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

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I've thought about using SR for the longest time now. Like it's been eating away at me because I would use it for stuff I couldn't find easily where I live, and I know how I would do it.

But I always chicken out
 
I would have described some of the reasons why SR is seen as safer than standard drug dealers, but then qualified that this is not necessarily the case. It's complex, which you can see in this thread - with people weighing the different pros and cons and coming to different conclusions.

In the end it's like all things in life - you need to exercise due diligence, and even then, you accept a risk. I'm not so keen on promoting something on national TV that may harm people, but then again, we all take risks in everyday life. It's a balance between individual and collective responsibility IMHO :)
 
In "breaking" news.....

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service are warning anyone engaging in illegal activity through online marketplaces such as Silk Road that their identity will not always remain anonymous and when caught, they will be prosecuted.

Silk Road is an overseas based illicit e-commerce website which facilitates the sale of drugs, weapons and other items prohibited under Australian law.

Law enforcement is well aware of this method of drug procurement and other illicit e-commerce platforms and are committed to identifying and combating users importing narcotics via this website into Australia.

The warning follows the recent arrest of a Melbourne man who allegedly imported narcotics into Australia via Silk Road. The man was charged with 10 offences relating to the importation, trafficking and possession of narcotics and prohibited weapons.

AFP Manager Crime Operations Peter Sykora said although Silk Road is based overseas, Australian users are within the reach of the AFP’s powers.

“Criminals are attempting to exploit the international mail system through online networks, but the recent arrest demonstrates that we are one step ahead of them.

“The AFP will continue to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals or groups importing narcotics into Australia, including via illicit e-commerce platforms such as Silk Road,” Commander Sykora said.

Acting National Manager Cargo and Maritime Targeting Branch, Alana Sullivan, said that Customs and Border Protection monitors illicit e-commerce platforms including Silk Road and is aware of the Australian presence in the Silk Road market place, as both sellers and buyers.

“Customs and Border Protection along with our partner agencies are committed to targeting and combating this type of illegal activity.

“Persons who buy or sell through online market places, on so-called ‘anonymous’ networks should understand that they are not guaranteed anonymity,” Ms Sullivan said.

While it is not an offence to access the website, it is an offence to import or attempt to import a border controlled drug or prohibited weapons into Australia from this website.

Individuals who import border controlled drugs face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and/or a $825,000 fine
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http://36th-parallel.com/2012/07/media-release-afp-and-customs-warn-users-of-silk-road/
 
Tronica said:
Just saw this myself, mister. I wonder what the backstory is; how this guy got caught...
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Its very vague I think Tronica but it would be interesting to find out the finer details of this so called arrest.

Also "one" arrest? thats a pretty poor strike rate considering theres a fair few people ordering from SR so thats not exactly a blinding success.
 
Just watched the youtube clip. I suspect the authorities wouldn't have liked the emphasis near the beginning of the segment on how "there's so little they can do to stop it", and I therefore wonder whether the media release mister posted above was basically face-saving bluster to look tough after their weaknesses were exposed on national TV? Hard to tell, given that the release is so vague on details and methods. Is that vagueness because they have nothing substantive to say to actually scare people off, or because they have some top-secret, hot-shot, kick-arse approach to enforcement that they don't want the public to know about yet?
 
well done Tronica! and I didnt know you are a doctor?

One aspect that I dislike about all the media attention SR has gathered is the ammunition and excuses SR has given the government to censor the internet, although TOR can be used to circumvent this (keeping in mind that your internet provider CAN see that you are using TOR, it doesnt stop those in power using SR as an excuse to further diminish our privacy and freedom.

Ive worked within the film industry and printed media, met a lot of TV, film personalities and drug use is rife within these industries, kinda hypocritical of them to sit there on TV and spout the dangers of using drugs when a massive percentage of them use drugs on a regular basis, Id say to a greater percentage than us "normal folk".
 
It's a shame the media got hold of the story in the first place...I'm sure if it never ran the police would have much less interest. I guess it was always destined to be on the news though (great to see Monica adding some important facts to an otherwise mouthwateringly hype-able story)

I can see the police heavily targeting incoming international mail for a number of weeks in the future if silk road and similar keeps gaining popularity. They'd only have to do it long enough to scare most off. I think it would have to become a larger issue for them to bother with this though. If they did target it intensively, it'd definitely slow down the legit mail..so they have to balance pissing people off with drug busting mostly small amounts.

For now we'll see occasional busts of mostly larger amounts IMO. We'll probably hear more people getting 'internet drug busted', mostly because more people are starting to use it and the media are aware of it. I don't think your chances of getting caught have increased significantly.

If the mail system is upgraded with more advanced electronic sorting (so they can run filters for suspicious trends - like individual addresses receiving letters/parcels from DrugCountryA and DrugCountryB over a certain period of time for example) they could pull that mail and do a quick check under the x-ray or with an ionic-scanner, and either clear it or seize it. This would make it way less expensive to combat drugs coming in. I'm sure the right person could write some special algorithms to pull aside suss mail and make it way more difficult.

Then there's these lasers I was reading about :) -

genia-photonics_20120711084354.jpg


Military //
That inconspicuous brown box above is reportedly a new kind of laser-based molecular scanner that can collect spectroscopic information from more than 45 metres away. It can instantly probe your clothing and luggage for chemical traces of anything - explosives, drugs, biological matter - and you will never even know it.

So says Gizmodo in a mildly terrifying piece posted this morning about Genia Photonics' laser scanning device, contracted by an entity called In-Q-Tel, which is basically a group of private technology incubators working for the CIA. The idea, reportedly, is to install this molecular scanner in airports and border crossings and the like, where it can deliver instantaneous (it analyses in just 50 picoseconds) spectroscopic analysis of people and cargo from a distance - and likely from an unseen location. Authorities could scan everyone passing through an airport terminal, sports stadium, or customs check.

Or it could scan everyone simply walking down a street. It's supposedly portable, so it could be deployed anywhere from far enough away that the subject wouldn't have to know about it. Reports Gizmodo's anonymous author:

"The small, inconspicuous machine is attached to a computer running a program that will show the information in real time, from trace amounts of cocaine on your dollar bills to gunpowder residue on your shoes. Forget trying to sneak a bottle of water past security-they will be able to tell what you had for breakfast in an instant while you're walking down the hallway."

DHS says the technology will be ready for deployment in just one or two years. You can practically hear the privacy rights groups gathering their pitchforks for this one.
Click to expand...
http://www.popsci.com.au/technology...tly-remotely-scan-you-for-drugs-or-explosives
http://gizmodo.com/5923980/the-secret-government-laser-that-instantly-knows-everything-about-you

I'm sure they could adapt it pretty easily for incoming mail. I think it's a pretty cool device (technically speaking), obviously a nightmare for privacy....remains to be seen how effective it is at filtering out false positives and that kind of thing.

The government doesn't have enough money for super expensive mail sorting equipment and drug lasers (yet).
 
within 1o years we wont be able to breath without the authorities knowing. People say "if your not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about", these people fail to see how oppressive this is regardless of whether your doing wrong or not. Our freedom to think and choose is slowly being irradiated.

Hello 1984.
 
spacejunk said:
that's an instrument of oppression if ever i've seen one.
"this machine helps fascists"
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I wonder if it'll ever be implemented here? I'd like to hold out hope that it won't...but realistically I can already hear 'I've got nothing to hide so why I should I care about it?'

Got sent this video last night of Orson Wells talking about similar themes in 1955 -

http://youtu.be/cEEaCiFQyCM - About 2:10 into the video. Might be interesting to some here :)
 
shoo-bop said:
Is that vagueness because they have nothing substantive to say to actually scare people off, or because they have some top-secret, hot-shot, kick-arse approach to enforcement that they don't want the public to know about yet?
Click to expand...

I wondered the same thing myself...

mister said:
well done Tronica! and I didnt know you are a doctor?

One aspect that I dislike about all the media attention SR has gathered is the ammunition and excuses SR has given the government to censor the internet, although TOR can be used to circumvent this (keeping in mind that your internet provider CAN see that you are using TOR, it doesnt stop those in power using SR as an excuse to further diminish our privacy and freedom.
Click to expand...

Yeah, not a medical doctor - but my PhD was conferred in June and I'll be graduating in September. So I now have a PhD in drugs and the internet. :)

Actually SR makes a mockery of the federal government's internet filter, given it just won't work on the hidden web at all. Yes, some politicians may say this gives more support towards a filter but it's really the opposite because if they implemented a filter, more people would get familiar with Tor, and as more people use Tor, the harder it will be to associate Tor with illegal activity. More and more people will use it for everyday internet use if the public internet becomes more locked down.

Christ! said:
It's a shame the media got hold of the story in the first place...I'm sure if it never ran the police would have much less interest. I guess it was always destined to be on the news though (great to see Monica adding some important facts to an otherwise mouthwateringly hype-able story)
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Thanks. It's a shame I hadn't seen the segment played directly before me because I could have corrected them on air, around there not being auctions for drugs, for example. At least I was able to say that, no, it's not as easy as a 'click of a mouse'!

Christ! said:
If they did target it intensively, it'd definitely slow down the legit mail..so they have to balance pissing people off with drug busting mostly small amounts. ... The government doesn't have enough money for super expensive mail sorting equipment and drug lasers (yet).
Click to expand...

Wow - that is the first time I'd seen a machine like that. Very 1984. Very scary. Could change our lives pretty dramatically... As you point out though, the govt cannot scan all mail due to cost and slowing down the system at least using current technologies. Especially since sellers are generally sending standard envelopes packed very flatly.

Another thought I had was that one day there will be no more need for paper mail - we may all have digital mail boxes. That may make it harder to disguise drugs in standard envelopes.
 
Perhaps we could say that DreadPirateRoberts has a PhD in drugs, the internet and commerce!

Yes, DM, it's almost hard to believe really!
 
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