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Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

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Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#101

Post by Dirlewanger »

tedunangst wrote: post #65
pyre wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The general stance that "you broke the law, now you're a criminal" may be technically correct, but most people issuing such statements group "criminals" into a singular group and feel that the serial murderer and the child rapist are no different than the guy that forgot he had an orange in his car when crossing the border. "You've broken the rules of society, you are no better than a vagabond!" In light of this, how…

Welcome to life in a democracy. Stupid people voting for stupid laws. Why can't we just put the smart people in charge?

Because all the smart people are smart enough to see how much of a soul-sucking cluster-fuck politics is. That, and one could argue that if they're put on this earth to live a life of happiness, how could one ever possibly achieve this through a life in politics, knowing what they are getting themselves into?

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#102

Post by Karunamon »

kohanz wrote: post #36
dublinben wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they are criminals They likely disagree that their "crimes" ought to be illegal, and do not accept the legitimacy of any punishment for such behavior. Why should they have to "make a choice" and make "better decisions" when they don't believe what they've done is wrong?

... and how well does a society function if everyone gets to decide for themselves what rules they follow?

Considering that police and normal people do this every single day, I'd say pretty well.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#103

Post by stefantalpalaru »

If you're having problems using Reddit through Tor, use HTTPS. Better yet, force the HTTPS redirections in the Reddit settings.

This info is, of course, redundant or too late for the people talking about illegal activities on that particular subreddit, but it might come in handy for when they come searching for you.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#104

Post by spacemanmatt »

kohanz wrote: post #36
dublinben wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they are criminals They likely disagree that their "crimes" ought to be illegal, and do not accept the legitimacy of any punishment for such behavior. Why should they have to "make a choice" and make "better decisions" when they don't believe what they've done is wrong?

... and how well does a society function if everyone gets to decide for themselves what rules they follow?

How does a society function when only a few make the rules for the many?

http://gawker.com/study-the-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-1563363760

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#105

Post by logfromblammo »

tedunangst wrote: post #65
pyre wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The general stance that "you broke the law, now you're a criminal" may be technically correct, but most people issuing such statements group "criminals" into a singular group and feel that the serial murderer and the child rapist are no different than the guy that forgot he had an orange in his car when crossing the border. "You've broken the rules of society, you are no better than a vagabond!" In light of this, how…

Welcome to life in a democracy. Stupid people voting for stupid laws. Why can't we just put the smart people in charge?

Because everyone at the 51st percentile and below for intelligence forms a voting majority, and systematically disenfranchising people based on their intellect would invite abuse of the voter qualifications systems.

So we can't just put the smart people in charge. We have to slowly educate the stupid people out of existence, until the dumbest 51% are finally capable of determining the best people to make decisions, based primarily on their aptitude, rather than on their popularity.

When voting for county dogcatcher, for instance, people would look for "D.V.M." after the candidate's name, rather than "(D)" or "(R)". When people want to hire me, they look at my resume, not my hairline, lapel pin, or party affiliation.

Hey, here's an idea! What's the political science equivalent of FizzBuzz? Whatever it is, you can't get on the ballot unless you can do that thing, live, unaided, and in front of witnesses.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#106

Post by atmosx »

dogecoinbase wrote: post #9
nickysielicki wrote: post #3

We (speaking as a netizen) need Usenet 2.0; eg: something that can fulfill the role of reddit that is decentralized/distributed. Perhaps reddit can even transition into being a reader (a la google reader) for people that don't want to set up their own node. I'm not saying that drug discussion is the quintessential act that deserves to be protected, but I am worried that the government has such an easy avenue to get t…

(By the way, I would bet these people were using Tor and this subpoena is useless.) Based on how poor the opsec of previous darknet admins has been, I see no reason to assume theirs was any better.

You can't register via Tor on HN. I wonder if you can do that on reddit. Then there's always the email account thing, but if you were careful from day one, you could get away with it.

Hosting AMAs is both stupid and provocative IMHO when you're a drug dealer.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#107

Post by paganel »

From NSWGreat's AMA linked in the article:

> The Darknet is amazing, its changing the drug scene for the better. Its taking away the violence and the dangers that are inherit with buying drugs.

Never thought about it this way, but as everyone is talking and writing endlessly about how taxi rides will be revolutionized by billion-dollar Silicon Valley start-ups I found this insight about the drug-market fascinating. Online selling of drugs probably means less deaths of young (mostly black) people fighting for "street corners" and also less people killed by the Mexican cartels.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#108

Post by ianstallings »

pyre wrote: post #52
sliverstorm wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite legal defense, moral relativism. "One day, this heinous crime I have committed might not be illegal. Knowing that, how can you possibly convict me!?"

The general stance that "you broke the law, now you're a criminal" may be technically correct, but most people issuing such statements group "criminals" into a singular group and feel that the serial murderer and the child rapist are no different than the guy that forgot he had an orange in his car when crossing the border. "You've broken the rules of society, you are no better than a vagabond!" In light of this, how…

Well let me clarify what I said above a little more to give you some perspective of where I'm coming from. I'm not making a moral judgement of what you did. I'm making a statement of fact - society will punish you for not following the law. And if you know that up front and you willingly ignore it because you think you're in the right, well don't be surprised when you come into conflict with law enforcement and authority. Take that responsibility on your shoulders, because you chose to act a way that would get you locked up.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#109

Post by GhotiFish »

Lawtonfogle wrote: post #90
GhotiFish wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand that attitude, I don't think there's many on HN who would openly support the public sale of firearms with their serial numbers filed off. Anti-terroism laws are great, the problem is that everyone is a terroist. Anti-criminal laws are great, the problem is that everyone is a criminal. Anti-drug laws can also be great, the problem is that relatively safe drugs are incredibly illegal, and applied typic…

>Anti-drug laws can also be great If we assume a definition of great that allows the following sentence to be true: Racial discrimination can be great.

I'm happy heroin is illegal. Locking people up who use heroin, not so much.

Re: Feds Demand Reddit Identify Users of a Dark-Web Drug Forum

#110

Post by nl »

stefantalpalaru wrote: post #103

If you're having problems using Reddit through Tor, use HTTPS. Better yet, force the HTTPS redirections in the Reddit settings. This info is, of course, redundant or too late for the people talking about illegal activities on that particular subreddit, but it might come in handy for when they come searching for you.

Not sure why you are giving this advice.

HTTPS won't do anything to stop a subpoena for IP information(?)

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