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yeah he's not exactly a role model.
The Dread Pirate Roberts arrested; The Silk Road shut down
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yeah he's not exactly a role model.
So it looks like this case is drawing to a close. If I understand that article correctly the murder for hire case is being prosecuted separately. I think this guy is fucked. IIRC they charged him as a drug kingpin which can be sentenced with death, although I don't think he'll get that. I do expect him to get 30+ years though.
Guilty of all the current charges.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/04/silk-road-verdict-ulbricht/22824331/
If they prosecute him for murder for hire, I wonder if it'll hold up. I can't recall all the specifics, but it could be thrown out due to entrapment.
Also, just like I said a year ago, Bitcoin prices are dropping. Who knows how far they'll drop. They're still worth a decent amount, just not as much as when news of this story took off last year.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/04/silk-road-verdict-ulbricht/22824331/
If they prosecute him for murder for hire, I wonder if it'll hold up. I can't recall all the specifics, but it could be thrown out due to entrapment.
Also, just like I said a year ago, Bitcoin prices are dropping. Who knows how far they'll drop. They're still worth a decent amount, just not as much as when news of this story took off last year.
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Watched the documentary "Deep Web" on Epix last night about The Silk Road. Pretty fascinating and worth a watch. I was already familiar with the most of the stuff from reading about it the past year or so, but it does raise a ton of questions about the legalities of how the government cracked down on Ross Ulbricht, and how the trial was fucked up, etc. Plus you get a ton more insight about Ulbricht from friends and family members. This really is one of the most remarkable stories I've seen in my lifetime.
On a side-note, this movie was also neat because it was a Bill and Ted reunion with Alex Winter directing and Keanu Reeves narrating.
On a side-note, this movie was also neat because it was a Bill and Ted reunion with Alex Winter directing and Keanu Reeves narrating.
I had downloaded the Deep Web documentary but didn't get around to watching it until the last comment. I'm glad I did. I'm not so sure of the government's charges. It seems like there was more than one person who used the "Dread Pirate Roberts" account. If so, it would be almost impossible to pin this on Ulbricht. I have to say here that the documentary didn't really present the government's case in full, but it did poke some holes in the established narrative.
Even if Ulbricht did think he was putting out a hit, that's still, what, one to six people who were supposed to be offed? How many people died during the government's war on drugs in that time? How many police officers were killed? So it's going to be hard for anyone to convince me Ulbricht was the greater evil, even if given the fact that he wanted up to six people killed.
Furthermore, like many of us suspected, it seems as if the NSA got the evidence via illegal or at least shady means, then they worked backwards from there. That's not the way it's supposed to work here.
I don't think he deserved life in jail. It's a travesty because he took the violence out of the drug trade. If anything, he should be celebrated. That's my opinion. Too many people make careers out of agitprop to rally voters (politicians like Charles Schumer) or their livelihoods depend on this insane war on drugs (government agencies and private enterprises). When only a handful of people who destroy the economy and double our national debt are in prison but the book is thrown at this guy, it's hard to have a lot of faith in our entire system. It's not like things are terrible, but this case is emblematic of two greater issues - the failed war on drugs benefiting a handful of people, and overreach of government surveillance.
And the worst part about it all - it didn't even work. They took down TSR, and TSR 2.0 came about. They kept taking down other websites, and new websites popped back up, ones that were more decentralized and will be much, much harder to bust. And even if those websites get busted, new ones will take their places. I think what these agencies fear more than anything is a system in which there's a drug trade without violence. That would rob them of their justification for so many resources, especially financially. People's livelihoods depend on this war, and they don't care if non-violent people are locked up for all eternity. The only way they'll be able to stop online drug sales is to open up each individual piece of mail and check it - and even then, people will still get drugs through the dragnet.
As a side note, I've found many of the principles of Austrian economics simply unfeasible at a state level. I think it's naive to want to replace our economic structure with a sort of Austrian/Libertarian economy. Yet at the same time, I think the Austrian perspective is perfect for the dark net and digital currency, at least to some degree. I think that's how Bitcoin got so popular, and other cryptocurrencies.
Anyway, I highly recommend Deep Web if you can find it. It's made by Epix.
Even if Ulbricht did think he was putting out a hit, that's still, what, one to six people who were supposed to be offed? How many people died during the government's war on drugs in that time? How many police officers were killed? So it's going to be hard for anyone to convince me Ulbricht was the greater evil, even if given the fact that he wanted up to six people killed.
Furthermore, like many of us suspected, it seems as if the NSA got the evidence via illegal or at least shady means, then they worked backwards from there. That's not the way it's supposed to work here.
I don't think he deserved life in jail. It's a travesty because he took the violence out of the drug trade. If anything, he should be celebrated. That's my opinion. Too many people make careers out of agitprop to rally voters (politicians like Charles Schumer) or their livelihoods depend on this insane war on drugs (government agencies and private enterprises). When only a handful of people who destroy the economy and double our national debt are in prison but the book is thrown at this guy, it's hard to have a lot of faith in our entire system. It's not like things are terrible, but this case is emblematic of two greater issues - the failed war on drugs benefiting a handful of people, and overreach of government surveillance.
And the worst part about it all - it didn't even work. They took down TSR, and TSR 2.0 came about. They kept taking down other websites, and new websites popped back up, ones that were more decentralized and will be much, much harder to bust. And even if those websites get busted, new ones will take their places. I think what these agencies fear more than anything is a system in which there's a drug trade without violence. That would rob them of their justification for so many resources, especially financially. People's livelihoods depend on this war, and they don't care if non-violent people are locked up for all eternity. The only way they'll be able to stop online drug sales is to open up each individual piece of mail and check it - and even then, people will still get drugs through the dragnet.
As a side note, I've found many of the principles of Austrian economics simply unfeasible at a state level. I think it's naive to want to replace our economic structure with a sort of Austrian/Libertarian economy. Yet at the same time, I think the Austrian perspective is perfect for the dark net and digital currency, at least to some degree. I think that's how Bitcoin got so popular, and other cryptocurrencies.
Anyway, I highly recommend Deep Web if you can find it. It's made by Epix.
