Silk Road from the inside: Moderator SSBD tells his story
18 months after being arrested in Brisbane, Australian man Peter N. has been sentenced to time served by a United States judge. That means he is a free man. It must have been disappointing for the prosecution who asked for an extra 10-12 years to add to the 18 months he’s already spent inside.[EDIT: See correction here] In […]
What is it with Aussies and the darknet markets?
Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted earlier this year of being Dread Pirate Roberts, owner of online drugs bazaar Silk Road, is due to be sentenced next Friday. Australians were over-represented as customers of Silk Road (third largest user base by identified country according to FBI documents) and now it seems we will be over-represented at Ross Ulbricht’s […]
DoctorX’s affidavit in support of Silk Road/Ross Ulbricht
Dr Fernando Caudevilla, better known to the darknet market users as DoctorX, has thrown his support behind Ross Ulbricht, convicted of being Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts. DoctorX has provided an affidavit in support of Silk Road and it’s owner.
Special Agent Force, Alpacino and me
Given the readership of my blog has likely devoured the story of the awesomely-named Carl Mark Force IV and his colleague Detective Bridge (you couldn’t make these names up), I won’t rehash it here. Just want to share one of those “didn’t seem significant at the time” stories.
Did Silk Road plagiarise Landmark’s charter?
Last month a friend who had just started reading my book rang me almost hyperventilating. “It’s Landmark!” she said. “It’s fucking Landmark!” She had noticed some startling similarities between the Landmark Forum’s 2020 Charter (which seems to have been superseded since it was written in the 90’s) and the Silk Road Charter, which is quoted […]
A message from Silk Road’s SSBD
It is a year to the day since three alleged moderators/administrators of Silk Road were arrested. I posted an update on where the three were here. Little has changed as they face another Christmas break in limbo. In particular, the one who got the rawest deal, Aussie Peter Nash (accused of being forum moderator Samesamebutdifferent), […]
Silk Road Book and Bitcoin Doco launch
ALL WELCOME Thursday 11 December 6.30 pm Come and enjoy complimentary nibbles (drinks at bar prices) at one of St Kilda’s coolest secret venues for the launch of “Silk Road” by Eileen Ormsby and screening of acclaimed documentary #TheBitcoinDoco by Dale Dickins. Be at The George Lane bar, 1 George Lane (enter from Grey Street […]
The truth behind 60 Minutes hyperbole of the dark web
After last night’s 60 Minutes, any parent could be forgiven for barging into their teen’s bedroom and confiscating their computer, terrified that their offspring is accessing the 90% of the hidden internet filled with hitmen, weapons and drugs. Teens everywhere are doing it apparently. The 60 Minutes report is available here: 60 Minutes report on The Dark […]
Defcon speaks about the state of Silk Road
For the first time since its original incarnation’s launch in January 2011, Silk Road has been knocked off as the dark market’s leader. It now comes in third. According to Vault 43, Evolution has 15,851 listings, Agora 15,522 and Silk Road a mere 11,025 listings. “While our staff is the largest and most experienced in […]
State of the darkmarkets: Pandora compromised?
One of the members of Onionland recently created a searchable version of the original Silk Road forums. As you do, I went on a little trip down memory lane. In August 2012 in response to the thread ‘Think Silk Road will be around for a while’ I wrote: I think that no matter what happens […]