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Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

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Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#51

Post by sigmaprimus »

omeid2 wrote: post #39
monotone666 wrote: post #37

Dead drops can’t compete with USPS. They require a court order to open your package and even then can’t charge anyone with possession. All they do is send you a “love letter” and people have reported receiving future packages just fine. Millions of people use dark net marketplaces. The war on drugs has fueled their growth and more serious crimes like identity theft have benefited from it.

The war on drug has to be one of the top contributors and financiers of crime and criminal gangs. Imagine a world where criminal gangs don't have access to the money they make through drugs and a government that doesn't have to spend huge amount of money on drug laws enforcement because drug trafficking would be much less lucrative in the existence of legal access and you get fewer and very cash-strapped drug gangs,…

The war on drugs is also a big contributor to the LEGAL gangs such as police,distric attornies, defence attorneys, prison officials and worst of all judges. Definitely an industrial economic complex similar to the Military Industrial Complex.

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#52

Post by kakarot »

sigmaprimus wrote: post #48

My biggest problem with using the Darknet, messaging apps, or old school methods such as dial a dope or hitting up the guy on the street corner to buy drugs is the same. How can I really trust someone willing to break the rules and sell drugs or other non legal goods? You lay down with dogs you get fleas!! Last thing I would want is to eat, smoke or snort something from someone I have never met even if they have a 5…

Generally speaking, if you can't trust someone directly then the next best thing is consensus among others. Ideally, a connection only occurs in real life because one or more mutual acquaintances have decided they trust both parties involved. Relying on the word of others, on a network of trust, is paramount. Remember, these distributors also have their own set of problems when it comes to trusting others.

Most open marketplaces on the internet, not just darknet markets, provide reputation systems for this purpose.

Even Amazon has a review and rating system in place, which was integral towards building initial trust with its buyers and sellers.

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#53

Post by nyolfen »

austhrow743 wrote: post #46
taurath wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlikely. It just decentralizes distribution and dealing - bulk darkweb drugs still end up in the hands of street resellers.

At the moment that's how it works. If it's true that things are moving in to telegram and other encrypted chat platforms then it could change. It makes it simple enough for the average person to do.

exactly, who on earth would prefer dealing with some street tough

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#54

Post by AngryData »

monotone666 wrote: post #37

Dead drops can’t compete with USPS. They require a court order to open your package and even then can’t charge anyone with possession. All they do is send you a “love letter” and people have reported receiving future packages just fine. Millions of people use dark net marketplaces. The war on drugs has fueled their growth and more serious crimes like identity theft have benefited from it.

And the only time they even find drugs is when a package busts open and they can see it. Otherwise they have neither the time nor budget to have even a single digit fraction of packages be dog sniffed or xrayed. And how often will they be legal shit they open up and find anyways?

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#55

Post by [deleted] »

anon_cow1111 wrote: post #42
jorblumesea wrote: post #16

The biggest flaw here is the dead drop system. It doesn't scale well and involves many more complex steps and people in the system. For example, a drone on surveillance duty that continuously watches the area will be able to identify patterns and pick out possible outliers. Combined that video feed with machine learning and it may be possible actively identify dead drop participants.

If the system becomes that large and profitable, those surveillance drones are going to end up mounted on plaques like big game trophies.

[deleted]

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#56

Post by TylerE »

bittermang wrote: post #25

The elephant in the room that this article highlights, but never addresses. A mobile phone has become a de facto a requirement for illegal commerce, as described, and to me presents a pretty huge single point of failure. And yes, I know, EVERYBODY has a phone. But I don't. Why would I want to carry a police officer in my pocket? Especially if I'm a criminal.

That's why you'd use a burner.

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#57

Post by SolarNet »

crowbahr wrote: post #2

Very interesting reading the obstacles faced by the black market drug trade and how they're overcoming them. It seems like the producer layer is most susceptible to penetration as it is essentially identical to most gangs. It's entirely glossed over here but procuring the product seems like a difficult problem for an anonymized distributor: How do you make sure the product gets to your support layers? As interesting…

Since you are primed on the question. You should read Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. It's a near-future sci-fi book that tackles these sorts of questions.

As a bit of a "spoiler" his solution is a covenant with the citizens. The government will hack all of our computers, will own the IME equivalents of every machine, and in return they will only use this power to hunt down terrorists and mass murderers, people who are looking to leverage technology to build nuclear weapons, bio-weapons, etc.

Things like parallel construction would have to stop though. Or be considered an immediate dismissal.

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#59

Post by gammateam »

monotone666 wrote: post #37

Dead drops can’t compete with USPS. They require a court order to open your package and even then can’t charge anyone with possession. All they do is send you a “love letter” and people have reported receiving future packages just fine. Millions of people use dark net marketplaces. The war on drugs has fueled their growth and more serious crimes like identity theft have benefited from it.

Dark net marketplaces also compete with clear net marketplaces for benign things

Millions of people know this and routinely check them for good deals, the propaganda machine has failed to make them "scary"

Re: Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets

#60

Post by joshstrange »

gammateam wrote: post #59
monotone666 wrote: post #37

Dead drops can’t compete with USPS. They require a court order to open your package and even then can’t charge anyone with possession. All they do is send you a “love letter” and people have reported receiving future packages just fine. Millions of people use dark net marketplaces. The war on drugs has fueled their growth and more serious crimes like identity theft have benefited from it.

Dark net marketplaces also compete with clear net marketplaces for benign things Millions of people know this and routinely check them for good deals, the propaganda machine has failed to make them "scary"

I'm interested, do you have some examples of what kinds of products you are talking about?
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