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AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

justice.gov

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Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#81

Post by Mz »

xj9 wrote: post #51
s73ver wrote: post #28

Or, you know, just don't do illicit things.

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 neither of us did a good job with that in this case.

Best.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#82

Post by nihonde »

dalore wrote: post #75
anoonmoose wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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 authorities work well.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#83

Post by njarboe »

nihonde wrote: post #82
dalore wrote: post #75

Earlier 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…

Having the whole USA adopt Japanese culture norms seems about as hard and as likely as the drug war ending.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#84

Post by xeroxmalf »

hackerboos wrote: post #66
dylz wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/982821/downlo... It is so sad. Literally had a paypal with the same hotmail address he sent welcome emails with? WTF?

AB didn't send emails. At least not in the last 12 months.

It happened / was fixed 3 years ago.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#85

Post by RandVal30142 »

omurphy27 wrote: post #53
hackerboos wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hansa has already taken AB's place.

Apparently law enforcement seized Hansa a month earlier and were using it as a honeypot: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/07/after-alphabays-demise-c...

Brilliant setup. Seize both sites but only keep one down so you can document suspects migrating their criminal operations.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#86

Post by contingencies »

alasdair_ wrote: post #63
lawn wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DN users should really start using Monero instead of Bitcoin.

11,993 Monero were part of the seized assets.

= USD$480k according to https://coinmarketcap.com/ ... and about 1/30th of global Monero trading volume in the last 24 hours.

The source for assets seized is https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/982821/downlo... which also lists properties in various countries, vehicles, bank accounts, cryptocurrency accounts, etc.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#87

Post by avn2109 »

djmobley wrote: post #57
Miner49er wrote: post #12

"'The so-called anonymity of the dark web is illusory,' said Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg of the DEA." I wonder if this is true, or simply hyperbole. I'm extremely curios on the technical details of this bust. Edit: It appears that some info can be found here https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/982821/downlo... . Look at the section "Alexandre Cazes: Alphabay's Founder and Operator" It looks like t…

He seemed to be pretty careless about flaunting his wealth. These forum postings are referenced in the forfeiture complaint (NSFW): https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:... Interestingly, the forum owner posted last week claiming he had suddenly passed away: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:...

It's interesting that people on that forum are calling him a liar for claiming to drive a Porsche etc. Reading it myself I was like "wow this guy is a liar, what a tall tale."

But then in the indictment (or whatever the correct term is for the legal document linked in the parent comment) they seize a Lamborghini and a Porsche and various villas and several big piles of money etc.

Color me surprised.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#88

Post by nihonde »

njarboe wrote: post #83
nihonde wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Having the whole USA adopt Japanese culture norms seems about as hard and as likely as the drug war ending.

Ironically, Japan's current drug policy was largely motivated by post-war American policies imposed on it. Those policies were just implemented in a more serious and effective way.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#89

Post by fweespeech »

berberous wrote: post #50
siliconc0w wrote: post #45

You 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.

Or it will evolve to being run by Russian mobsters or North Korea--folks that are much harder to stop than random 25-year old geeks from America and Canada.

Yeah, there might already be one or two of those in existence already. :\

At the end of the day, the "outlaw" nation states are the ones that are going to be operating these things and then use the money to fund their black budgets.

It doesn't matter if they can be identified as long as they can change the bitcoin to cash in an allied country.

Re: AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down

#90

Post by contingencies »

siliconc0w wrote: post #45

You 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.

"Vietnam [...] has no extradition" {{citation-needed}}

https://www.bing.com/search?q="deported+from+vietnam" + https://www.google.com/search?q="deported+from+vietnam" suggest otherwise

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