Shadh1 – penalised for not propping up Aussie organised crime?
If small-time drug dealer shadh1 had purchased his drugs from Australians, his jail term would be less than half what he received. As a drug dealer, shadh1 was really really bad at his job. One of the key performance indicators is an ability to stay off the radar of law enforcement authorities, who are obliged […]
A response to Vexnews
Last week, after one of my articles was unexpectedly submitted into evidence in court, an odd little online publication called Vexnews published a vicious, bizarre and inaccurate attack on me. I said I wasn’t going to give it any oxygen in my last post, but I really think it should be pulled apart for the […]
When a journo becomes the story
Last Wednesday I went along to sit in on the plea hearing of the first major Australian ‘Silk Road’ case, expecting to perhaps get a blog post out of it. I never expected what would come next. The court heard evidence of 12 parcels containing drugs that had been intercepted between 27 March and 29 June 2012. […]
Who’s got it in for the Silk Road?
Ever since the suspected DDoS attack in November, the admins at Silk Road have been combating a number of different scams and attacks on the site. It’s hard to tell whether this is a concerted attack by one group determined to piss the website off or each one is separate. The most pervasive ones have […]
An identity crisis on the darkweb
WARNING (JUNE 2014): BUYER BEWARE ANYONE COMING HERE THROUGH A LINK FROM A WEBSITE THAT CLAIMS THIS BLOG IS ABOUT THEM. THEY ARE LYING TO YOU 🙂 Unless you’ve been under a rock, you would be aware that there are thriving underground black markets on the darkweb, offering everything from drugs to shrunken heads for sale. […]
Things you didn’t know you could buy online – shopping on the Dark Web
So, we all know you can buy drugs online, but Silk Road is not the only marketplace on the dark web. Here’s a few other things you might not have realised you can have for a price. Redecorating? For $1500 you can buy yourself a genuine shrunken human head. This, I am assured, is […]
Is Silk Road’s owner jumping ship?
Is Silk Road’s owner – The Dread Pirate Roberts – sailing off into the sunset with wads of cash? Has he sold Silk Road as a going concern and included the goodwill of his name and reputation in the price?
Why proposed internet security measures will do more harm than good
Last month I published a piece in The Age about the ‘dark web’ – sites that can only be accessed through anonymity software. What became lost beneath graphics of demons emerging from computers was a line I wrote in response to proposed legislative changes that could lead to the web history of any device connected […]
The Dark Web
So The Age surprised me this morning by pulling my latest feature forward because editorial staff were on strike and Management came in and just ran whatever they could find, adding any photos they could find. Here she is: The New Underbelly. What makes me sad is that, judging by most of the comments beneath […]
The Great 420 Scam
A drug dealer ripping off customers? The nerve! Silk Road, as I reported previously, is the online illicit drug marketplace that has defied law enforcement efforts to close it down. Last month, Silk Road reported the greatest scam in its fifteen-month history, which cost the site’s users over a hundred thousand dollars in just two […]