Weird is the extremism in the comments there. Pass.
You weren't kidding. Eeesh.
Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
11–20 of 25 posts
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#12Weird is the extremism in the comments there. Pass.
Some context for anyone who doesn't know who that commenter is:
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#13I'm very confused - how did LowEndBox get involved at all? I thought it was just a place to promote & discuss cheap VPS hosting, self-hosted software, and other technical topics?
They write low-quality "articles" for clicks.
Thats bit unfair, don't you think?
They write a lot of editorials. lowendbox.com/category/editorial/
Some are good, some are not. That doesn't make them articles written just for clicks.
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#14I run a company logo database website.
So far I have received about 5 DMCAs. In all cases those came not from the company itself but by an "authorised agent" such as cscglobal or convey.it
They send out notices on a semi automated way I believe, there is some crawler that finds the image/logo, then they have someone in India find a contact address and send a DCMA notice.
Quite possible freeross uses such a service and is not itself behind the DMCA.
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#15Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#16I know he "attempted to murder people" but that was 100% an FBI sting operation intended to achieve that. Never would have happened if it weren't for the feds.
> that was 100% an FBI sting operation ... Never would have happened if it weren't for the feds.
No, it never would have happened unless he wanted to kill three people and paid to have it done. In his mind he wanted people dead and was willing to outsource it, at no point did he say "oh lol I bet you are totally kidding but I am going to pay you anyway."
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#17Regardless of your opinion on Ross, the facts of the case are excessively strange: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-secret-service-a... The agent investigating him extorted him for bitcoins! This doesn’t even factor in any of the parallel construction conspiracies. I think he has served enough time. I don’t see why keeping him in jail helps society at this point. https://freeross.org/
> This doesn’t even factor in any of the parallel construction conspiracies.
Parallel construction isn't a conspiracy. It is a legitimate investigative technique. For example if you have an undercover agent inside a motorcycle gang who tips you off about who murdered someone, you investigate and build a pattern of facts that proves who did it but does not draw a line to your source so they can continue to provide actionable intelligence.
The exact method by which his identity was discovered isn't public knowledge, but how it happened isn't groundbreaking (or unlawful) either. Think of it like a famous magician showing you how their trick is performed, you might be technically impressed - but you're still going to be underwhelmed compared to what it might have been.
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#18Weird is the extremism in the comments there. Pass.
Wow, I had not realized LowEndBox had a weird... whatever that is... undercurrent in its audience. I read the post but not the comments, so when prompted by your comment to do so it was jarring to see conspiracy theories about government-sponsored sexual grooming of children. And for a core member (operator?) of the site to cheer it on as "Great Comment!"
Not something I realized about that community when I used them some years back to find & experiment with "Hmmm, can I get a responsive RDP connection to a desktop (lxde) running on a $7.50/year black friday vps deal?" (The answer was yes, yes I could. Surprisingly functional & a fun little playground, albeit not with any vendor I would trust for stability or security for any real purpose, unless that purpose was scammy spambots or something)
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#19I know he "attempted to murder people" but that was 100% an FBI sting operation intended to achieve that. Never would have happened if it weren't for the feds.
> that was 100% an FBI sting operation ... Never would have happened if it weren't for the feds. No, it never would have happened unless he wanted to kill three people and paid to have it done. In his mind he wanted people dead and was willing to outsource it, at no point did he say "oh lol I bet you are totally kidding but I am going to pay you anyway."
The FBI's evidence wasn't strong enough to even try him for this. Charges were dropped. If it happened the way the FBI said initially it would have been open and shut. But I guess they lied about what they had.
Re: Ross Ulbricht Threatens LowEndBox. It's Weird
#20I know he "attempted to murder people" but that was 100% an FBI sting operation intended to achieve that. Never would have happened if it weren't for the feds.
Not really. It appears the idea originated wholly with Ulbricht, who stated:
he needed the "real world identity so I can threaten him with violence if he were to release any names... FriendlyChemist is a liability and I wouldn’t mind if he was executed... negotiating the logistical details of the murder, Ulbricht agreed to pay Redandwhite $150,000 in Bitcoins to kill FriendlyChemist. DPR paid Redandwhite, who later confirmed that he had received the payment and carried out the murder, and sent what appeared to be a photo of the dead victim to DPR. DPR replied that he had received the picture and deleted it,” and thanked Redandwhite for his “swift action.” [1]
Ulbricht initiated the exchange, and in other related reporting appears to defend himself only by noting that the murders didn't actually take place. As such it was a sting operation only in so far as Ulbricht, endeavoring to threaten &/or murder people, had those efforts intercepted by law enforcement before they could get to someone who would actually carry them out. It does not appear to be a case of entrapment where law enforcement was trying incite Ulbricht, urging him on to actions he would not otherwise have taken on his own. Because, again, he was the initiator.
[1] https://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/ULBRICHT-ca2-20170531.pdf