FBI takes down Silk Road......developing

[vacuum]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/2/4794780/fbi-seizes-underground-drug-market-silk-road-owner-indicted-in-new

It appears the Federal Bureau of Investigation has finally cracked down on Silk Road, the underground marketplace where users could buy cocaine, heroin, meth, and more using the virtual currency Bitcoin. Journalist Brian Krebs has just published a purported copy of a complaint (http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf) filed in the Southern District of New York against Ross Ulbricht, who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the site and the handle Dread Pirate Roberts.

Ulbricht is being charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. The site, which is only accessible through the anonymizing Tor network, has been pulled and replaced with an FBI notice. The Silk Road forums are still operating, suggesting they were hosted on a different server.

The complaint is based on statements made by Christopher Tarbell, an FBI agent who has been tracking Silk Road out of the cybercrime division in New York. Tarbell acknowledges "undercover activity" by himself and other law enforcement agents, something users have suspected for a long time. Law enforcement officers have made more than 100 purchases on the site since November of 2011, according to the complaint, and had the drugs shipped to New York for analysis.


Developing...

[Ares]

Ulbricht is being charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.

What's sad is that every one of those charges could be levied against our own government. Yet hardly anyone outside of here sees the irony.

[Son-of-Liberty]

It's unfortunate. One of the few free markets available.

[Son-of-Liberty]

If you could prove that the agencies investigating you and prosecuting you were also involved in the drug trade could that be a valid defense?

[vacuum]

Bitcoin already dropped about $2. Should be interesting to see where it ends up (it's currently at $124.50 on bitstamp).

http://bitcoinity.org/markets

[collector]

If you could prove that the agencies investigating you and prosecuting you were also involved in the drug trade could that be a valid defense?

The federal judge presiding would never allow it in court. I'm sure the prosecution has it already mapped out as to who will be the judge and the type of jury they're looking for

[Ares]

I wonder if this is why Atlantis (Silk Road Competitor) shuddered its site? They said it was due to security concerns for its users as well as it's staff.

[vacuum]

Look at all these criminal organizations:

http://i.imgur.com/7jfZLgw.png

[Ares]

Look at all these criminal organizations:

http://i.imgur.com/7jfZLgw.png

They aren't criminals when they get state sponsorship........

[vacuum]

People think this is the guy who ran the site (if you're signed into linkedin it will show you visited.....fyi, I don't think it's a big deal):

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossulbricht


More info:

DPR has been nabbed. Here are the court docs:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf[1]
Source (at least for me, brought to my attention by a friend): https://twitter.com/briankrebs/status/385424938985086976[2]
It looks like they sniffed him out by looking back at old Internet records (forum posts, IPs etc) from around the time of SRs appearance. The first person to ever advertise SR was DPR himself, and he used an email account attached to his natural born identity. No NSA or technical hack.
[UPDATE] Krebs apparently has confirmation an arrest https://twitter.com/briankrebs/status/385434970338369536[3]

[ShortJohnSilver]

The CIA hates competition.

[Son-of-Liberty]

The federal judge presiding would never allow it in court.

That was my thought also. It's unfortunate because if you could create a big enough spectacle and expose how corrupt the government was it would be worth it even if you still went to jail.

Getting the truth off the inter-webs and into the court record would hurt them badly.

[Son-of-Liberty]

The CIA hates competition.

That is basically what it comes down to isn't it?

If he is the actual Dread Pirate Roberts, Ross Ulbricht sounds like a good guy. Reminds me of Larkin Rose.

From the linkedin site:


I love learning and using theoretical constructs to better understand the world around me. Naturally therefore, I studied physics in college and worked as a research scientist for five years. I published my findings in peer reviewed journals five times over that period, first on organic solar cells and then on EuO thin-film crystals. My goal during this period of my life was simply to expand the frontier of human knowledge.

Now, my goals have shifted. I want to use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion and agression amongst mankind. Just as slavery has been abolished most everywhere, I believe violence, coercion and all forms of force by one person over another can come to an end. The most widespread and systemic use of force is amongst institutions and governments, so this is my current point of effort. The best way to change a government is to change the minds of the governed, however. To that end, I am creating an economic simulation to give people a first-hand experience of what it would be like to live in a world without the systemic use of force.

[madfranks]

Ulbricht is being charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.

Actually, none of those things are crimes, except possibly the hacking charge, if he was in fact breaking into other people's property. I wonder what the specific hacking charges are?

[vacuum]

Actually, none of those things are crimes, except possibly the hacking charge, if he was in fact breaking into other people's property. I wonder what the specific hacking charges are?

I hope he was able to retain a crapload of money to put up a massive legal defense.

One interesting thing in all this will be how much of his btc they're able to identify and seize. If they simply know his btc addresses then they can trace the transactions back to real people who bought them off of exchanges. What will the precedent be for following the transactions back and using that as evidence against people?

[Ares]

I hope he was able to retain a crapload of money to put up a massive legal defense.

One interesting thing in all this will be how much of his btc they're able to identify and seize. If they simply know his btc addresses then they can trace the transactions back to real people who bought them off of exchanges. What will the precedent be for following the transactions back and using that as evidence against people?

If they really did get a hold of the site. That's most likely the "sites money pool" i.e. the escrow account. Each user had their own address that they sent money too before they could purchase anything. It went into escrow waiting for the items to be delivered. Once delivered funds were released to the seller.

[gunDriller]

Look at all these criminal organizations:

http://i.imgur.com/7jfZLgw.png


they don't like competition.

[singular_me]

they don't like competition.

that's the whole point with a system based on competition... its simply unavoidable. I have pondrered the subject for many years now and competition theories are a fraud since they only works on paper. Let alone media transparency as long as we don't view money differently

[midnight rambler]

They aren't criminals when they get state sponsorship........

And it's not unbridled aggression aka state terrorism when a superpower ever so nobly 'brings democracy' to some dirt poor nation unable to mount a viable defense.

[vacuum]

Bitcoin already dropped about $2. Should be interesting to see where it ends up (it's currently at $124.50 on bitstamp).

http://bitcoinity.org/markets

It dropped to almost $85, then bounced to $106, but it will continue to drop. wow.

[Son-of-Liberty]

There is huge money to be made if you have the accounts set up. BTC-e is 93.13, Mt.Gox 116.58

[sirgonzo420]

Actually, none of those things are crimes, except possibly the hacking charge, if he was in fact breaking into other people's property. I wonder what the specific hacking charges are?

He is also alleged to have ordered a hit performed on a Canadian.

And he is also alleged to have admitted ordering a hit in the past.


(this is, through PM on his Tor website, Silk Road)

this information is available in the indictment here: http://www1.icsi.berkeley.edu/~nweaver/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf

[sirgonzo420]

Here's how they got him:

http://i.imgur.com/i9lPxN1.png

[madfranks]

Here's how they got him:

http://i.imgur.com/i9lPxN1.png

Lesson to be learned from this: Everything you post online can be viewed, scrutinized, recorded and used against you BY THE GOVERNMENT. Watch what you say/post online, even (especially?) here on this forum, as our anti-government tendencies likely make us prime candidates for analysis. There are people whose FULL TIME JOBS are to search for and put together small pieces into large narratives.

[Jewboo]

Exactly. (http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?73063-sentForumMessage)

[Ares]

Lesson to be learned from this: Everything you post online can be viewed, scrutinized, recorded and used against you BY THE GOVERNMENT. Watch what you say/post online, even (especially?) here on this forum, as our anti-government tendencies likely make us prime candidates for analysis. There are people whose FULL TIME JOBS are to search for and put together small pieces into large narratives.

Yep, I've been reading over the indictment and DPR was extremely sloppy with how he handled his own personal security. I know full well what I post, where I go, and what email accounts I access are recorded, known and logged. I'm also not running a multimillion dollar on-line drug bazaar. I'm a small fish with Libertarian leanings.

There are ways to secure yourself on-line, he just couldn't separate the 2 identities it seems. He used his own personal gmail account to advertise the site when it first started....... wow.... Just speechless. Hindsight is always 20/20.

My personal thoughts on the matter are that someone will pick up the reigns and start another and be more cautious. Kind of like on-line music sharing was way back in the late 90's and early 2000's. Close a site or service down, 2-3 more would sprang up in it's place.

[sirgonzo420]

Lesson to be learned from this: Everything you post online can be viewed, scrutinized, recorded and used against you BY THE GOVERNMENT. Watch what you say/post online, even (especially?) here on this forum, as our anti-government tendencies likely make us prime candidates for analysis. There are people whose FULL TIME JOBS are to search for and put together small pieces into large narratives.

So if anyone here is planning to open an underground marketplace for contraband, make sure that you don't fuck up, at the beginning, or at any other point.


This guy was not hard to catch.

Basically, all one has to do is this:

1- Google "silk road", and find earliest mention in reference to a drug site.

2- Find the name of first poster advertising Silk Road - "altoid" on Shroomery and BitcoinTalk.

3- Read, out of altoid's 48 posts on the BitcoinTalk forum, this one: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=47811.msg568744#msg568744 where he posts his email/legal name.


The NSA/gov/et al have tremendous resources.... they virtually own the internet (they kinda created it), having their own copies of it, constantly mining and mining and sifting and sifting information.

Because the creator of Silk Road was the first to mention 'Silk Road" online, and because he was sloppy in the beginning (perhaps not anticipating his later success), he was easy to catch.

[Ares]

So if anyone here is planning to open an underground marketplace for contraband, make sure that you don't fuck up, at the beginning, or at any other point.


This guy was not hard to catch.

Basically, all one has to do is this:

1- Google "silk road", and find earliest mention in reference to a drug site.

2- Find the name of first poster advertising Silk Road - "altoid" on Shroomery and BitcoinTalk.

3- Read, out of altoid's 48 posts on the BitcoinTalk forum, this one: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=47811.msg568744#msg568744 where he posts his email/legal name.


The NSA/gov/et al have tremendous resources.... they virtually own the internet (they kinda created it), having their own copies of it, constantly mining and mining and sifting and sifting information.

Because the creator of Silk Road was the first to mention 'Silk Road" online, and because he was sloppy in the beginning (perhaps not anticipating his later success), he was easy to catch.

Yep, but with that in mind. The technology behind it, the anonymity, payment processing, and goods sold anonymously has been proven viable. With the numbers shown what he was making that's a huge incentive for someone else to gamble to fill the niche.

[Son-of-Liberty]

If that is how they caught this guy, it is amazing he was able to operate the silk road for so long.

In fact it shows how utterly incompetent the government really is when all the information they needed was publicly available.

[vacuum]

Was he not able to go back and edit his posts? Does bitcointalk have a time limit on post editing?

[Ares]

Was he not able to go back and edit his posts? Does bitcointalk have a time limit on post editing?

A lot of forums do. But who knows he most likely forgot about that post as his site grew exponentially.

What sucks is that I just got my bit coin miner up and running yesterday and the price plummets because SR got closed down. What's really screwy is that the price should go up with a limited currency because 26,000 coins just got taken out of circulation due to confiscation.

[sirgonzo420]

If that is how they caught this guy, it is amazing he was able to operate the silk road for so long.

In fact it shows how utterly incompetent the government really is when all the information they needed was publicly available.


Some people in the Bitcoin community have known who he his for a while now.


Bitcoin people are tech savvy by default, and those that are more savvy can quite readily find easily available information on those less savvy.

Dread Pirate Roberts could have been considerably more savvy.

[Son-of-Liberty]

Was he not able to go back and edit his posts? Does bitcointalk have a time limit on post editing?

This forum doesn't allow editing.

Maybe he just didn't realize he could get caught that way.

[madfranks]

Was he not able to go back and edit his posts? Does bitcointalk have a time limit on post editing?

I've been keeping an eye on bitcointalk today, it appears that he did go back and delete all his posts, but someone else had quoted him, and those quotes remained.

[madfranks]

My personal thoughts on the matter are that someone will pick up the reigns and start another and be more cautious. Kind of like on-line music sharing was way back in the late 90's and early 2000's. Close a site or service down, 2-3 more would sprang up in it's place.

Potentially this could also be good for litecoin. The new silk roads may likely use both BTC and LTC, kind of like Atlantis before it closed up shop.

[Ares]

Potentially this could also be good for litecoin. The new silk roads may likely use both BTC and LTC, kind of like Atlantis before it closed up shop.

Will have to wait and see. I'm sure there are some pretty nervous sellers and buyers that were silk road members right now.

[Neuro]

If that is how they caught this guy, it is amazing he was able to operate the silk road for so long.

In fact it shows how utterly incompetent the government really is when all the information they needed was publicly available.
Don't ascribe to incompetence, what can be ascribed to pure evil. We really don't know anything about this Ulbrecht character, does he even exist? If he exists how do we know he isn't a .gov agent? Maybe they waited arrest to catch bigger fish? Besides the evidence presented here against Ulbrecht seems very flimsy...

[EE_]

26,000 coins just got taken out of circulation due to confiscation.

How could 26,000 coins get confiscated?

[Neuro]

How could 26,000 coins get confiscated?
Twisting the arm, til the guys with the arm gave them the wallet?

[Ares]

How could 26,000 coins get confiscated?

They were in Silk Roads wallet. Silk Roads server equipment (at least from reading the indictment) were confiscated and they (FBI) even claimed they confiscated 26,000 bitcoins from DPR.

[EE_]

So if a crime, or the mere accusition of crime can be linked to a bitcoin account, the Fed can barge in and seize everything?
Tell me this can't happen?

If This Doesn’t Kill Bitcoin, What Will?
By Mark Gimein
Oct. 2, 2013 3:28 PM EDT

The alleged operator of the Bitcoin-based online marketplace Silk Road was arrested in San Francisco yesterday on money-laundering and narcotics-trafficking charges. You can see a copy of the complaint against Ross W. Ulbricht here, and the allegations make for “Whoah!” reading.

They go way, way beyond what you might guess. In addition to the predictable charges above, there’s an allegation of a murder-for-hire plot. No, scratch that. The FBI says there wasn’t just a plot, but an actual murder. The complaint alleges that Ulbricht paid to kill a blackmailer who claimed to have an extensive list of Silk Road sellers and buyers. That, believe it or not, isn’t part of the criminal charges, because (a) the murder would have been committed in Canada and (b) Canadian authorities don’t seem to have a record of the victim.

Whether or not there turns out to have been a murder, the part about blackmail is central to any broader discussion of Bitcoin or other virtual currencies. Think about it for a second. The accusation that someone was able to get a list of Bitcoin users at all undermines Bitcoin’s very reason for existence. It highlights how using an ostensibly untraceable currency makes for a lovely invitation to blackmailers.

And to governments. Anyone who imagines that Bitcoin is somehow a refuge from government surveillance has to get a chill reading that in a space of about five and a half months there were “146,946 unique buyer accounts and 3,877 unique seller accounts.” Identify some of those seller accounts and guess what — you’re well on your way to identifying the buyer accounts.

Some excellent work from Forbes, detailed in “How We Got Busted Buying Drugs on Silk Road’s Black Market,” gives you a pretty good idea of where this leads. When Forbes asked researcher Sarah Meiklejohn whether the Silk Road transactions could be tracked, she was not only able to link the Forbes account to the Silk Road marketplace, but also to create a list of every transaction Forbes made. It’s almost as if having your credit card number let someone know everyone you’ve done business with.

I’ve written skeptically about Bitcoin before, but as with all bubbles a key question is just what will make it burst. U.S. seizures of accounts belonging to Mt. Gox, the best-known Bitcoin marketplace, don’t seem to have ended it. Frankly, though, it’s hard to be sure of just what’s going on with Mt. Gox, which has repeatedly halted U.S. dollar withdrawals, and where prices have inexplicably sat above other Bitcoin markets. On Bitstamp, another Bitcoin exchange, prices plummeted after news of the arrest came out. (As this post was being written, they’ve recovered somewhat; trying to guess the reasons for those gyrations is as pointless as trying to predict the ripples a flat stone will make in the stream.)

Some folks might argue that Silk Road is not the only use of Bitcoin. Fine. But exactly what would you want to use Bitcoins for? Other than speculating in Bitcoins?

A quick summary is worthwhile here. Bitcoin invites scrutiny from authorities. It lets third parties gather public data to trace the parties you do business with. It is subject to an unreliable market that doesn’t seem to set consistent or reliable values. The only point left in its defense might be that you don’t like central banks or national currency. If so, for those left holding a bunch of Bitcoins, this can turn out to be a very expensive protest.

http://go.bloomberg.com/market-now/2013/10/02/if-this-isnt-the-end-of-bitcoin-what-is/

[madfranks]

The accusation that someone was able to get a list of Bitcoin users at all undermines Bitcoin’s very reason for existence.

Wow, this guy is retarded. The blackmailer allegedly had a list of SILK ROAD users and identities. This is like busting a drug ring and saying you found a group of dollar users, and this undermines the dollar's very reason for existence.


But exactly what would you want to use Bitcoins for?

Uh, it's a form of money. What do you use money for?

[EE_]

Wow, this guy is retarded. The blackmailer allegedly had a list of SILK ROAD users and identities. This is like busting a drug ring and saying you found a group of dollar users, and this undermines the dollar's very reason for existence.
Bitcoins are not dollars. Only dollars are recognised by the government, Federal Reserve and the IRS. Bitcoins are anti-dollars that goes against the above mentioned.


Uh, it's a form of money. What do you use money for?
A form of money, not money...more like a barter item.

If the Feds want to screw bitcoin users, they will do as they please.
Watch for more stories like Silk Road to appear soon.

[Ares]

Where do I begin on ripping this article apart?


And to governments. Anyone who imagines that Bitcoin is somehow a refuge from government surveillance has to get a chill reading that in a space of about five and a half months there were “146,946 unique buyer accounts and 3,877 unique seller accounts.” Identify some of those seller accounts and guess what — you’re well on your way to identifying the buyer accounts.

Those accounts are accessed via Tor an anonymous network. Even the FBI indictment says it's impossible to track down anyone utilizing the technology. DPR got caught because he was a braggart and was careless with his personal information. Enough said.

How are you going to identify buyers and sellers with a string of letters and numbers? The blockchain doesn't identify anyone. Just the amount of bitcoins from one address to another. If you setup your wallet to use a new address per transaction. Good luck tracking that down.

Even the Forbes article says that they gave the researcher the address that they used to purchase the goods on Silk Road. When I asked Meiklejohn to try to trace Forbes’ transactions, I started by giving her the Bitcoin addresses associated with our account on the popular Bitcoin wallet service Coinbase. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/09/05/follow-the-bitcoins-how-we-got-busted-buying-drugs-on-silk-roads-black-market/) Come on. This author is a fucking idiot. That would be equivalent to walking into your nearest police station and saying "Hey, I'm going to buy drugs at the Tor Hidden Services Silk Road, and oh by the way, here's the BitCoin address I'm going to use to make the purchase, thanks."

They even admitted that they used the same coinbase wallet (bitcoin account number) to facilitate the transaction. That's not giving anyone Research or Law enforcement bread crumbs, that's giving them all the access they need to follow your purchases.

I've never purchased anything from a black market on-line retailer, but I sure as hell wouldn't use a wallet that had any link to a Bitcoin exchange. There are also tumbling services out there to "launder" the coins before they make their final destination. Did Forbes not opt for the service at check out on Silk Road? Not to mention creating a new wallet and placing it within the Tor network and setting it up to create a new address per transaction and you've turned yourself into a ghost.

Bitcoins are just as Private as dollars if you know how to use them.

But the same could be said about dollars. Give a researcher or investigator the Serial number on a dollar and just say "follow the money" and you'll get the same results. Banks do it all the time to track down money launders.

[vacuum]

The criminal complaint (http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf)[1] , which covers a lot of things worth noting with regard to how and why DPR got caught.



This has been a joint operation run the cybercrime squad within the FBI's New York field office. It involved the FBI, DEA, IRS and Homeland Security's investigative unit.
---
It's unstated from when the investigation started, but they received a complete copy of the Silk Road web server on the 23rd of July 2013. This was all done under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which implies that they had access to current site information up until the point they shut the site down.
This included user account and transaction information. It's unclear whether or not this covers addresses and other sensitive transaction information.
**This also apparently covers at least 60 days worth of messages from the period where the site was copied.
From February 6, 2011 to July 23 2013, 9,519,664BTC was generated in sales, 614,305BTC going directly to DPR in the way of "commissions". This comes to a total of 1,229,465 transactions.
Based on the copy of the site which the FBI received, they believe DPR to have been the sole operator and owner of SR, handling all aspects of the site himself and delegating only user affairs to appointed moderators.
---
In March of this year, a SR user/vendor called "FriendlyChemist" attempted to extort DPR via SR's private message system, providing proof that he had the names/addresses of thousands of vendors/users after having allegedly hacked a bigger vendor. He demanded $500,000USD, saying that he needed the money to pay off his supplier. DPR then stated that he wished to speak to FriendlyChemist's supplier.
A user called "redandwhite" then proceeded to contact DPR, stating that he was FriendlyChemist's supplier and also the owner of his debt. DPR then solicited redandwhite to "execute" FriendlyChemist, supplying redandwhite his full name and address. After having agreed on terms, DPR sent redandwhite approximately $150,000USD (1,670BTC) to have FriendlyChemist killed. redandwhite later provided photographic proof of the alleged murder.
Investigators could not find any record of somebody in that region being killed around that date or matching that description. This possibly implies that DPR was duped/scammed, but, DPR is also quoted as having told redandwhite the following: "Not long ago, I had a clean hit done for 80k."
---
DPR has been identified as Ross William Ulbricht.
> "He is 29 years old, graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 2006. From 2006 to 2010, he attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Materials Science and Engineering."
His LinkedIn profile is at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rossulbricht[2]

Now, onto how he got caught...

An agent involved in the investigation ("Agent-1"), found the first few references to SR on the internet from somebody only identified as "altoid", attempting to promote the site in its beginning days, in January of 2011.
In October of the same year, a user also going by the name of "altoid" made a posting on Bitcoin Talk titled "a venture backed Bitcoin startup company", which directed interested users to "rossulbricht at gmail dot com".
That email address is what led to DPR's downfall.
---
After identifying "altoid", they started connecting the "DPR" identity to Ulbricht pretty quickly.
Ulbricht's Google+ page and YouTube profile both make multiple references to the a website dubbed the "Mises Institute". DPR's signature on the SR forums contained a link to the Mises Institute.
DPR cited the "Austrian Economic theory" along with the works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard, all of which are closesly associated with the Mises Institute.
Server logs show that someone logged onto the SR administration panel from San Fransisco around the same time that Ulbricht was staying in San Fransisco.
Multiple fake IDs were intercepted by U.S. Customs & Border Patrol while on their way to an address which Ulbricht was living at the time. These IDs all carried photos of Ulbricht but had false names and details. This was around the same time that DPR stated in a message that he was acquiring some fake IDs to buy new servers.
When questioned by Homeland Security about the fake IDs, he refused to answer any questions but then stated that anyone could purchase such things using "Silk Road" and "Tor".
The address which Ulbricht was staying at was being rented in cash and he was living with housemates who knew him under a name which corresponded with one of the fake IDs.
He posted on StackOverflow using his real name, inquiring about how to use curl/PHP to grab things off Tor, before quickly changing the name to "frosty" (with a fake email: frosty@frosty.com[3] )

Second murder conspiracy allegation

A superseding indictment was filed in federal court in Maryland (https://ia601904.us.archive.org/1/items/gov.uscourts.mdd.238311/gov.uscourts.mdd.238311.4.0.pdf)[4] less than a day after Ulbricht was initially arrested and charged. This details DPR attempting to have somebody tortured and murdered for $80,000.
This is likely the incident which he referenced when speaking to "redandwhite" about having "FriendlyChemist" killed.
He has been indicted in Maryland for charges stemming from these allegations of murder for hire.
The charges are as follows: Attempted Witness Murder, Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in Commission of Murder-for-Hire, Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Aiding & Abetting.
It is alleged that in February of this year, undercover agents approached DPR claiming to want to sell large amounts of cocaine, with DPR acting as a middle-man to facilitate the finding of a buyer for the drugs.
One of DPR's "employees" then agreed to receive the drugs and was then apprehended by police upon receiving a package which he believed to be a kilo of cocaine.
This employee then allegedly stole money from some SR users and went missing, which led DPR to believe that he might talk to the police.
DPR then solicited the undercover agents to have the employee tortured to give the stolen Bitcoins back.
A day later, DPR changed his mind and requested that they kill him after torturing him, stating that he "was on the inside for a while, and now that he's been arrested, I'm afraid he'll give up info."
They agreed on a price of $80,000 for the torturing and murder of the employee, with $40,000 paid in advance and $40,000 paid on proof of completion.
DPR then sent $40,000 from Technocash Limited to a bank account at the Capitol One Bank in Washington D.C.
The undercover agents provided DPR with photos of the employee being tortured, then finally, dead.
DPR then sent another $40,000 using the same method.

Miscellaneous notes

His Facebook URL is at: https://www.facebook.com/rossulbricht/[5]
His YouTube URL is at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ohyeaross[6]
There's a pretty lengthy "interview" with him and a friend, discussing their lives available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olib3jnvSmw[7] (doesn't reference SR at all)

[sirgonzo420]

http://icdn3.digitaltrends.com/image/img_0631-2-650x0.jpg

[ShortJohnSilver]

OK question time...

let us assume the murder for hire is true and not some ridiculous allegation.

Are Bitcoins "money"? Do they have value in USD?

If the FBI argues that they do, then what does that mean for alternative currencies? Could they not then be sued by all those Liberty Dollar people that they stole money and silver from?

If the FBI denies BTC are money, then there was no muder for hire?

[EE_]

OK question time...

let us assume the murder for hire is true and not some ridiculous allegation.

Are Bitcoins "money"? Do they have value in USD?

If the FBI argues that they do, then what does that mean for alternative currencies? Could they not then be sued by all those Liberty Dollar people that they stole money and silver from?

If the FBI denies BTC are money, then there was no muder for hire?

IMO, bitcoins are not money, but they are used for barter, like money.

[Ares]

IMO, bitcoins are not money, but they are used for barter, like money.

Gold and Silver are money. :)
Bitcoins and Dollars are mediums of exchange.

[Neuro]

This is just totally unbelievable.

The criminal complaint (http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf)[1] , which covers a lot of things worth noting with regard to how and why DPR got caught.



This has been a joint operation run the cybercrime squad within the FBI's New York field office. It involved the FBI, DEA, IRS and Homeland Security's investigative unit.
---
It's unstated from when the investigation started, but they received a complete copy of the Silk Road web server on the 23rd of July 2013. This was all done under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which implies that they had access to current site information up until the point they shut the site down.
This included user account and transaction information. It's unclear whether or not this covers addresses and other sensitive transaction information.
**This also apparently covers at least 60 days worth of messages from the period where the site was copied.
From February 6, 2011 to July 23 2013, 9,519,664BTC was generated in sales, 614,305BTC going directly to DPR in the way of "commissions". This comes to a total of 1,229,465 transactions.
Based on the copy of the site which the FBI received, they believe DPR to have been the sole operator and owner of SR, handling all aspects of the site himself and delegating only user affairs to appointed moderators.
---
In March of this year, a SR user/vendor called "FriendlyChemist" attempted to extort DPR via SR's private message system, providing proof that he had the names/addresses of thousands of vendors/users after having allegedly hacked a bigger vendor. He demanded $500,000USD, saying that he needed the money to pay off his supplier. DPR then stated that he wished to speak to FriendlyChemist's supplier.
A user called "redandwhite" then proceeded to contact DPR, stating that he was FriendlyChemist's supplier and also the owner of his debt. DPR then solicited redandwhite to "execute" FriendlyChemist, supplying redandwhite his full name and address. After having agreed on terms, DPR sent redandwhite approximately $150,000USD (1,670BTC) to have FriendlyChemist killed. redandwhite later provided photographic proof of the alleged murder.
Investigators could not find any record of somebody in that region being killed around that date or matching that description. This possibly implies that DPR was duped/scammed, but, DPR is also quoted as having told redandwhite the following: "Not long ago, I had a clean hit done for 80k."
---
DPR has been identified as Ross William Ulbricht.
> "He is 29 years old, graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 2006. From 2006 to 2010, he attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Materials Science and Engineering."
His LinkedIn profile is at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rossulbricht[2]

Now, onto how he got caught...



An agent involved in the investigation ("Agent-1"), found the first few references to SR on the internet from somebody only identified as "altoid", attempting to promote the site in its beginning days, in January of 2011.
In October of the same year, a user also going by the name of "altoid" made a posting on Bitcoin Talk titled "a venture backed Bitcoin startup company", which directed interested users to "rossulbricht at gmail dot com".
That email address is what led to DPR's downfall.
---
After identifying "altoid", they started connecting the "DPR" identity to Ulbricht pretty quickly.
Ulbricht's Google+ page and YouTube profile both make multiple references to the a website dubbed the "Mises Institute". DPR's signature on the SR forums contained a link to the Mises Institute.
DPR cited the "Austrian Economic theory" along with the works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard, all of which are closesly associated with the Mises Institute.
Server logs show that someone logged onto the SR administration panel from San Fransisco around the same time that Ulbricht was staying in San Fransisco.
Multiple fake IDs were intercepted by U.S. Customs & Border Patrol while on their way to an address which Ulbricht was living at the time. These IDs all carried photos of Ulbricht but had false names and details. This was around the same time that DPR stated in a message that he was acquiring some fake IDs to buy new servers.
When questioned by Homeland Security about the fake IDs, he refused to answer any questions but then stated that anyone could purchase such things using "Silk Road" and "Tor".
The address which Ulbricht was staying at was being rented in cash and he was living with housemates who knew him under a name which corresponded with one of the fake IDs.
He posted on StackOverflow using his real name, inquiring about how to use curl/PHP to grab things off Tor, before quickly changing the name to "frosty" (with a fake email: frosty@frosty.com[3] )

Second murder conspiracy allegation



A superseding indictment was filed in federal court in Maryland (https://ia601904.us.archive.org/1/items/gov.uscourts.mdd.238311/gov.uscourts.mdd.238311.4.0.pdf)[4] less than a day after Ulbricht was initially arrested and charged. This details DPR attempting to have somebody tortured and murdered for $80,000.
This is likely the incident which he referenced when speaking to "redandwhite" about having "FriendlyChemist" killed.
He has been indicted in Maryland for charges stemming from these allegations of murder for hire.
The charges are as follows: Attempted Witness Murder, Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in Commission of Murder-for-Hire, Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and Aiding & Abetting.
It is alleged that in February of this year, undercover agents approached DPR claiming to want to sell large amounts of cocaine, with DPR acting as a middle-man to facilitate the finding of a buyer for the drugs.
One of DPR's "employees" then agreed to receive the drugs and was then apprehended by police upon receiving a package which he believed to be a kilo of cocaine.
This employee then allegedly stole money from some SR users and went missing, which led DPR to believe that he might talk to the police.
DPR then solicited the undercover agents to have the employee tortured to give the stolen Bitcoins back.
A day later, DPR changed his mind and requested that they kill him after torturing him, stating that he "was on the inside for a while, and now that he's been arrested, I'm afraid he'll give up info."
They agreed on a price of $80,000 for the torturing and murder of the employee, with $40,000 paid in advance and $40,000 paid on proof of completion.
DPR then sent $40,000 from Technocash Limited to a bank account at the Capitol One Bank in Washington D.C.
The undercover agents provided DPR with photos of the employee being tortured, then finally, dead.
DPR then sent another $40,000 using the same method.

Miscellaneous notes



His Facebook URL is at: https://www.facebook.com/rossulbricht/[5]
His YouTube URL is at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ohyeaross[6]
There's a pretty lengthy "interview" with him and a friend, discussing their lives available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olib3jnvSmw[7] (doesn't reference SR at all)

[vacuum]

The critical legal question of if bitcoin is money is if money laundering laws apply to using mixing services to anonymity bitcoin ownership. For example, if five of us in this thread all meet and randomly exchange bitcoins such that our identities are no longer tied to the original purchase of those bitcoins off an exchange, is that illegal?

[sirgonzo420]

Assuming that he did order the first $80,000 hit, he did it because he was being extorted (and it was by an informant and government agents). The hit never happened.

He never actually had anyone killed, even if he thought he did.

The second alleged hit, was more of a mindfuck I think, whereby someone was attempting to extort him (friendlychemist said they they owed money to a supplier, and would release customer information if their ransom was not met, and when DPR requested to communicate with the supplier, he asked the supplier to kill friendlychemist [I think DPR knew that friendlychemist and the supplier were the same person... it was a way for DPR to pay the guy who is extorting him while also letting him know the lengths that he will go to to make the problem go away]).

In short, it's not like this guy was out ordering hits on people for fun - he was trying to protect himself and his thousands of customers from ruin/imprisonment/death.

[ShortJohnSilver]

if TOR is anonymous, how do they have proof that the guy was the one typing and transferring the BTC? Smells like false flag or even planted/manipulated evidence trail.

Would you trust Google's logs, since you know the NSA and FBI have hidden hooks into all their data?

[mick silver]

some here seen this coming . there no way they will let anyone take out the paper buck , they want there cut

[EE_]

if TOR is anonymous, how do they have proof that the guy was the one typing and transferring the BTC? Smells like false flag or even planted/manipulated evidence trail.

Would you trust Google's logs, since you know the NSA and FBI have hidden hooks into all their data?

Planted evidence is as good as real evidence when the Fed's do it.

[EE_]

Silk Road shutdown: how can the FBI seize Bitcoins?

FBI seized $3.6m Bitcoin fortune of the alleged Silk Road mastermind – but how can you seize a currency that doesn't exist?
Thursday 3 October 2013 09.40 EDT

Silk Road Bitcoin haul, worth around $3.6m, represents the largest single seizure of the currency.

When the FBI seized alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht's 26,000 Bitcoin fortune on Tuesday, it raised the simple question: how can you seize a currency that does not exist?

The Bitcoin haul, worth around $3.6m, represents the largest single seizure of the currency, which exists entirely online.

Jon Matonis, executive director of the lobby group the Bitcoin Foundation, said that in order for the authorities to "seize" Silk Road's Bitcoins, it would need access to either its servers and/or to the passwords that protected those Bitcoins.

The agency could have accessed those passwords with or without Ulbricht's cooperation, said Jerry Brito, director of George Mason University's Technology Police Program.

"Basically they would have to get the private keys to the suspect's Bitcoin addresses. (Think of it essentially like getting the password to an account.)," Brito wrote on his blog.

"They could either get that with his cooperation or if he had stored it somewhere now accessible to the authorities. Once they have the private keys, they would be able to transfer the Bitcoins and I imagine that they would transfer them to a Bitcoin address that only they control."

The disclosure of keys to encrypted files is an increasingly important, and controversial, tool used by law enforcement agencies around the world. In 2009 a UK citizen was jailed for nine months after refusing to hand over the keys to decode his encrypted files.

In the US, lawyers have argued that forcing someone to hand over their encryption keys violates the Fifth Amendment right to protection from self-incrimination. The privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation is currently defending a Colorado woman accused of a mortgage scam. The Department of Justice had demanded that she decrypt her laptop as part of their investigations.

Users of Silk Road, which enabled the trade of illegal drugs through the web, are said to have traded some 9.5m Bitcoins since the site launched in 2011.

Bitcoin saw its value drop by 15% to $118 after news of Ulbricht's arrest broke. The value had increased to $126 by 6pm, but Brito said the association of the currency with anonymous drug trade could harm its value.

Matonis attempted to downplay the damage that the historic seizure could do to Bitcoin. "This is a drugs story not really a bitcoin story," he said. "My understanding is that Bitcoin was not a factor in the apprehension."

Typically Bitcoins are acquired by purchasing them from a bitcoin "exchanger", for cash. Once those Bitcoins are acquired they are kept in a "Bitcoin wallet" which is designated by a complex string of letters and a numbers. A user can then withdraw those Bitcoins by sending them back to an exchanger in return for cash.

The FBI's acquiring of 26,000 Bitcoins raises another question: what will the agency do with its haul? "It will be interesting to see what the authorities do with those assets," Matonis said. "Will they sell them through a licensed exchange and will we be able to track the sale?"

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/02/bitcoin-silk-road-how-to-seize

[madfranks]

Typically Bitcoins are acquired by purchasing them from a bitcoin "exchanger", for cash. Once those Bitcoins are acquired they are kept in a "Bitcoin wallet" which is designated by a complex string of letters and a numbers. A user can then withdraw those Bitcoins by sending them back to an exchanger in return for cash.

The people who write these articles are so fucking stupid.

[Hitch]

The critical legal question of if bitcoin is money is if money laundering laws apply to using mixing services to anonymity bitcoin ownership. For example, if five of us in this thread all meet and randomly exchange bitcoins such that our identities are no longer tied to the original purchase of those bitcoins off an exchange, is that illegal?

I could be completely wrong, but I don't think money laundering laws would apply to your average bitcoin holder. There would need to be more than just holding bitcoins. But, I'm sure the IRS would love to find out what exchanges you've made with the coins. The same goes for cash as well, the only difference is that with this whole silk road thing, the media is going to brainwash the masses that only evil criminals use bitcoins.

[sirgonzo420]

Planted evidence is as good as real evidence when the Fed's do it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction


Parallel construction is a police (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police) process of building a parallel - or separate - evidentiary basis for a criminal investigation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective) which otherwise would rely upon evidence or tips received either from a confidential source or that might fall under the category of fruit of the poison tree (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_the_poison_tree). By building a separate evidentiary basis for an investigation, such as corroborating evidence using other resources or finding other valid reasons to investigate, prosecutors are able to avoid disclosing confidential or otherwise unusable evidence.[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction#cite_note-1)
Details on the use of parallel construction were a prominent part of the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_mass_surveillance_disclosures), though there is evidence to suggest that the policy has been used for considerably longer to protect the identity of confidential informants in drug operations.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction#cite_note-2)
The Special Operations Division (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dea#Special_Operations_Division) (SOD) of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration) advises DEA agents to practice parallel construction when creating criminal cases (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_case) against Americans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans) that are actually based on NSA warrantless surveillance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance).[3] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction#cite_note-3)

[BrewTech]

If you could prove that the agencies investigating you and prosecuting you were also involved in the drug trade could that be a valid defense?Not when those agencies also own the court system.

[Son-of-Liberty]

I don't believe a word of these news articles or court documents. The FEDs are more corrupt then most drug dealers.

[vacuum]

The FBI seized 26,000 bitcoins and transferred them to an address they control. Now, since the blockchain and all transactions are public, people are sending small transactions with associated messages to the FBI's address. You can see them live here:

https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX

[madfranks]

I think it would be funny if thousands of users requested payment from that wallet address.

[vacuum]

Silk Road Subdued But This Ex-Black-Market Employee Believes Feds Only Woke A Monster by Heisenberg2.0 on October 4, 2013
Share (http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php)

So the gig is up, My two favorite Drug dealers have been taken down in the space of a week, Christopher Tarbell (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/511177/20131003/christopher-tarbell-sabu-dread-pirate-roberts-elliot.htm) is now the mystery agent who infiltrated Silk Road and can add Dread Pirate Roberts to his list of take-downs which include “Sabu” of Anonymous.
While other sites ramp up server capacity to meet demand and I watch the number of listings on alternative marketplaces such as Sheep (http://atlantisblog.org/silk-road-subdued-but-this-ex-blackmarket-employee-believes-they-only-released-a-monster/sheepmarketplace.com) and Black Market Reloaded (http://atlantisblog.org/silk-road-subdued-but-this-ex-blackmarket-employee-believes-they-only-released-a-monster/5onwnspjvuk7cwvk.onion) increase at an exponential rate, (Sheep has gone from 500 Drug listings to over 1500 as I write) I can’t help but get the feeling DPR would be relatively happy with the results of his self-professed “economic simulation” as his legion of vendors and customers scramble to re-establish contact on other marketplaces.
There’s also a hint of Karma in the air too, had the Admins behind the failed Silk Road alternative “Atlantis” kept the site alive just two more weeks they’d be swimming in a sea of bitcoins Scrooge McDuck style right now but given the allegations of ex black marketplace employees having hits put out on them maybe I’ll tone down on the criticism and just be glad I was never on the inside.
http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/faces-of-dpr.pngThe many faces of “Dread Pirate Roberts”

Like many others, while I got to know the Dread Pirate Roberts persona quite well, I’m only now building a picture of the man behind the mask and must admit I’m confused, shocked and a bit disappointed by how lax Ulbricht was with his security. Nevertheless whether you view the aftermath as an optimist, anarchist, libertarian or authoritarian the level of solidarity being demonstrated among Silk Road users is something to behold and I’m sure as the FBI woke up to their Silk Road wrap party hangover’s yesterday the real scale of the problem they face became more than apparent.
After all it seems Ross Ulbricht’s skills didn’t lie in internet security or assassination’s for that matter but in providing a utopian blueprint of how people should allowed take control of their own lives and be masters of their own destiny. To all accounts it seems to have worked because as we speak scores of white collar, tech savvy developers who up until now watched from afar and thought “Why did I not think of this” now have their chance and if you’re to believe the rally cry on the darknet forums Silk Road 2.0 will be online within a week and there is no shortage of alternative anonymous marketplaces.
To those who are mourning the loss of Silk Road you have little to fear, If anything we now know Silk Road wasn’t all that secure and from a quick scout around I’ve counted at least 5 publicly stated projects with the said aim of becoming “Silk Road 2.0″ and many more gathering info and building alliances.
And this is what Law Enforcement is now parading as a victory? Over two years of investigation, millions of dollars spent and for what so a couple of armchair programmers can build it again in a few days while in the meantime vendors simply move to other sites.
http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SR-2-1024x302.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SR-2.png)Silk Road Forum member “RR” says he has Silk Road 2.0 ready to go (Click to see full image)


http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/how-to-build-new-SR-1024x224.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/how-to-build-new-SR.png)Other users give advice on how to make a future silk road safer from law enforcement (Click to see full image)


As if there wasn’t enough suitors ready to rise to the challenge of being the next DPR, to make it easier there is already a functioning open-source project know as BitWasp (https://github.com/Bit-Wasp/BitWasp) which can simply be downloaded and installed on an onion web server and the next SilkRoad is (almost) ready to go. Below is a short description of the project from its facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BitWasp)page where they make no secret of the fact the project aims to aid the development of future anonymous marketplaces flowing in the case of busts like just happened Silk Road.

“BitWasp Marketplace is a light weight, completely open source, anonymous bitcoin marketplace specifically built for use in conjunction with Tor or I2P via the hidden services such as .onion websites and eepsites (for I2P). The goal of this project is to do the following:
1. Lower the barrier of entry and needed skill-set to operate a website like silkroad. This will increase the number of silkroad styled sites on the internet, and this increase will lead to a stronger pressure on governments to change their draconian drug law policies into something more practical and respecting of individual liberty.
Just like open source forum software revolutionized the ability for individuals to freely share ideas within niche communities, Bitwasp will revolutionize the ability for individuals to sell and buy materials and digital files within online communities.
2. Plans by the many, not by the few. This is essential because, as with nature, competition will select for the best, most secure, and most revolutionary marketplaces. Silkroad is great; but I suspect many minds working on many sites with various add-ons and extensions will lead to many better marketplaces in the long run.”

One thing I can’t figure out is considering he knew and attempted to correct some of his past mistakes, Once busted, did Ulbricht really not expect things he’s done in his role as DPR to come to come out of the woodwork and his character be called into question or better still was he simply resigned to become a martyr for the cause if needs be?
To me, his last post on the closure of Atlantis now seems almost prophetic as he describes how you will meet “unexpected challenges” (Which I assume to now mean extortion and murder) and how he is ready to accept his fate whatever that may be. http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dpr-quote-1024x276.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dpr-quote.png)One of the “Dread Pirate Roberts” last posts where he describes how future black markets will face “unexpected challenges” (Click to see full image)

Since I’m sure more will come to light in the next few days with a court date scheduled for 4th October (Today) It seems pointless to speculate just yet but It looks like they had him from the very first posts he made announcing the launch of Silk Road under an account registered to rossulbricht@gmail.com. What’s surprising to me and may be encouraging to many others is given his sloppiness, how did it take so long for him to get caught?? While I didn’t have a very long career working with Atlantis the very first thing I did (after learning a bit more about security on the job) was go back and make sure I didn’t make any noob mistakes.
Either DPR assumed mistakes made in the past would have caught up with him already or his plan to allude to the fact ownership of the site has changed hands from the original founder in a Forbes interview last month were too little too late as the investigations into the original creator of the site were already well under-way. In any case right now we are presented with one Dread Pirate Roberts AKA Ross Ulbricht whose Linkedin/Youtube/Facebook would suggest this is the same guy who founded Silk Road as well as the administrator at the time of closure.
Had Ross Ulbricht practiced what he preached, I believe he would be a free man today but after looking into the technical analysis by forum members on other black markets it’s speculated things were never as secure as Dread Pirate Roberts made them appear. It’s funny how the internet can turn on you, many of DPR’s greatest advocates have now become his greatest critics with some irate vendors having lost six figure sums claiming if he gets out of prison he may be next in line for a hit.
http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/death-sentence.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/death-sentence.png)Some users are suggesting DPR might be better off in prison

http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SR-users-divided1-1024x290.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SR-users-divided1.png)Other Silk Road forum members are divided on whether his actions are justifiable (Click to see full image)

If you want my take on it, I think the role of DPR consumed Ulbricht to the point it took over his rational senses, Overlooking past mistakes in favour of future glory and viewing himself as the un-replaceable figurehead in the war on drugs who would do everything in is his power including murder to see his utopian dream through after all if one anonyomous identity can successfully extort him for $500,000 what’s to stop that person making up a new pseudonym and trying it again two months down the line.
DPR was an idealist who seen the big picture, To him one life lost was nothing compared to how many he could save by providing this safer route to market for illegal substances but to me murder to protect his business is where DPR took over and Ulbricht no longer had a say, A bit like Jim Carey’s character in “The Mask”

“Being an idealist is not being a simpleton; without idealists there would be no optimism and without optimism there would be no courage to achieve advances that so-called realists would have you believe could never come to fruition.”
What striking to me as an outside observer is there seems to be no shortage of well educated American males in their late 20′s (Manning/Snowden and now Ulbricht) willing to sacrifice bright futures and their own personal liberty to highlight the draconian laws and downright totalitarianism being inflicted by their government on the populace, History will show it’s the will of the people that’ll win in the end and not that of the dictators in power and I thanks to the actions of DPR and others like him I believe I am now witnessing a full revolution in progress and I for one will be sticking around to document it.
Heisenberg 2.0
Finally below is a screenshot of an Independence day post from Ulbricht’s Facebook page entitled “Thoughts on FREEDOM”
http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DRP-FREEDOM-527x1024.png (http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DRP-FREEDOM.png)

[Jewboo]

Exposing "classified" material is obviously a social good. Offering a way for people to anonymously trade in narcotics or children is not.


:(??

[Hitch]

Exposing "classified" material is obviously a social good. Offering a way for people to anonymously trade in narcotics or children is not.


:(??

Exactly, everyone is focusing on the evil the FBI is doing, fine won't disagree. Nobody wants to focus on the evil that DPR has allowed to fester in his devilish corner of the world. We've got a bunch of religious folks on this forum, why do we hear crickets chirping on this issue?

[madfranks]

Narcotics != evil. I did read some anecdotal reports of folks being able to get drugs and medications that their doctors and their governments denied them on Silk Road. It probably helped some people as it hurt others, but at least it offered an avenue for people to take action independently, and for that I can't disparage them.

[Jewboo]

It probably helped some people as it hurt others, but at least it offered an avenue for people to take action independently, and for that I can't disparage them.




https://farm1.static.flickr.com/6/7668879_83305c3483.jpg
ONLY 40 BITCOINS



:rolleyes: BITCOINS ARE GREAT FOR PAYING KIDNAPPING RANSOMS ALSO

[vacuum]

Interesting article on Bloomberg. Check out the last paragraph.


Goodbye Silk Road, Hello Sheep Marketplace

By Leonid Bershidsky 2013-10-04T14:21:45Z

Like all drug busts, the takedown of Silk Road (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-03/silk-road-s-villains-and-bitcoin-s-threats.html) was a useless affair. While federal prosecutors grabbed the spotlight with a successful operation against Ross William Ulbricht, the owner of the anonymous Web marketplace, drug vendors and users were logging onto alternative sites, some of which even looked much like Silk Road.

I set up an account for one today. It is called Sheep Marketplace, and, like Silk Road, it is available via Tor, an anonymous encrypted network originally designed for the U.S. Navy and still used by it. The Tor software package is freely available on the Web. I used the Tor browser to go to a site with the suffix .onion, which would not be available to commonly used browsers, and registered as a customer. (To set up a virtual stall as a vendor, I would have had to pay $149 in Bitcoin.)

Sheep Marketplace had the nostalgic look and feel of the now-defunct Silk Road. Items on the first page of the drug section, by far the biggest on the site, included "2g Pentedrone Special sale + free sample MXE" and "28 g *Super Tasty* Lemon Haze!! High Grade." The "services" section included, among other things, a list of alternatives to Sheep Marketplace itself -- for $4.15.

If the owners of this site slip up like Ulbricht did, there will be dozens of others hoping to get into the anonymous cybermarket business. That's because a truly paranoid hacker would not have made Ulbricht's mistakes: Using open forums to advertise Silk Road and asking for IT advice under his own name, keeping accounts in LinkedIn and Google -- how careless can one get? Besides, Silk Road got a big write-up (http://kotaku.com/the-underground-website-where-you-can-buy-any-drug-imag-30818160) on the gaming site Kotaku back in 2011, so naturally prosecutors became interested. In fact, by talking about Sheep Marketplace here, I am probably drawing unwanted attention to it, but then I found it by googling "Silk Road alternatives."

It would be as hard for police to shut down all the online drug marketplaces as to arrest every petty dealer peddling white powder in every nightclub.

And even if they somehow manage that, there will be the really well-hidden drug markets. One of these, operating in the capital of a former Soviet republic, does not use only encryption: It accepts members by invitation only. Nothing is bought or sold on the site itself: Contact is made, money -- the national currency, not Bitcoin -- changes hands through a cash transfer system, then the vendor tells the buyer where the goods are hidden. After the deal, both vendor and buyer have to fill in a detailed questionnaire, telling the site administrator how it went. The data collected from questionnaires goes toward members' ratings. Those with a low rating are banned from the site, which, apart from bringing drug sellers and buyers together, provides a plethora of information about drug varieties and users' experiences with all kinds of substances. The anonymous community counts several hundred members, and it has operated for months without mishap. Eventually, police may infiltrate it, but as long as the administrator, who takes a percentage on the deals, is not too greedy, that prospect is remote.

Greed may have been Ulbricht's downfall: To achieve $1.2 billion in turnover over three years, as the criminal complaint alleges, and earn the founder $80 million in commissions, the site had to be extremely well-known, and that is never good for an illegal business. Administrators following in Ulbricht's footsteps will be more careful not to expand so quickly and mindlessly. Otherwise, they will get too many customers like Australian Paul Leslie Howard, who ran a very obvious (http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-silk-road-is-showing-cracks) drug-dealing operation from his home using the site and, of course, got caught.

The war on drugs is a costly game of cops and robbers. One illicit business is shut down, and a dozen more spring up. Instead of chasing after the administrators of online marketplaces, the authorities should check out the business model with a view to drug decriminalization. A rating system for buyers and sellers, similar to that operating on eBay, and the sterile, anonymous way in which goods and money change hands, would serve nicely to bring down street crime and the use of contaminated substances. One could argue that the availability of highly addictive, dangerous drugs would increase if sites such as Silk Road were allowed to operate, yet it is a fact of life that these substances are readily available anyway, only without any kind of quality assurance system and often in dangerous settings.

(Leonid Bershidsky, an editor and novelist, is a Bloomberg View contributor. He can be reached at bershidsky@gmail.com.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-04/goodbye-silk-road-hello-sheep-marketplace.html

[Son-of-Liberty]

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/6/7668879_83305c3483.jpg
ONLY 40 BITCOINS



:rolleyes: BITCOINS ARE GREAT FOR PAYING KIDNAPPING RANSOMS ALSO

You are completely off base with this Book. Silk Road did not allow child porn, or any other products or services that had victims. There are other places on Tor that apparently do but cash is just as likely to be used as payment for these things.

[Jewboo]

Silk Road did not allow child porn, or any other products or services that had victims.



Oh. Silk Road had there own statist laws and law enforcement? Link us to how they prevented it.

:)

[sirgonzo420]

Oh. Silk Road had there own statist laws and law enforcement? Link us to how they prevented it.

:)

I have never been a customer of Silk Road or any site like it, but as someone who is familiar with Bitcoin, I am also familiar with Silk Road.

For one thing, because the entire nature of Silk Road was voluntary. People voluntarily became members, some bought things, some sold things, some did neither. So there is no "statist" element there. There were rules on Silk Road which can be likened unto "law" which was enforced, one of those being no weapons - there was a different site for that by the same operator, but it was closed due to low traffic. Child porn was not allowed at any time on Silk Road. As in, it could not be bought or sold there. There are unfortunately places where one can buy and sell child porn, as horrible as such a thing is, but Silk Road was *not* a place for such a thing.

Sorry to disappoint, book.



here is the last post by DPR - note the reading list:

http://atlantisblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dpr-quote.png

[Son-of-Liberty]

Oh. Silk Road had there own statist laws and law enforcement? Link us to how they prevented it.

:)

Very funny.

They weren't statist laws, it was a private business. Certain things were not allowed to be put up for sale.

They prevented it the same way ebay or youtube enforces their restrictions on content or products for sale.

[Horn]

I don't believe a word of these news articles or court documents. The FEDs are more corrupt then most drug dealers.

Government's oversite power into the market place is the only thing that provides for a government's existence.

A Policy on controlled or prescribed substances is the only policy to be attacked in this case, as it would negate their involvement to begin with.

Once they are invited into a corner of the market place, no competition will be allowed, or able to exist.

[Jewboo]

There were rules on Silk Road which can be likened unto "law" which was enforced, one of those being no weapons...



Oh. I thought they believed in that internet commerce "freedom" thingie.



:) my bad

[Hitch]

There were rules on Silk Road which can be likened unto "law" which was enforced, one of those being no weapons -

I don't believe this to be true. I recall a post on this forum, linking to how you can buy weapons on Silk Road. Also, there was adds to hitman services, on Silk Road.

I believe in free markets, and think Bitcoin has some respectable qualities....but this is not one of them.

It's time to admit it....turd thugs use Bitcoin for evil purposes. Bitcoin isn't a savior for the goodwill of mankind, but an entrance to meet the devil face to face.

[sirgonzo420]

I don't believe this to be true. I recall a post on this forum, linking to how you can buy weapons on Silk Road. Also, there was adds to hitman services, on Silk Road.

I believe in free markets, and think Bitcoin has some respectable qualities....but this is not one of them.

It's time to admit it....turd thugs use Bitcoin for evil purposes. Bitcoin isn't a savior for the goodwill of mankind, but an entrance to meet the devil face to face.

Silk Road had a sister site called The Armory, where weapons could be bought/sold before the site was closed due to low demand.

There weren't hitman services available on Silk Road either - there are other places throughout the "deep web" that purport to sell such services, but Silk Road was mainly for drugs.


It's time to admit it....turd thugs use Bitcoin for evil purposes. Bitcoin isn't a savior for the goodwill of mankind, but an entrance to meet the devil face to face.

Turd thugs use anything and everything for evil purposes. Cash is used by faaaaaar more criminals though, and the origin of cash is government/banks. The origin of Bitcoin is mathematics. But no, Bitcoin won't save your soul and floss your teeth.

[EE_]

Silk Road had a sister site called The Armory, where weapons could be bought/sold before the site was closed due to low demand.

There weren't hitman services available on Silk Road either - there are other places throughout the "deep web" that purport to sell such services, but Silk Road was mainly for drugs.



Turd thugs use anything and everything for evil purposes. Cash is used by faaaaaar more criminals though, and the origin of cash is government/banks. The origin of Bitcoin is mathematics. But no, Bitcoin won't save your soul and floss your teeth.

Any internet site found that participates in illegal activities gets shut down. Bitcoin sites aren't much different and are being used for illegal activities. Even if you only exchange them person to person, sooner or later bitcoins have to be converted to cash.

I heard the Jews are using bitcoin sites to peddle child porn...just a rumor at this time.
The Feds are going to be all over these sites like stink on shit.

[Son-of-Liberty]

Any internet site found that participates in illegal activities gets shut down. Bitcoin sites aren't much different and are being used for illegal activities. Even if you only exchange them person to person, sooner or later bitcoins have to be converted to cash.

I heard the Jews are using bitcoin sites to peddle child porn...just a rumor at this time.
The Feds are going to be all over these sites like stink on shit.

Of course they will, they will do anything to discredit it as it directly competes with their monopoly money.

[vacuum]

See that downward spike,which at one point reached $85? That was when the news hit that they took down silk road. But bitcoin doesn't care.

http://i.imgur.com/Csvxxes.png



By Patrick Howell O'Neill (http://www.dailydot.com/authors/patrick-howell-oneill/) on October 12, 2013 Email (pat@dailydot.com?subject=The%20post%E2%80%93Silk% 20Road%20Bitcoin%20crash%20is%20over) Follow http://www.twitter.com/chobopeon (https://twitter.com/http://www.twitter.com/chobopeon)

When the Deep Web (http://dailydot.com/communities/deep-web/) black market Silk Road (http://dailydot.com/tags/silk-road/) was seized (http://www.dailydot.com/crime/silk-road-dread-pirate-roberts-arrested-shut-down/) by the FBI last week, the Bitcoin community braced for impact. The difficult-to-trace digital currency was perceived to be most popular on the underground drug emporium, so many users feared a crash was coming.
They were right—but as quickly as the crash came, it’s now gone. When Silk Road fell, Bitcoins cost $132, according to BitcoinAverage (https://bitcoinaverage.com/#USD). They rapidly fell to $113 as news spread. The recovery was almost as rapid: Two days after the arrest, the price was back up to $129.
Today, Bitcoins (http://www.dailydot.com/tags/bitcoin_1/) cost an average of $134 (https://bitcoinaverage.com/#USD) across 10 of the biggest digital currency exchanges.
http://cdn0.dailydot.com/uploaded/images/original/2013/10/12/btcprice.jpg (http://cdn0.dailydot.com/uploaded/images/original/2013/10/12/btcprice.jpg)

Screengrab via BitcoinAverage (https://bitcoinaverage.com/#USD) If this seems like no big deal, that is a big deal.
Bitcoin has long been criticized for its dependence on illegal markets. But the stability shown here proves there’s more to the currency than that.
It also probably helps that despite the fall of Silk Road, numerous replacements popped up (http://www.dailydot.com/crime/deep-web-silk-road-black-market-reloaded-future/) immediately—and, yes, they all use Bitcoin as well.

[gunDriller]

i didn't really understand Silk Road until you guys explained it.


i bet they're scare to let DPR out of jail because they know he has the ability to do it again.

for some hacker, Kevin Mitnick perhaps, they made him promise (?) "not to go near computers" ... or something. no idea how they enforce such a thing. random drop-ins by his probation officer ?


for all these computers guys, as long as they have a friend who can type and is detail-minded, they need never "go near" a computer again.

they can just sit on the couch & drink coffee and tell the other guy what to type.

i wonder how our 'Justice' department tries to prevent that.

[PatColo]

Drug Trafficking Website Was Hacked to Arrest Operators (http://extratorrent.cc/article/3274/drug+trafficking+website+was+hacked+to+arrest+oper ators.html)

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1473917%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/silk3n-1-web.jpg (http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1473917%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/silk3n-1-web.jpg)
Silk Road website currently displays seizure notice. Theoretically, it is impossible to find a website hosted on the Tor system. This is why there are questions over how the police managed to take it down in the early October.

The industry observers have their own version of how the FBI and CIA tracked down the physical location of the site servers. This one has nothing to do with the individual accused of being the Silk Road’s operator, Ross Ulbricht. Instead, the security experts think that the CIA accessed the website server via Tor, and ran an exploit on it enabling to locate it over the common Internet.

Read the rest here (http://extratorrent.cc/article/3274/drug+trafficking+website+was+hacked+to+arrest+oper ators.html)


http://oi47.tinypic.com/6hrs4l.jpg (http://oi47.tinypic.com/6hrs4l.jpg)

"Oy veh, competition is a sin"

"We cant have gentiles sellin our drugs and not givin us a cut, we're entitled!"



Posted by Mami (http://www.blogger.com/profile/13298385482303078866) at 10:13 PM No comments: (http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5440450620561193447&postID=5612919308948889429)

[Ares]

I would never EVER use a Tor Hidden Services server that utilized PHP or ASP. Straight low level C++ coding. PHP, ASP allow for too many extensions which can be exploited. Yeah it won't be pretty by any means. But it'll be a fortress of security.

I thought that java script TOR exploit might of had something to do with that back when it was found earlier this year.

[madfranks]

'Silk Road 2.0' Launches, Promising A Resurrected Black Market For The Dark Web (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/11/06/silk-road-2-0-launches-promising-a-resurrected-black-market-for-the-dark-web/)

[vacuum]

'Silk Road 2.0' Launches, Promising A Resurrected Black Market For The Dark Web (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/11/06/silk-road-2-0-launches-promising-a-resurrected-black-market-for-the-dark-web/)

Hosted and run by the FBI?

[Ares]

Hosted and run by the FBI?

Don't think so, I went through the discussion forums and the new Dread Pirate Roberts is a former vender and tech who assisted the original DPR. At least that's what I gathered reading through the blog.

It was entirely community based, he offered rewards and jobs to people who can break in, or show how to secure the site. Even set up (have no idea how) the bitcoin wallet system so that if the system is confiscated the coins won't be, and you'll be able to withdraw them.

[Son-of-Liberty]

Isn't that how it works? The Dread Pirate Roberts just replaces himself every once in a while.


http://youtu.be/aHZGqBVBCRw

[madfranks]

Isn't that how it works? The Dread Pirate Roberts just replaces himself every once in a while.


http://youtu.be/aHZGqBVBCRw

Yes! That's exactly what I thought of too! It turns out that calling himself DPR was somewhat prophetic of his fate.