Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon • Hacker News Board

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#541

Post by palata » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:32 AM UTC

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

I liked the way you wrote it, I could picture you sitting in the library, picturing the arrest yourself :-).

The reactions remind me of a philosophy class I had, where the professor went for a thought experiment in order to explain an idea. "Imagine a world where ...". There was a physicist in the class who kept interrupting the professor, saying "well that's not possible because of how physics works". I would have asked him what he thought about Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings; could he enjoy them at all? But he ruined the class for me so I didn't :-).

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#542

Post by echoangle » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:33 AM UTC

floydnoel wrote: post #428

cogman10 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish instead of criminalizing addiction we'd fund harm reduction centers and rehabilitation services. I would much rather the police be focused on stopping violent crime rather than these victimless crimes. Legitimizing drugs/prostitution makes is easier to regulate and ultimately make safer. Shoving this stuff into a black/gray market is what ultimately creates violent crime.

no victim means no crime. victimless "crimes" are just 'arbitrary rule' violations (like going 56mph in a 55mph zone) or infractions. the twisting and distortion of language by the state is counterproductive to society.

How does that make any sense? So you could never pass a law to reduce risk because in most cases, breaking it won’t create a victim?

Speed limits are done to reduce the risk of you killing someone. Do you really think you should be able to drive however you want and until you actually have an accident, it’s fine?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#543

Post by weberer » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:34 AM UTC

Cub3 wrote: post #373

loeg wrote: post #129

Any non-twitter reporting on this? Edit: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-fou...

It seems a lot of reddit communities are starting to block xitter as it's painful to use now without an account. Should HN do the same?

>it's painful to use now without an account.

Now??? Its been just as painful to use without an account for around 10 years now.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#544

Post by leftcenterright » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:36 AM UTC

A full unconditional pardon is one thing, reduction of sentence through judicial processes is another. He never pardoned Snowden and Assange .

Why do they still have courts in the US again?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#545

Post by ropejumper » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:36 AM UTC

fbnlsr wrote: post #522

This might be a minor thing, but does anyone know if a full pardon will allow him to use an electronic device or access the internet? Often times, people convicted of crimes related to an online activity are forbidden this right, and I wonder if that's the case for him, and if so, what his life would be in this day and age.

With a full pardon it's as if he never did anything in the first place.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#546

Post by varsketiz » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:37 AM UTC

lbriner wrote: post #537

Someone might have already pointed it out but for me, the sentence of RA is not the main issue, the issue is allowing a single person to stamp through an entire legal system and undermine all of the time and money that is invested in it, even if that person is a president. I suspect that the idea originally was to give some safety valve but if it is used more than a few times by a President, it makes a mockery of it…

I tend to think this way about ideal leadership, but in reality big systems I can see end up having exception paths, or even processes

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#547

Post by kybernetyk » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:37 AM UTC

zanek wrote: post #327

steve_avery wrote: post #55

Well, I think that justice has been served. The feds' prosecution of Ulbricht was the epitome of throwing the book at someone to make an example, when the government's case was pretty flawed, in my opinion. 10 years is enough time to pay the debt of running the silk road. I am glad that Ulbricht has been pardoned and I feel like a small iota of justice has been returned to the world with this action.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading the comments on this thread. Multiple teenagers (one in Australia) died from the drugs distributed on Silk Road. Ross was ok with selling grenades, body parts, etc on there. But everyone is saying he served his time ???

Smart people can differentiate between a market place and the sellers themselves.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#548

Post by karel-3d » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:37 AM UTC

Silk Road 3.0 here we come!

(Silk Road 2.0 already existed. The guy running it is in prison now, I think.)

edit: ah seems Silk Road 3.0 existed too. So, 4.0 then

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#549

Post by carlmr » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:38 AM UTC

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

Regarding your edit. The first paragraph kind of lines up with you reading about it. But the second one is kind of confusing, and I think it's because "then" can mean two different things here. You meant "at the time of his arrest". If you casually read it without cross referencing the first paragraphs context, you might think it means "as I was sitting there".

And there's nothing in the following sentences that corrects this garden path assumption.

>Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table directly in front of me

Would not confuse as many if you wrote

>At the time of his arrest Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table directly in front of me

Or even clearer

>At the time of his arrest Ulbricht had walked into the public library and sat down at the table which was now directly in front of me

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#550

Post by freehorse » Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 8:39 AM UTC

So Trump keeps his promises to the ones who supported him. Makes one think how what other promises he has made to other people and groups having funded and supported his campaign.