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Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

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Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#121

Post by ChuckMcM »

eksith wrote: post #7
ChuckMcM wrote: post #5

Maybe the title should be, "FBI Announces Silk Road 3.0" :-) And I agree, folks seem to be running these things out of the US rather than out of say the Cayman islands or Belize where is it easier to level the playing field with respect to the authorities.

I'm not so sure. There have been offshore gambling sites (sports, poker etc...) that have been shut down before with the cooperation of local authorities, although not always easily. They may see revenue for local industry as a nice plus, but not so nice as to risk the ire of the U.S. govt. In the end, your allies offshore may only be as loyal as the force they're willing to ignore. And your friends may only be as tr…

The difference though is 'seizing the website' versus 'seizing the person running the website'. What surprises me is that US citizens, knowing they live in an undeclared police state, take the risk of starting up high profile web businesses. It would be like Kim Dotcom moving to Florida to run Mega.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#122

Post by sliverstorm »

chatmasta wrote: post #64
crazypyro wrote: post #2

I think this is the money quote: "During the Government’s investigation, which was conducted jointly by the FBI and HSI, an HSI agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “HSI-UC”) successfully infiltrated the support staff involved in the administration of the Silk Road 2.0 website, and was given access to private, restricted areas of the site reserved for BENTHALL and his administrative staff. By doing so, the HSI…

This sounds no different than the undercover police, detective work the FBI has been doing since its establishment. Infiltrate the perp, take him down. They used the same tactics on gangs, mobs, etc. Now violent crime is slowing, but they have hoardes of agents trained in these protocols, so they're redirecting energy into catching so called "cybercriminals." A bunch of people who infiltrated the mob are now infitrat…

A bunch of people who infiltrated the mob are now infitrating groups of nerds in basements. It's frustratingly hilarious.

Why? Generally speaking, crime is crime, whether or not you wear a trenchcoat & fedora.

There is perhaps some humor in operatives who went up against the mob now going after small fish which must seem like easy pickings to them, but it's the "frustrating" part that I don't follow.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#123

Post by the_ancient »

personZ wrote: post #25
openssj wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In which the purpose of the press release (and bust) is revealed: to threaten the public and make an example. The usual stuff you expect out of an upstanding agent of democracy.

There is absolutely nothing untowards or abnormal about their claim, nor are they threatening the "public", which overwhelmingly doesn't operate black market sites. Law enforcement absolutely includes an element of making examples, and deterring crime. That is one of the major purposes why organizations like the FBI exist. Not quite sure what this has to do with democracy.

>>Law enforcement absolutely includes an element of making examples, and deterring crime.

It is very sad that you believe that... Sad indeed.

>>Not quite sure what this has to do with democracy.

It has everything to do with "democracy" which is mob rule, the FBI is the attack dog of the mob (aka the people) which has deemed running an unapproved website results in a life time of sadistic treatment in a human filled zoo where humans are locked in a small cages and emotionally tortured, we call them "prisons"

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#124

Post by diminoten »

jamesbrownuhh wrote: post #88
jim_dnaley wrote: post #26

They located Silk Road 2.0's server in an unspecified way, not directly related to their undercover agent on the support staff. Given that two other darknet markets (Black Market and Cloud9) have been shut down today, and they didn't specify how they located the SR2 server, it seems plausible that law enforcement have a vulnerability to locate servers over the Tor network. From the complaint: "In or about May 2014, t…

> service outages at the time the imaging was conducted That whole "correlation is not causation" maxim comes to mind here.

Evidence is all about correlation. You won't ever find direct causation in a court case.

That's what a jury is for.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#125

Post by wpietri »

batrat wrote: post #115

So what? 100 more will arise. And this time not US based. You close 1 100 more will appear.

Marketplaces work much better at scale. And entrepreneurs do better the more they are connected with their markets. So from the government perspective, 100 kittens is way better than 1 lion.

The government doesn't have to make these disappear. They just have to increase the perceived risk and decrease their effectiveness until they're no better than buying on well-known corners or getting the phone number of that one friend's friend's friend.

That's mainly because drug practical prohibition activity is about suppression, not elimination. But I think it's worth noting that cops get paid to fight crime, not defeat it. As a general rule, I expect long-lived organizations to act in ways that self-sustain.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#126

Post by disposition2 »

Touche wrote: post #52
disposition2 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would just be nice if they operated under the same judicial rules that they are enforcing. It seems like a large portion of US agencies (who enforce 'justice' in one way or another) these days feel like the same laws they are enforcing don't necessarily apply to them, especially when said law(s) limit their ability to do their job. Or more simply put, exceptional circumstances have now become a rule rather than an…

Specifically which laws did the FBI break in this investigation?

I'm not sure if they did, "in this investigation".

I was commenting more on the general tone of US agencies, since the PATRIOT ACT, and their contradictions of what is breaking the law when it applies to them vs. whomever they are investigating.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#127

Post by nols »

towelguy wrote: post #116
shitehawk wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And there is no shortage of people who think they can outsmart the FBI, but one slip and there goes your life. I sleep better working for a living.

Can someone be charged with drug trafficking for simply running a website on which drug trafficking occurred?

You certainly can if you knowingly target the drug market and make a commission off each sale.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#128

Post by danielki »

kazazes wrote: post #17

I won't link to them directly, but his accounts on most social networks are not deactivated, are publicly viewable and all mention bitcoin in the bio. In the wake of DPR 1.0 I find this a bit hubristic.

That's not the worst of it - the criminal complaint mentions that the server was registered to the email address blake@benthall.net. If that's not a giant "hey, feds, come and get me", I don't know what is.

It also mentions that most of the accounts (Bitcoin wallet and other) that he used were all under his real name.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#129

Post by tedunangst »

ZeroFries wrote: post #111
tedunangst wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WANTED: rockstar programmer for new e-commerce startup. still in stealth mode, but think silk road with less php and more rails. bitcoin experience/enthusiasm a plus. message for details. no feds please.

Better watch out, law enforcement isn't exactly known for their sense of humour.

Don't worry, I'll be conducting interviews on the StartupBus. http://www.wired.com/2013/03/a-long-fast-road-to-the-next-bi... (check photo credits)

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#130

Post by bluedino »

882542F3884314B wrote: post #108
jim_dnaley wrote: post #26

They located Silk Road 2.0's server in an unspecified way, not directly related to their undercover agent on the support staff. Given that two other darknet markets (Black Market and Cloud9) have been shut down today, and they didn't specify how they located the SR2 server, it seems plausible that law enforcement have a vulnerability to locate servers over the Tor network. From the complaint: "In or about May 2014, t…

Interesting read, some highlights from the complaint: "40. Based on a review of records provided by the service provider for the Silk Road 2.0 Server (the “Provider”), I have discovered that the server was controlled and maintained during the relevant time by an individual using the email account “blake@benthall.net” (“Benthall Email Account-1")." "b. I have also reviewed a publicly available profile of “Blake Bentha…

>> made a down payment of approximately $70,000 in Bitcoins towards the purchase of a Tesla Model S

Way to lay low.

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