::phew:: world is a safer place now /s
Yes no longer will we have to fear the hordes of hippies high on goopballs eating our babies and raping our pets!
AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
101–110 of 134 posts
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#102Don't laugh, but what and how much is sold on darknet(s) ? weed ? cocaine ? weapons ? people ?
Mostly MDMA, LSD. To a lesser extent weed (harder to transport), coke, heroin, etc.
They do have actual bad things on these sites as well, such as the aforementioned weapons and people, but this is the subsection that we actually SHOULD be going after.
As far as how much; not much. As one other user had posted, one of these illicit markets represents approximately 1/150,000th of the world market. It is a non-issue that the government spends a lot of money on for the purpose of visibility and increased funding (Look at us! We busted the bad guys! We're doing good! Give us more money!).
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
sure, but what is actually wrong with drug use? moral outrage? the sign of a decaying society? untold secondary consequences? the problem is, people use drugs a lot. the war on drugs hasn't changed that in the least. we may have social issues, but as a "relatively upstanding and taxpaying citizen" who also happens to enjoy certain drugs on occasion, i ask. how exactly is my drug use impairing my ability to function i…
I am actually sympathetic to your position, though I don't do illicit drugs (or any drugs). But, you would need to up your game if you really want to argue your case on HN. I can think of several good arguments, better than "Why do you care if I get high when I get home?", but this is probably the absolute worst place to have that discussion. You would also need to do a better job of picking your battles. I think nei…
You don't do any drugs at all? I find that hard to believe So no caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, aspirin etc? No vaccinations. So everything is non drugs at all?
What about all the drugs in your food like meat, do you not eat meat?
You can't say you don't do any drugs. You will say well of course I do X drug, but that's not really a drug like all those others.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
So yeah, giving people what they want actually stops illegal activity, who would have thought. If they want to stop people doing illegal drugs the answer is quite simple, make them legal. Then we can't do illegal drugs, since they are legal.
I live in Japan, where illegal drugs and their halo of crime are not really relevant in any way to normal daily life. I'm not a crusader against recreational drug use, but I reject the hypothesis that legalization is the only path to eliminating the criminal drug industry. Here, stiff penalties and social disapproval, combined with a unique cooperation between (well) organized crime and capable, uncorrupted authoriti…
Japan has major problems with the abuse of easily available benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals, doesn't it?
From what I understand you can just buy flutoprazepam and some other fairly hardcore sedatives, so people abuse those.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
sure, but what is actually wrong with drug use? moral outrage? the sign of a decaying society? untold secondary consequences? the problem is, people use drugs a lot. the war on drugs hasn't changed that in the least. we may have social issues, but as a "relatively upstanding and taxpaying citizen" who also happens to enjoy certain drugs on occasion, i ask. how exactly is my drug use impairing my ability to function i…
"sure, but what is actually wrong with drug use?" I don't care; that's not what's being debated here. The fact of the matter is, it's illegal, and anyone who sets up a drug marketplace today knows that. They set it up with full knowledge that they are breaking the law. If they wish to campaign to have drug laws reworked, I'm all for that and wish them the best of luck. But they're not doing that; they're setting up a…
Slaving used to be legal, and helping them escape was illegal. Anyone who helps slaves escape set it up with the full knowledge they are breaking the law.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am actually sympathetic to your position, though I don't do illicit drugs (or any drugs). But, you would need to up your game if you really want to argue your case on HN. I can think of several good arguments, better than "Why do you care if I get high when I get home?", but this is probably the absolute worst place to have that discussion. You would also need to do a better job of picking your battles. I think nei…
>But, you would need to up your game if you really want to argue your case on HN. I can think of several good arguments, better than "Why do you care if I get high when I get home?" There IS no better argument. Pardon my language, but I think a large proportion of the HN community especially agrees with the sentiment of STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY BUSINESS. If what I am doing has no or marginal negative effect on others,…
>The drug war is fundamentally about the restriction of human rights and invasion of privacy.
The drug war discussions will eventually end up with the argument about whether one has complete autonomy over their body, which isn't the case, because suicide is still illegal. Hell, even euthanasia is so far away from being legal in most of the US.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
So yeah, giving people what they want actually stops illegal activity, who would have thought. If they want to stop people doing illegal drugs the answer is quite simple, make them legal. Then we can't do illegal drugs, since they are legal.
I live in Japan, where illegal drugs and their halo of crime are not really relevant in any way to normal daily life. I'm not a crusader against recreational drug use, but I reject the hypothesis that legalization is the only path to eliminating the criminal drug industry. Here, stiff penalties and social disapproval, combined with a unique cooperation between (well) organized crime and capable, uncorrupted authoriti…
I never said it's the only path, just the most logical, easiest and obvious path. People are always going to do drugs. If you don't want them to do illegal drugs, then make them legal. It will eliminate illegal drug use overnight literally.
Then people can get the help they need and be treated as a disease if they are addicted. Stealing etc and all the other crime that comes from addicts are still crimes.
You're kidding yourself if you think Japan doesn't have drugs and crime related to it. I've met many a Japanese who loves a good smoke. It's really hard for them to get good smoke in Japan with all that anti drug control. Does it mean it's stops them wanting it? No?
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
So yeah, giving people what they want actually stops illegal activity, who would have thought. If they want to stop people doing illegal drugs the answer is quite simple, make them legal. Then we can't do illegal drugs, since they are legal.
I live in Japan, where illegal drugs and their halo of crime are not really relevant in any way to normal daily life. I'm not a crusader against recreational drug use, but I reject the hypothesis that legalization is the only path to eliminating the criminal drug industry. Here, stiff penalties and social disapproval, combined with a unique cooperation between (well) organized crime and capable, uncorrupted authoriti…
Bit of a laugh about "uncorrupted authorities" (the Japanese political system is many things but hardly uncorrupted), but the uniqueness of Japanese crime structure is real. However, that structure relies on another addiction that is basically as powerful as drugs, completely legal, and relatively well-accepted by society: pachinko.
To me, it looks like any society with some form of inequality will inevitably need a way for the lower classes to escape their daily struggles. In some countries it's hardcore religion; in some it's drugs; in some it's alcohol; in some it's mindless gambling... Affinity for one or the other depends on a number of factors, but eventually we have to accept at least one of them if we want to keep society stable in the long run.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#109You have to think eventually the criminals will evolve proper OPSEC - there is simply too much money to be made. Also, you really should be living in a place with no extradition - Thai police picking you up is a bad place to be. Vietnam is close by and has no extradition - a much better choice for aspiring criminals.
This is overgeneralizing. A lot of criminals have good OPSEC. But then again many don't, possibly because they're not very technically proficient, or they don't fear getting caught, like many other criminals. Also, often there are very simple solutions to potential problems from bad OPSEC practice. If they had just bribed the local police they could avoid getting caught, or get out easier. Just ask John McAfee!
I have a suspicion that good opsec is super hard. It only takes accidentally using an outdated tor client just once to reveal your location...
Typing the wrong password, public key, or even favorite bash prompt anywhere breaks opsec. Even a common typo would probably identify you pretty quickly.
Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down
#110Don't these people know that they will never kill this. Just like Napster's death, and oink, and what, and so on. Every time they shut one of these down the next one will be harder to shut down.
I mean, you say that, but after having oink go down on me, and more recently what, I've given up on pirating music, and I have to imagine others have done the same. You might be right about the next one being harder to shut down, maybe, but I would also expect the next one to be smaller because of the changing climate. Edit: I mean, yeah, $10/mo for unlimited streaming was a factor. There are comparisons to the drug…
Sure if I can nip to Tesco and pick up some k I'd absolutely stop using illegal dealers.