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OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

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Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#11

Post by Jukelox »

geographomics wrote: post #4
killerpopiller wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we should push OpenBazar into the illegal drug corner. It is a neutral tech and follows the decentralization vector the internet opened. Amazon, Ebay, alibaba and so on, all could very well get absorbed by an open bazar concept. This happened imho to bittorrent, which remains in the piracy corner, even though it is brillant tech solution. E.g. BTSync still has this reputation problem (besides missing op…

One advantage of the Silk Road style markets was that, being centralised, they could choose to filter their wares down to a particular niche. By permitting everything by design, OpenBazaar is probably going to become infamous for facilitating trade in child pornography, materials of terrorism, and other such items considered a great deal more disreputable than prohibited drugs.

I think your fears are purely speculative and are distracting from what's really going on here. We are witnessing a demand for unregulated markets because regulated markets are way too slow in responding to social changes.

Let's face it - governmental decisions are made in the best interest of influential parties, not in the best interests of the individual.

Do not protect me from myself.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#12

Post by XorNot »

mineshaftgap wrote: post #8
stefantalpalaru wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What need is there for selling non-illegal things in a darknet market? Avoiding platform fees and payment processor fees is no small thing.

Also taxes. What is the VAT like 20%? That is a lot of savings.

And again, illegal.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#13

Post by [deleted] »

Jukelox wrote: post #11
geographomics wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One advantage of the Silk Road style markets was that, being centralised, they could choose to filter their wares down to a particular niche. By permitting everything by design, OpenBazaar is probably going to become infamous for facilitating trade in child pornography, materials of terrorism, and other such items considered a great deal more disreputable than prohibited drugs.

I think your fears are purely speculative and are distracting from what's really going on here. We are witnessing a demand for unregulated markets because regulated markets are way too slow in responding to social changes. Let's face it - governmental decisions are made in the best interest of influential parties, not in the best interests of the individual. Do not protect me from myself.

[deleted]

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#14

Post by anonymfus »

krapp wrote: post #9
lucastx wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Therapeutical herbs. Prohibited books.

If these are illegal, then you're not really presenting a counter-case that darknets are only useful for illegal trade. If they're not, you don't need a darknet to get them.

> If they're not, you don't need a darknet to get them.

False. Some things are restricted by abuse of power, not by law. For example, it's very hard to massprint antiputin agitation in Russia despite there is no law against it.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#15

Post by expr- »

XorNot wrote: post #12
mineshaftgap wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also taxes. What is the VAT like 20%? That is a lot of savings.

And again, illegal.

That depends. Individuals generally need not pay tax for selling their private property.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#16

Post by krapp »

anonymfus wrote: post #14
krapp wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If these are illegal, then you're not really presenting a counter-case that darknets are only useful for illegal trade. If they're not, you don't need a darknet to get them.

> If they're not, you don't need a darknet to get them. False. Some things are restricted by abuse of power, not by law. For example, it's very hard to massprint antiputin agitation in Russia despite there is no law against it.

Fair enough.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#17

Post by jasode »

I see several comments questioning the legitimate value of a peer-to-peer marketplace. Some cannot see any use other than illegal commerce (drugs, porn, etc).

It is true that such illicit trades will take advantage of that network but is it really impossible to envision legal business as the major activity? Yes, cars can be used as getaway vehicles from bank robberies and also smash terrorist bombs into government buildings. However, cars also have tons of other legitimate uses.

Consider that ebay has about 200 million users.[1] Their fees have been going up every year and they are now at 10% (which does not include the separate insertion fees.)[2]

If one can sell a legal item such as a $50 book on ebay, why not sell it on a p2p marketplace and avoid paying $5 of that sale to ebay? If not OpenBazaar or similar p2p architecture, what alternatives do folks propose?

Do 200 million ebay users have lawful reasons to avoid paying ebay commission fees?

At this point, I believe low-volume selling is too dependent on proprietary platforms such as ebay or amazonmarketplace. As an analogy using email, I'm glad that SMTP won over closed systems such as CompuServe, AOL, and Western Union's EasyLink. Even though SMTP email has many bad uses such as phishing, malware delivery, and spam, I'm still glad it won. The good uses outweigh the bad.

Can a more open platform for sellers without the stigma of illegal activity be realized?

[1]https://www.google.com/search?q=ebay+"200+million+users"

[2]https://www.google.com/search?q=ebay+raises+fees+10%25

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#18

Post by doctorfoo »

jasode wrote: post #17

I see several comments questioning the legitimate value of a peer-to-peer marketplace. Some cannot see any use other than illegal commerce (drugs, porn, etc). It is true that such illicit trades will take advantage of that network but is it really impossible to envision legal business as the major activity? Yes, cars can be used as getaway vehicles from bank robberies and also smash terrorist bombs into government bu…

When OpenBazaar seems more mature I will definitely consider listing (my entirely legal) items on it first, at least to experiment. Lower fees + I'm happy with Bitcoin = Win.

Re: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that's 'untouchable' by police

#20

Post by rayiner »

Jukelox wrote: post #11
geographomics wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One advantage of the Silk Road style markets was that, being centralised, they could choose to filter their wares down to a particular niche. By permitting everything by design, OpenBazaar is probably going to become infamous for facilitating trade in child pornography, materials of terrorism, and other such items considered a great deal more disreputable than prohibited drugs.

I think your fears are purely speculative and are distracting from what's really going on here. We are witnessing a demand for unregulated markets because regulated markets are way too slow in responding to social changes. Let's face it - governmental decisions are made in the best interest of influential parties, not in the best interests of the individual. Do not protect me from myself.

Nobody is protecting you from yourself. They're trying to protect other people from the damage you can do as an addict, a child pornographer, or a terrorist.
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