addition, the manager was accused of resorting to assassinations via the services offered on his site (although the charges were dismissed). He was prosecuted on 7 charges . Ross William Ulbricht was sentenced to life imprisonment , notably for creating and operating the Silk Road website, in February 2015. His sentence consists of two life sentences in addition to three prison terms of five, fifteen and twenty years for hacking, trafficking in false documents and money laundering. The judges took Ross Ulbricht’s level of education into account as an aggravating factor in his conviction.
The site was shut down following Ross Ulbricht’s arrest. However, a second version of the site saw the light of day 4 weeks later, on November 6, 2013. This was shut down again 1 year later with the arrest of a certain Blake Benthall as well as three other individuals. A third version then reappeared and was shut down on July 10, 2017.
