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The Drug's in the Mail - The Silk Road and our very own Tronica!

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Forbes online has an article based on the quotes of DPR

Collected Quotations Of The Dread Pirate Roberts, Founder Of Underground Drug Site Silk Road And Radical Libertarian

Article is 5 pages long, heres the first page..........
In public, the pseudonymous Internet drug czar known as the Dread Pirate Roberts doesn’t say much. Roberts’ website, the illegal, anonymous drug-selling black market known as the Silk Road, has survived only because of its creator’s discretion. On the rare occasions when DPR speaks to the press, he (or she) does so in short messages, and–at least in my case–only through the anonymizing service Tor, the same cryptographic tool used to prevent the Feds from tracking down the Silk Road’s servers or its users. Thanks to that discretion, the Silk Road’s Bitcoin-driven narcotics trade has thrived for more than two years without being shut down by law enforcement, and its founder hasn’t been identified.

But within the community that the Dread Pirate Roberts has created, Silk Road’s founder is hardly so shy. On the Tor-hidden online forums associated with Silk Road, Roberts posts long manifestos, philosophical and political musings, love letters to Silk Road’s users, and even hosts the Dread Pirate Roberts Book Club, a reading and discussion group devoted to “agorism, counter-economics, anarcho-capitalism, Austrian economics, political philosophy, freedom issues and related topics.”

The character that emerges from those writings is no run-of-the-mill cybercriminal. (Though Silk Road site was moving $22 million worth of illicit pharmaceuticals a year at last check.) Roberts instead comes across as a principled libertarian and cypherpunk in the same vein as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Below, I’ve assembled DPR’s writings from Silk Road’s forum on every topic from the War on Drugs to Ron Paul to his own motives and ideology. Since most readers don’t use Tor, I’ve copied some entire long passages here. But for those who do use Tor, I’ve added links at the end of each subject back to Silk Road’s Tor-hidden community forum, where you can read all of Roberts’ words in context.
Founder Of Drug Site Silk Road Says Bitcoin Booms And Busts Won't Kill His Black Market Andy Greenberg Andy Greenberg Forbes Staff
Black Market Drug Site 'Silk Road' Booming: $22 Million In Annual Sales Andy Greenberg Andy Greenberg Forbes Staff

On the Silk Road as a practical libertarian system:

“Silk Road was founded on libertarian principles and continues to be operated on them. It is a great idea and a great practical system…It is not a utopia. It is regulated by market forces, not a central power (even I am subject to market forces by my competition. No one is forced to be here). The same principles that have allowed Silk Road to flourish can and do work anywhere human beings come together. The only difference is that the State is unable to get its thieving murderous mitts on it.” [10/1/2012]

On the War on Drugs: (In response to criticisms from another user who said that Silk Road hasn’t affected the War on Drugs)

“Silk Road has already made an impact on the war on drugs. The effect of the war is to limit people’s access to controlled substances. Silk Road has expanded people’s access. The great thing about agorism is that it is a victory from a thousand battles. Every single transaction that takes place outside the nexus of state control is a victory for those individuals taking part in the transaction. So there are thousands of victories here each week and each one makes a difference, strengthens the agora, and weakens the state.” [9/23/2012]

On the potential for drug cartels to form on Silk Road:

“Cartels are nearly impossible to maintain without the use of violence, especially in an environment as competitive as Silk Road. There is also nothing morally wrong with them. If a cartel were to form, I would not attempt to break it up unless its members were breaking other rules. If you want an explanation for why cartels are nearly impossible to maintain in a free market environment, please read “Man, Economy and State” chapter 10, part 2, section D.” [3/21/2013]

On maintaining the trust of Silk Road’s users: (after a Silk Road outage raised concerns among users that the site’s administrators might have run off with the funds stored on the site)

“I know this whole market is based on the trust you put in me and I don’t take that lightly. It’s an honor to serve you and though you don’t know who I am, and have no recourse if I were to betray you, I hope that as time goes on I will have more opportunities to demonstrate that my intentions are genuine and no amount of money could buy my integrity.

Especially you old hats that have been around since the beginning, but this goes for everyone, you all are like family to me. Sure we have some crazy cousins floating around, but they just add character, right? Doesn’t matter though, I love you all. Of all the people in the world, you are the ones who are here, in the early stages of this revolution. You are the ones getting this thing off the ground and driving it forward. It is a privilege to have you by my side. Thank you for your trust, faith, camaraderie and love.” [11/17/2012]

On the “heroes” who sell drugs on Silk Road:

“There are heroes among us here at Silk Road. Every day they risk their lives, fortunes, and precious liberty for us. They are on the front lines making tough decisions and working their asses off to make this market what it is. Of course I am talking about our vendors. I won’t try to acknowledge them individually because we are blessed with so many extraordinary people who have stepped up to the task and taken it upon themselves to find a way to stock the shelves at Silk Road. They labor tirelessly to balance the heavy responsibilities they’ve taken on. From customer support, to supply chain and inventory management, to promotion, to quality control, to risk management and mitigation, to IT, to Bitcoin finance, to order fulfillment, and on and on, these guys and gals are professionals that are rising to the top of their game.”[2/27/2012]

On financial motivations, and whether DPR founded Silk Road “for the money,” as another user claims:

“Money is one motivating factor for me. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t impose a commission on trades, or require vendors to use the Silk Road payment processor. Money motivates me for two reasons. For one, I have basic human needs that money allows me to meet so that I may devote my time to our cause. I also enjoy a few first-world pleasures that I feel I have earned, but nothing extravagant. In fact, compared to most I know, I still live quite frugally. I buy better food at the grocery store now, and got some new clothes, and am more generous with my friends and loved ones, but I’ve always been a cheap ass, and still kinda am out of habit. Besides that, I don’t want the attention that buying big toys brings for security reasons.

More importantly, money is powerful, and it’s going to take power to affect the kinds of changes I want to see. Money allows us to expand our infrastructure and manpower to accommodate the growing demands of our market and to pursue paths that will compliment and strengthen what’s already been created here.

All that being said, my primary motivation is not personal wealth, but making a difference. As corny as it sounds, I just want to look back on my life and know that I did something worthwhile that helped people. It’s fulfilling to me. If you don’t know this joy, you may hear my words as insincere and as a way to manipulate, but I know they are true and resonate with some of you. There is nothing wrong with living your life to maximize your own pleasure, so long as you aren’t hurting anyone in the process, but you will miss out on higher levels of happiness if your focus is always on yourself. It’s paradoxical, but the less you focus on your own happiness and focus on others’, the happier you’ll be. Try it out, you can always go back to being selfish. :)” [9/23/2012]
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/04/29/collected-quotations-of-the-dread-pirate-roberts-founder-of-the-drug-site-silk-road-and-radical-libertarian/
 
Doctor provides guide to illicit drug website to assist suicide

IT'S called Silk Road and it's one of the internet's most secretive destinations.

It is an online black market for illicit drugs like ecstasy and cocaine that is the scourge of law enforcement and Customs.

Silk Road is a shadowy website with an often shadowy clientele. But Dr Philip Nitschke, a prominent euthanasia advocate who is one of Australia's most controversial doctors and often referred to as "Doctor Death", has found an unusual audience for the service – the elderly.

Exit International, the outspoken doctor's assisted-suicide advocacy group, has provided its mostly aged followers with a manual for how to obtain suicide medication through the encrypted black market.

Dr Nitschke said his organisation published the guide because a Customs crackdown on euthanasia medication entering the country was causing many supporters to lose their money on seized medication.

Customs figures show the number of detections of euthanasia drugs such as Nembutal (which contains the barbiturate pentobarbitone) has tripled in the past three years, from 25 in 2009-10 to 76 in the last financial year.

"They might be 80-year-olds, but they don't like losing their $400," Dr Nitschke told news.com.au, adding that his more sophisticated strategies may help patients save their money.

The guide is necessary as the Silk Road requires significant technical expertise to access. It can only be reached using special software, not through Google or a web browser.

Silk Road, named after the ancient trade route between Europe and Asia which revolutionized the world economy, also only accepts an untraceable virtual currency called Bitcoins, not global currencies like Australian dollars.

A spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection Service said buyers and sellers of any illegal products online or on the Silk Road risk prosecution - and run the real risk of being scammed as well.

Silk Road

The Silk Road website is better known as an encrypted destination for purchasing illicit drugs like cannabis and ecstasy.

The agency said it was working in collaboration with local and international law enforcement partners as part of a global intelligence network to clamp down on buyers and sellers of drugs on anonymous websites such as Silk Road.

"Intelligence gathered by Customs and Border Protection and commentary made by buyers and sellers in online forums suggests that this disruption activity is having an adverse effect on the degree of the trust between buyers and sellers within Silk Road."

"Customs and Border Protection has noted an increasing trend on Silk Road, whereby several 'anonymous' dealers have announced on forums that they will no longer sell to Australians or have imposed more stringent transaction rules on Australian buyers."

Dr Nitschke's Silk Road manual is just the latest in a string of controversial attempts to assist people with medically-assisted suicide.

The medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), is investigating Dr Nitschke over his use of an apparent beer brewing company to import nitrogen cylinders that can be used for suicide.

The doctor runs Max Dog Brewers, which sells nitrogen canisters which tend to be used for food processing and in beer production. The Brewer's website says the nitrogen canisters can be used for food or "the other many hundred uses".

The anti-euthanasia group Hope has complained about his promotion and sale of nitrogen, arguing it makes him an unfit person to hold a medical licence.

"I think there's a significant public policy around the activities of Exit International," Hope director Paul Russell said.

Euthanasia is illegal in Australia. Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings and Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim have introduced a proposal to legalise "voluntary assisted dying" in the island state.

It will likely be voted on later this year, although Dr Nitschke is uncertain about its chances.

Euthanasia was legal in the Northern Territory between 1995 and 1997, when the legislation was overruled by the Federal Government.
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http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/doctor-provides-guide-to-illicit-drug-website-to-assist-suicide/story-fneuzlbd-1226611398622
 
Wow. Thanks for posting that.

I did some hunting around but couldn't get clarification as to whether he was using Nangs or actual Nitrogen cannisters. I assume the former.
 
Internet Drug Dealers Are Really Nice Guys
The Silk Road is sometimes described as the eBay of illegal drugs. It’s actually more like Etsy, with its do-it-yourself philosophy and friendly community. Just like Etsy, you place your order with a stranger on the other side of the world, pay using electronic money, and in a couple of days, your package arrives. Except that instead of a dream catcher made of hair and toenail clippings, you get heroin!

The Silk Road runs on Bitcoin, the untraceable electronic currency that has been in the news thanks to its spectacular rise in value and subsequent crash. It turns out it’s not just the creepy Winkelvoss twins who are sitting on piles of theoretical money, but dealers on the Silk Road too. When Bitcoin rose to over $200, some were lucky enough to sell high. Others weren’t so fortunate—one vendor, SuperTrips, claims to have lost $1.5 million when the price crashed.

I talked to some of the good people of the Silk Road about Bitcoin and life selling drugs online. They were a little paranoid, understandably, but surprisingly accommodating too. Apart from the guy who called me “dumber than the queen’s cunt hairs,” which was creative, at least. For obvious reasons, they all declined to give real names or photographs.

Greg – Dope Vendor - 37

VICE: How did you get into selling drugs online?
Greg: I heard about Silk Road through a news article. I thought it was a scam at first, but then I knew some people who said they'd tried it out and said it works.

Is mailing dope your full-time job?
No, it is not my full-time job. It is just an extra thing I do on the side. I think marijuana should be legal, so I provide it to people. Other countries (and some states in the US) have legalized it, which clearly shows it isn't a problem for users or society.

Is it easier than hustling out on the street corner?
It takes a lot more time to package orders than it does to simply hand someone a bag with weed in it IRL. The higher prices on here reflect the time and effort that goes in to every order. There are a lot of scammers on here—requesting refunds very quickly, saying it was underweight etc. But most people are friendly because they are happy they have received the product they paid for.

Aren’t you afraid of the law?
It does cross my mind, but I have myself covered well. If a package went straight to a police officer, it wouldn't worry me because it cannot be traced back to me.

Paul – Oxycodone Vendor – 66

How did you get involved in the Silk Road?
Paul: We were looking for a new place to vend. About three years ago the crackdown officially started on online pharmacies. And just prior to that Google was fined something like a billion dollars for accepting pharmacy ads. Like many people, an article on Gawker lured me, as well as a large percentage of people to SR.

How big is your operation?
It’s a full-time job for six people. I can't imagine that any vendors who make over $1000–$5000 per day are one-man bands. It's impossible. Customer service and return business account for nearly 80 percent of sales, and then you have logistics and packing which are the most mundane and time consuming chores. Our average order is 300–500 pills, ten to 20 times per week depending on time of year, Bitcoin price, etc.

Does it weird you out that everyone is so friendly?
Friendly? Wait until a package comes a day late and see how friendly customers are. SR is sort of a Mexican standoff. The customers know the vendor has their name and address. On the flip side, a customer has the ability to ruin a vendor's rating, potentially causing them to lose a significant amount a business. There are some scammers, passive-aggressive customers, and occasional assholes who know how to successfully exploit vendors.

Are you afraid it’ll all get shut down one day?
The Silk Road proved a black marketplace is viable. If for some reason SR would shut down tomorrow, eventually 95 percent of the vendors would move over to another site.

Neuroplex – Xanax vendor – Declined to give age

How much Xanax are you mailing?
Neuroplex: We have had a stock shortage, which we had to increase our prices for, during that time we only had about 20–40 orders a week. But once we're back in full swing, I estimate it will return to about 180–300.

Has the volatility of the Bitcoin effected your business?
Yeah, I lost in excess of $25,000.

How do you make sure your customers are satisfied?
I make sure adequate stealth is provided by making the express envelope feel like a normal business document. I also always provide the highest-quality product and try to deliver these products as quick as possible. It’s a very good system, being able to safely source consistent high-quality product (for consumers). Then for vendors it's a great opportunity to ensure your customers are getting clean and high-quality products, whilst safely making money.

Ace – MDMA and Weed Vendor – 24

Is this your full time job?
Ace: In some respects it is. It’s slowly taking over my usual job, which is part-time, anyway, but was originally full-time; the pay from this became a bit too nice for me to keep working that hard. I’d rather just kick back, take orders, smoke some weed, and do it all again for a very good paycheck, so I’m not complaining. I can take about 10–20 orders a day, so anywhere from 70 to 140 a week, but saying that I can grow if need be. But I’d rather keep it to that so my customers feel like they’re getting a good customer-service relationship, and everything that goes along with that.

Do you feel like it’s less dangerous selling drugs online?
Well I've done it all from selling weed to growing it at a commercial level and in real life. I’ve had a gun at my head and had to do some questionable things myself. But that's the way it is when you’re dealing IRL. But when you’re on SR, all you have to worry about is the police and a bad review. So I’d say it’s more safe for the seller and for the buyer—it’s all good.

Does it trip you out, the demand for drugs online?
This whole site is just proof that full prohibition of drugs is clearly not the magic key. If that doesn’t 100 percent make sense it's because I’m fairly high.
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http://www.vice.com/en_au/read/internet-drug-dealers-are-really-nice-guys
 
Just in case anyone is tempted to start selling on SR after reading my post above

Jail time for web drug trafficker
A man has become the first Illawarra person - and one of only a handful nationwide - to be convicted of trafficking drugs via an underground website.

Christopher Owen was yesterday jailed for a minimum 5½ years for selling large amounts of drugs via the Silk Road - an anonymous, online drug-trading website in which buyers pay for illegal substances using the Bitcoin virtual currency.

Wollongong District Court was told by the prosecution that Owen ran a "reasonably sophisticated" drug operation out of two rooms in his parents' Figtree home, shipping MDMA (ecstasy), the horse tranquiliser ketamine and methylamphetamine to customers across the country.

Police documents tendered to the court said police found various amounts of drugs organised in Australia Post envelopes when Owen was pulled over and his car searched in West Wollongong on April 27 last year.

The envelopes were addressed to different people across the country. Police also found more than $1000 cash and two mobile phones linked to Owen's drug deals in the car.

However, the full extent of the drug operation was not known until officers searched Owen's recently renovated bedroom.

Inside, they found a "mini office" with computers, a safe, drugs, scales, cutting agents, about $14,000 in cash and a drug ledger with a record of transactions.

An examination of Owen's mobile phone revealed a user name and password for the Silk Road website, of which he was an active member for about two months.

An entry on the site spruiking Owen's wares promised "high quality crystal meth and high end MDMA".

"My goal is a happy customer, unlike most (not all) meth dealers you meet face to face," Owen wrote in an April 18, 2012, entry on the site.

The court heard records from the website showed Owen supplied 172 MDMA pills in 28 separate transactions from April 16 to April 26 last year, as well as shipping three packages of unknown drugs in separate transactions during the same period.

In return, he received 1689.49 "Bitcoin" - the equivalent of $8447.45.

The court heard that Owen became hooked on ice when he was 20 but managed to keep his addiction and drug operation a secret from his parents.

Judge Paul Conlon yesterday accepted that Owen had no prior criminal convictions, had good prospects of rehabilitation and had entered guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity, entitling him to a 25 per cent discount on his final sentence.

He ordered Owen to spend a minimum of 5½ years in jail with a further five years on parole.

With time already served, Owen will be eligible for parole on October 26, 2017
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5 1/2 years + 5 on parole.. shit.

Police documents tendered to the court said police found various amounts of drugs organised in Australia Post envelopes when Owen was pulled over and his car searched in West Wollongong on April 27 last year.
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I guess that is how he was caught.

An examination of Owen's mobile phone revealed a user name and password for the Silk Road website, of which he was an active member for about two months.
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Not too smart.

http://www.standard.net.au/story/1508217/jail-time-for-web-drug-trafficker/?cs=2452
 
^ Long term for selling drugs, and it's a shame all his customers are now probably on some kind of watch list.

I'd have to take a wild guess and suggest that this person wasn't the smartest man on the planet, having a "drug ledger" found in his (parents) home and a user/pass to silk road on his phone.

mister said:
In return, he received 1689.49 "Bitcoin" - the equivalent of $8447.45.
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This must be very, very old because at today's rate, 1689.49 is over $200,000 USD @ $122 USD per bitcoin - that's after the crash and height of something like $260 USD.
 
I noticed that after I posted - but felt I'd leave it there for effect %)

Actually I'm just a dumb ass and thought all should see the irony in my post.
 
poledriver said:
11i1nag.png
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I wonder if this is the guy responsible for those ddos attacks on SR.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/20/man-accused-breaking-the-internet
 
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Captain Brewster said:
I didn't like this: "Kamphuis was last week taken to the Netherlands – a country that recently announced plans to let police hack into computers located abroad, installing spyware, reading emails and deleting files."

At the bottom of that:
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I noticed that too. It sounds just like what the U.S. does, except without telling people about it. Maybe that's the key to real freedom?
 
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