Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road • Hacker News Board

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#11

Post by freework » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:40 PM UTC

rlt3 wrote: post #6

rdl wrote: post #3

I'm surprised he continues to have a relatively high profile, if he truly is responsible for running silk road. The more linkable things you do, the greater the risk of your pseudonym being compromised. I understand that he's commercially motivated to promote the site, but having a third party do that would make a lot more sense. As the site's admin, he's both a big legal and technical liability if identified; an ind…

There's absolutely no reason to believe Dread Pirate Roberts isn't the third party you mention.

They allude to just that in the article. DPR is not the founder of SilkRoad.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#12

Post by CassiusCook » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:46 PM UTC

If you are struggling to pin an ideology on an enterprise like the Silk Road, consider ways in which our current rate of technological/scientific progress has been shaped and guided by the responsible use of psychedelics in the 20th century. Check out the relationships that Francis Crick, Kary Mullis, Steve Jobs and Kiyoshi Izumi had with these fascinating compounds to start. From there it is not difficult for one to rationally assert that Silk Road (and Roberts) are critical facilitators - spurring innovation by furnishing those that might conceptualize the future with a powerful means to do so.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#13

Post by jere » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:51 PM UTC

>If Roberts is paranoid, it’s because very powerful people really are out to get him.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#14

Post by chrischen » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:54 PM UTC

Whether it's a victimless crime or not depends on where they source the drugs.

You could argue that aggressive law-enforcement is what causes reprisal violence, but that still wouldn't justify supporting it in another way.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#15

Post by cenhyperion » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:56 PM UTC

shrikant wrote: post #7

The name "Dread Pirate Roberts" is (quite cleverly, IMHO) picked up from the character from The Princess Bride [ aside : go watch the film -- it's great fun!]. It is possible that this "person" is much like Satoshi Nakamoto, given that in The Princess Bride, the pirate is not actually one person, but a series of individuals who periodically pass the name and reputation to a chosen successor. http://en.wikipedia.org/w…

Or a small group of people. If they agreed on things such as writing styles each person would be individually more anonymous.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#16

Post by fragmede » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:58 PM UTC

javert wrote: post #10

> Bitcoin-like digital currency system called Liberty Reserve No, it's really not. That's about analogous to "absinthe-like drink called Coca-Cola." Can the Bitcoin Foundation sue for defamation?

How isn't it? They're both drinks, and slightly poisonous... they're both digital currency, and as far as any laymen could tell, used exclusively by criminals.

Oh sure, you can tell me about "mining" and crypto, but that's not relevant right now. What, if anything, actually sets Bitcoin apart from LIberty Reserve?

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#17

Post by dobbsbob » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 6:59 PM UTC

The name Dread Pirate Roberts should've given away the fact the site is supposed to be handed down to different operators if you read/watched Princess Bride.

This guy is making a fatal mistake of talking to the press. History shows all blackmarket admins like Max Vision go down shortly after press articles come out with interviews. Now he went from guy running a drug site to "subverting the US with propaganda" so the NSA can get involved. Note to future outlaws: resist the temptation to make yourself famous by giving interviews. Just look how they amped the Swartz case after he went to the media

Can also now make a pretty good profile of this guy because he talks too much on his own forum and to forbes.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#18

Post by sirsar » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 7:02 PM UTC

dobbsbob wrote: post #17

The name Dread Pirate Roberts should've given away the fact the site is supposed to be handed down to different operators if you read/watched Princess Bride. This guy is making a fatal mistake of talking to the press. History shows all blackmarket admins like Max Vision go down shortly after press articles come out with interviews. Now he went from guy running a drug site to "subverting the US with propaganda" so the…

The interviewer didn't even get the operator's first name. I think he (she? they?)'ll be fine.

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#19

Post by sirsar » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 7:06 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #16

javert wrote: post #10

> Bitcoin-like digital currency system called Liberty Reserve No, it's really not. That's about analogous to "absinthe-like drink called Coca-Cola." Can the Bitcoin Foundation sue for defamation?

How isn't it? They're both drinks, and slightly poisonous... they're both digital currency, and as far as any laymen could tell, used exclusively by criminals. Oh sure, you can tell me about "mining" and crypto, but that's not relevant right now. What, if anything, actually sets Bitcoin apart from LIberty Reserve?

Liberty Reserve got shut down. Bitcoin can't be shut down.

To the laymen you referenced: https://bitcoinstore.com

Re: Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

#20

Post by junto » Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 7:07 PM UTC

If he setup silkroadlink.com, isn't that a money trail?

WHOIS information for silkroadlink.com:*

[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com] [Redirected to whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com] [Querying whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com] [whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com] Registration Service Provided By: BITDOMAIN.BIZ Domain Name: SILKROADLINK.COM Registration Date: 04-Jul-2013 Expiration Date: 04-Jul-2014 Status:LOCKED Note: This Domain Name is currently Locked. This feature is provided to protect against fraudulent acquisition of the domain name, as in this status the domain name cannot be transferred or modified. Name Servers: ns1.bitdomain.biz ns2.bitdomain.biz ns3.bitdomain.biz ns4.bitdomain.biz

Registrant Contact Details: N/A Link Thompson (linkthompson@tormail.org) Ave. Federico Boyd Edif. Torre, Universal Piso 8 Panama City Panamá,74678 PA Tel. +507.2638480 Administrative Contact Details: N/A Link Thompson (linkthompson@tormail.org) Ave. Federico Boyd Edif. Torre, Universal Piso 8 Panama City Panamá,74678 PA Tel. +507.2638480 Technical Contact Details: N/A Link Thompson (linkthompson@tormail.org) Ave. Federico Boyd Edif. Torre, Universal Piso 8 Panama City Panamá,74678 PA Tel. +507.2638480 Billing Contact Details: N/A Link Thompson (linkthompson@tormail.org) Ave. Federico Boyd Edif. Torre, Universal Piso 8 Panama City Panamá,74678 PA Tel. +507.2638480