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Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road

forbes.com

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

#121

Post by bestdayever »

dobbsbob wrote: post #32
sirsar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

We know he found a wallet bug so that immediately gives away what level of competency/expertise to look for on the bitcoin forums which he undoubtedly posts there too. How he discovered the site is relevant and will give away how long he has been on bitcointalk since the orig dpr advertised there. We know his book recommendations from the forum which he prob recommended on clearnet in the past, or attached to his FB…

Or he could easily have stolen the book recommendations from absolutely anywhere on the damn planet. Also who cares if he posted on bitcointalk, also do you honestly believe he has a facebook or if he does do you honestly believe there is any overlap between the 2 personas? If so, your recent silk road purchase must have been a humdinger.

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

#122

Post by drcube »

shubb wrote: post #114
shubb wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I smoke normal, legal cigarettes. About 10 a day, 20 when I'm stressed. I started about 20, borrowing them off friends, and it's been maybe 8 years now. The first 2 years, I didn't realize I was addicted to them. I just smoked when I wanted, which was between every lecture and with my friends in the evening. Then I tried to stop. Quitting smoking is weird because sometimes you can just stop, and don't feel the nee…

@drivebyacct2: I'm hoping what you read wasn't what I meant. I meant that, I can't agree with the view that people should have the right to decide what they put in their bodies, because it is based on the idea they are making a rational decision. As addictive substances is a situation where people repeatably make irrational, bad choices, then that can't hold. Like a lot of startupers know most new companies crash, bu…

>I can't agree with the view that people should have the right to decide what they put in their bodies, because it is based on the idea they are making a rational decision.

No, it isn't. It's based on the idea that people have a right to make their own decisions, rational or not. You obviously disagree.

You realize that "The government knows what's best for you, and must therefore prohibit independent decision-making" is the exact opposite of freedom, and more closely associated with authoritarianism and tyranny, right?

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

#123

Post by zeckalpha »

arcadeparade wrote: post #61
stevewillows wrote: post #35

“Silk Road doesn’t really sell drugs. It sells insurance and financial products,” says Carnegie Mellon computer engineering professor Nicolas Christin. “It doesn’t really matter whether you’re selling T-shirts or cocaine. The business model is to commoditize security.” I thought this was an interesting look at it. In a sense Silk Road is like the Pirate Bay in that it doesn't hold the items it generates traffic from.

So you have a marketplace now for illegal (stolen) digital products and one for illegal physical products. What other illegal marketplaces will crop up because of tor and bitcoin?

Tor != Torrent.

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

#124

Post by nmbr »

lifeformed wrote: post #70
dobbsbob wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We know he found a wallet bug so that immediately gives away what level of competency/expertise to look for on the bitcoin forums which he undoubtedly posts there too. How he discovered the site is relevant and will give away how long he has been on bitcointalk since the orig dpr advertised there. We know his book recommendations from the forum which he prob recommended on clearnet in the past, or attached to his FB…

Are there tools to beat stylometry? Like something that strips all personality out of your writing.

I bet you could scramble it through a translation tool. Though it's probably not the best idea to feed Google your secret messages, there's probably a local solution.

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

#125

Post by Zidewinder »

dnskw wrote: post #86
arcadeparade wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To quote Chomsky, 'ever product made in a capitalist society requires some level of coercion', from Chinese Iphones to Colombian cocaine.

That is a lie though. If I pick up a rock and somebody else does as well and we both use our hands to break off pieces of the rock (private means of production) and trade parts of the broken rocks with each no coercion occurred. That is technically a capitalist society without coercion.

That is not a capitalist society by any definition I know of. Capitalism involves things like land ownership and interest-bearing loans, things that eventually lead to significant inequality in the distribution of resources.

In a capitalist society, the other guy owns all the rocks, and if you try breaking one without his permission he might call the cops and have you jailed. But he's a reasonable guy, and if you're willing to break rocks for 14 hours a day, he'll pay you ten cents per piece, and then you can buy one back from him for thirty!

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

#126

Post by shubb »

drcube wrote: post #122
shubb wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@drivebyacct2: I'm hoping what you read wasn't what I meant. I meant that, I can't agree with the view that people should have the right to decide what they put in their bodies, because it is based on the idea they are making a rational decision. As addictive substances is a situation where people repeatably make irrational, bad choices, then that can't hold. Like a lot of startupers know most new companies crash, bu…

>I can't agree with the view that people should have the right to decide what they put in their bodies, because it is based on the idea they are making a rational decision. No, it isn't. It's based on the idea that people have a right to make their own decisions, rational or not. You obviously disagree. You realize that "The government knows what's best for you, and must therefore prohibit independent decision-making…

See, you are trying to say that there are two possible positions - either the government is allowed to interfere with peoples lives, or it is not.

Most people believe something in the middle - there are situations where they would like the government to interfere. For instance, if they pay you for a service, and you don't deliver it, they might want the government to take action against you. In this case, you could argue they are wrong, there are alternative mechanisms (e.g. escrow, reputation damage).

But there are situations where only potentially violent action will help - e.g. theft. In the lawless world of Bitcoin, theft is a constant concern, much less so than in the real world where a man with a gun is just a phonecall away. Could we maintain a society like this without any enforcement of law? Really?

So, if you allow me for a moment government interference in matters of murder and theft, maybe you will allow me interference in matters of identity theft. Then of fraud?

So most people end up willing to trade freedom for security to some extent. (And it matters little what they deserve. The world doesn't work like that). I guess you can choose your level of tradeoff by moving to Somalia or Singapore, or not moving.

My tradeoff level is 'I think the government should prevent people being harmed by predictable irrational behavior'. That's why I support an age of consent, an age of criminal responsibility, regulation of harmful addictive substances, and socialized mental health care.

You may not. I hear it's sunny in Somalia. If you move, I'd love to stay on your couch for a bit.

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

#127

Post by dobbsbob »

nmbr wrote: post #124
lifeformed wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there tools to beat stylometry? Like something that strips all personality out of your writing.

I bet you could scramble it through a translation tool. Though it's probably not the best idea to feed Google your secret messages, there's probably a local solution.

hmm indeed, although that could be predictable and not as random as Jstylo/Anonymouth.

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

#128

Post by dobbsbob »

bestdayever wrote: post #121
dobbsbob wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We know he found a wallet bug so that immediately gives away what level of competency/expertise to look for on the bitcoin forums which he undoubtedly posts there too. How he discovered the site is relevant and will give away how long he has been on bitcointalk since the orig dpr advertised there. We know his book recommendations from the forum which he prob recommended on clearnet in the past, or attached to his FB…

Or he could easily have stolen the book recommendations from absolutely anywhere on the damn planet. Also who cares if he posted on bitcointalk, also do you honestly believe he has a facebook or if he does do you honestly believe there is any overlap between the 2 personas? If so, your recent silk road purchase must have been a humdinger.

Considering the so-called advanced APT1 Chinese state sponsored hacker team was decloaked through facebook cookies I'd say yes. DPR may not be caught through his online gloating or political rhetoric, but they may use it against him in court to shatter whatever defense he's cooked up by linking his words to his IRL identify. Not like people haven't gone to jail over totally circumstantial evidence before (weev).

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

#129

Post by CamperBob2 »

Zidewinder wrote: post #125
dnskw wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a lie though. If I pick up a rock and somebody else does as well and we both use our hands to break off pieces of the rock (private means of production) and trade parts of the broken rocks with each no coercion occurred. That is technically a capitalist society without coercion.

That is not a capitalist society by any definition I know of. Capitalism involves things like land ownership and interest-bearing loans, things that eventually lead to significant inequality in the distribution of resources. In a capitalist society, the other guy owns all the rocks, and if you try breaking one without his permission he might call the cops and have you jailed. But he's a reasonable guy, and if you're…

Says the anarchist with his own 3 GHz computer.

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

#130

Post by aclevernickname »

shubb wrote: post #126
drcube wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I can't agree with the view that people should have the right to decide what they put in their bodies, because it is based on the idea they are making a rational decision. No, it isn't. It's based on the idea that people have a right to make their own decisions, rational or not. You obviously disagree. You realize that "The government knows what's best for you, and must therefore prohibit independent decision-making…

See, you are trying to say that there are two possible positions - either the government is allowed to interfere with peoples lives, or it is not. Most people believe something in the middle - there are situations where they would like the government to interfere. For instance, if they pay you for a service, and you don't deliver it, they might want the government to take action against you. In this case, you could a…

> there are situations where they would like the government to interfere

> Could we maintain a society like this without any enforcement of law?

> I think the government should prevent people being harmed by predictable irrational behavior

So it seems you believe that a government is a monopoly on force, but think it's a good thing. a very interesting viewpoint.

How is that different from the famous quote [1] from 1984 about the picture of the future? I appreciate that this might be considered a slippery slope argument, but have you seen a benevolent monopoly before? I'm not sure I have.

[1] http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/3041

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