Silk Road forums

Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: HarmReduction on June 13, 2013, 11:24 am

Title: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: HarmReduction on June 13, 2013, 11:24 am
Thanks to online shopping, even 23-year-olds get excited to see the mailman. Will bought his phone and laptop online, along with his shoes and the jacket he’s wearing. The package he’s waiting for now is different: it should contain two grams of cocaine.


After an increasingly anxious wait, Will hears the postman drop the A4-sized parcel, bound in butcher’s paper, in the mailbox of his inner-Sydney terrace house. His name and address are handwritten in thick black texta.

Will carries the parcel to his bedroom, closes the door and tears away the loose wrapping paper. Instead of a zip-lock bag, he finds Katie Holmes’s face staring back at him from the cover of the June 2001 issue of Teen Vogue.

The tousle-haired engineering student smiles, but a quick flick through the magazine reveals nothing. Will scratches his head. Leafing through the pages a second time more slowly, he catches sight of a shampoo sample.

Underneath, stuck to the glue used to fix the sachet to the page, there is also a tiny foil parcel. Will rips off a corner, inserts a finger and dabs white powder on the inside of his lip like a cop in an action movie: “It’s real.”

“I’ve seen some insane packaging,” Will confides later. “Vacuum sealing, an iPhone case, MDMA disguised as soil samples – but this takes the cake.”

Will is one of thousands of Australians who buy their drugs on the internet. So far he’s arranged more than 50 small importations via Silk Road, an eBay-like website that, a quick browse reveals, sells everything from marijuana and pills by the kilo to fake NSW driver’s licenses. There’s even a stack of 100 counterfeit $50 notes (going for much less than $5000). The only things forbidden are weapons and child pornography.

Silk Road works just like its legal counterparts – vendors try to earn positive feedback from buyers. There’s even a dispute-resolution service in the event that a package doesn’t arrive when and where it’s supposed to. Silk Road is only accessible through Tor, networking software that masks the user’s IP address and location, though customers such as Will are understandably paranoid.

Will uses Bitcoin, a bank- and government-free digital currency, to make purchases. Though Bitcoins are already untrackable, he sends the money through a program that launders it via hundreds of other accounts, just in case. When he gives his address to vendors, it’s in an encrypted form that only they can decode.

There’s one facet of security that software can’t help with: Will still lives with his parents.

“Of course my parents are suss about strange letters arriving for me from the UK,” he says. “But I’ve thought about what I’d tell them – I’d tell them it was workout supplements.”

The use of the postal system to import illicit drugs hasn’t gone unnoticed by law enforcement. In the 2010–11 financial year, Customs seized 1317 postal packages containing drugs. So far this financial year there have been 7000 seizures.

In February, Melbourne nightclub bouncer Paul Leslie Howard became the first person in Australia to be charged for importing drugs bought on the internet. Howard, 32, was jailed for three years and six months for what the sentencing judge called a “smorgasbord drug-market operation”.

An Australian Federal Police operation targeting Silk Road users in March resulted in six arrests and the seizure of 140 packages variously containing LSD, heroin, steroids, MDMA, cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine (ice).

“You’ll often have an envelope with a small amount of drugs inside and in there is also a letter,” says Jim Carroll, the manager of international mail at Customs’ Sydney mail gateway. “And the letter goes something like: ‘If you are the intended recipient, please use responsibly. If you are from law enforcement, go fuck yourself.’

“We take that as a bit of a compliment. We do know that at some stage we had sellers on Silk Road saying that they would no longer sell to Australia because they were losing too many shipments.”

“Being able to sell [drugs] to people around the country or around the world without sharing anything more than an anonymous username could not be any safer.”

Yet many people selling drugs on Silk Road don’t seem too concerned. NeuroPlex, a 20-year-old pill vendor by night and Melbourne apprentice by day, is more occupied with retaining his 100% positive feedback rating and didn’t even realise the AFP was aware of the site. Another vendor is OzePharma, a 35-year-old Sydneysider who promises next-day delivery around Australia on orders placed before 4 pm. “Being able to sell to people around the country or around the world without sharing anything more than an anonymous username could not be any safer,” he says. “I attempted selling through the street market but it’s a dangerous and competitive and risky market to be in. I’ve seen people killed and houses raided by cops and rival dealers. I wasn’t made to be a street dealer and I never got far with it.”

OzePharma says he has 20 steady clients with whom he regularly chats on the site’s in-built mail service. This sense of community is encouraged by Silk Road’s founder, who goes by the name “Dread Pirate Roberts”, a moniker borrowed from the rakish hero of The Princess Bride. As well as drawing a commission on all sales, Roberts regularly takes to the site’s forums to declaim at length on topics such as liberty, child labour, the environment and, of course, the war on drugs.

“I won’t rest until children are born into a world where oppression, institutional violence and control, world war and all the other hallmarks of the state are as ancient history as pharaohs commanding armies of slaves,” Roberts preached in one such post last year.

Likewise, many Silk Road vendors and buyers appear to believe that the marketplace is a libertarian paradise that takes drugs out of the hands of “real criminals”. Yet it’s hard to get around the fact that illicit drug manufacturing worldwide is still overwhelmingly controlled by violent criminal organisations. At the same time, the biggest challenge to Silk Road may come not from law enforcement, but from competition. Four alternative websites have sprung up recently: BlackMarket Reloaded, Sheep Marketplace, Atlantis and the intriguingly named Russian Anonymous MarketPlace.

For four days across April and May this year, Silk Road was taken offline by hackers. Some users accuse the US Drug Enforcement Administration while others speculate that “Vladimir”, the founder of Atlantis, was behind the attacks, although he has publicly denied this. If he was, it worked – many vendors, OzePharma among them, set up accounts on Vladimir’s website.

“The Silk Road is a prototype – it’s a functional solution that is not as good as it could be,” explains Will. “Where there’s money, there’s innovation. Nobody uses AOL anymore; nobody uses AltaVista as a search engine. In five years, nobody will be buying drugs on Silk Road.”

http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/june/1370181600/alex-mcclintock/silk-road-and-fast-changing-world-online-drug-shopping
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: psychedelicmind on June 13, 2013, 11:38 am
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: HarmReduction on June 13, 2013, 11:44 am
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)

This area is going to get bigger & bigger especially as bitcoins will start to be accepted in buying general items A pub in Cambridge UK has started accepting the BTC - The currency fluctuation will have an impact on the BTC  but sites like SR will become more popular and people become more knowledgeable
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: OzFreelancer on June 13, 2013, 12:10 pm
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)

What the author is saying is there will be better alternatives and SR will be left behind if they don't innovate.  It's the natural progression for many market originators who enjoy a monopoly for a long time.

Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: psychedelicmind on June 13, 2013, 12:57 pm
I got what they were saying, but still feel that SR will adapt and change as competition intensifies. Time will tell I guess :)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: OzFreelancer on June 13, 2013, 01:07 pm
I got what they were saying, but still feel that SR will adapt and change as competition intensifies. Time will tell I guess :)

Sorry, clearly it's *my* comprehension skills that need brushing up.  Let me +1 you for the error :)

It is a good read, if nothing particularly new.  But I guess that's coming from someone who spends a hell of a lot of their time here :D
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: banginon1808 on June 13, 2013, 01:08 pm
i want to know if there is any sellers that can post meth from anywhere in the world to australia in a shampoo thingy in a magazine????????

sounds quite stealthy
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: psychedelicmind on June 13, 2013, 01:12 pm
I got what they were saying, but still feel that SR will adapt and change as competition intensifies. Time will tell I guess :)

Sorry, clearly it's *my* comprehension skills that need brushing up.  Let me +1 you for the error :)

It is a good read, if nothing particularly new.  But I guess that's coming from someone who spends a hell of a lot of their time here :D

No need for apologies; it's all good :) +1 back for the sentiment though ;)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: OzFreelancer on June 13, 2013, 01:14 pm
sounds quite stealthy

Well, not any more... ::)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: BeepBeep on June 13, 2013, 01:33 pm
Great to read... I have great hope for the future.
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: westb0xes on June 13, 2013, 02:36 pm
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)

haha hope so
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: Hash on June 13, 2013, 02:52 pm
Silk Road works just like its legal counterparts – vendors try to earn positive feedback from buyers. There’s even a dispute-resolution service in the event that a package doesn’t arrive when and where it’s supposed to. Silk Road is only accessible through Tor, networking software that masks the user’s IP address and location, though customers such as Will are understandably paranoid.

Will uses Bitcoin, a bank- and government-free digital currency, to make purchases. Though Bitcoins are already untrackable, he sends the money through a program that launders it via hundreds of other accounts, just in case. When he gives his address to vendors, it’s in an encrypted form that only they can decode.

Warning!
Please do not google search Silk Road's Web Link and try any of the stuff we just taught you how to do!
Drugs are Bayad mmKay?

Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: OzFreelancer on June 13, 2013, 03:04 pm
Silk Road works just like its legal counterparts – vendors try to earn positive feedback from buyers. There’s even a dispute-resolution service in the event that a package doesn’t arrive when and where it’s supposed to. Silk Road is only accessible through Tor, networking software that masks the user’s IP address and location, though customers such as Will are understandably paranoid.

Will uses Bitcoin, a bank- and government-free digital currency, to make purchases. Though Bitcoins are already untrackable, he sends the money through a program that launders it via hundreds of other accounts, just in case. When he gives his address to vendors, it’s in an encrypted form that only they can decode.

Warning!
Please do not google search Silk Road's Web Link and try any of the stuff we just taught you how to do!
Drugs are Bayad mmKay?

The Monthly is a pretty cruisy libertarian publication ::)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: HarmReduction on June 13, 2013, 03:06 pm
LOL Hash  ;) - hey have you seen-

Legal  but lethal: How your child can buy drugs online as easily as you order your Waitrose groceries

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2340576/Legal--lethal-How-child-buy-drugs-online-easily-order-Waitrose-groceries.html (clear web)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: Hash on June 13, 2013, 03:21 pm
Mr. Mackey:    M'kay, kids, we have something very serious we need to discuss today, hm'kay?
                       It appears that some kids in school are getting high by choking themselves.
                       Some kids call it "The Choking Game", hm'kay but, but choking yourself is bad.
                       Hm'kay? Don-, don't do that. Hm'kay?

Kyle:               You can get high from choking yourself? [Kenny feels for his neck through his
                       hood, then squeezes once he finds it]

Mr. Mackey:    Schoolchildren are often experimenting with dangerous ways to get high, hm'kay,
                       like sniffin' glue, guzzlin' cough medicine, huffin' paint, hm'kay? But they're all bad.
                       M'kay?

Butters:          Mm-my cousin's in Florida, and said kids in their school get high off of cat pee.

Cartman:        Cat pee? [Kenny lets up and then tries to choke himself again]

Stan:              That's not true. You can't get high off of cat urine, can you?

Mr. Mackey:    Well, it's a it's not actually cat urine, but male cats, when they're marking their
                       territory, uh spread concentrated urine to fend off other male cats and... a-and
                       that could get you really high. M'kay? Re-really reeeally high. Okay?
                       [Kenny is trying really hard to choke himself] Probably shou-shouldn't have told
                       you that just now. Hm'kay? Tha, that was probably bad.

 8)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: kmfkewm on June 13, 2013, 03:47 pm
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)

What the author is saying is there will be better alternatives and SR will be left behind if they don't innovate.  It's the natural progression for many market originators who enjoy a monopoly for a long time.

I can tell you that there are a lot of people thinking of ways to completely decentralize online marketplaces. It is a technically challenging endeavor to say the least, but I wouldn't be surprised if in five years there is a massive, leaderless and fully decentralized marketplace. Of course anything would be available, it wouldn't be drug oriented, but drugs would be on the list of available items. I will be surprised if in five years we are not using something based on Bitcoin, but I will also be surprised if in five years we are still using a centralized marketplace.
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: OzFreelancer on June 13, 2013, 03:54 pm
Good read. :)

If we're not buying drugs on Silk Road in 5 years, like the author states, i'd be very surprised :)

What the author is saying is there will be better alternatives and SR will be left behind if they don't innovate.  It's the natural progression for many market originators who enjoy a monopoly for a long time.

I can tell you that there are a lot of people thinking of ways to completely decentralize online marketplaces. It is a technically challenging endeavor to say the least, but I wouldn't be surprised if in five years there is a massive, leaderless and fully decentralized marketplace. Of course anything would be available, it wouldn't be drug oriented, but drugs would be on the list of available items. I will be surprised if in five years we are not using something based on Bitcoin, but I will also be surprised if in five years we are still using a centralized marketplace.

This was a major part of discussion at a meeting of Bitcoin enthusiasts I was at last night.  In this age you really do start to appreciate how arbitrary physical borders are.  There are interesting times ahead :)
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: HarmReduction on June 13, 2013, 04:01 pm
 8) @OzFreelancer dont you love it !
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: astor on June 13, 2013, 04:49 pm
Perhaps it's too technical a topic for the popular press, but anonymity networks and cryptocurrencies need to innovate just as much as markets to stay ahead of LE. Zerocoin should greatly improve Bitcoin, but I don't know if Tor can innovate fast enough. The really big change in 5 years may be that SR and other black markets will be hidden behind a different anonymity network.
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: astor on June 13, 2013, 04:53 pm
I can tell you that there are a lot of people thinking of ways to completely decentralize online marketplaces. It is a technically challenging endeavor to say the least, but I wouldn't be surprised if in five years there is a massive, leaderless and fully decentralized marketplace. Of course anything would be available, it wouldn't be drug oriented, but drugs would be on the list of available items. I will be surprised if in five years we are not using something based on Bitcoin, but I will also be surprised if in five years we are still using a centralized marketplace.

You mean like this? :)

http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=157711.msg1112047#msg1112047

Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: sleeptight on June 13, 2013, 04:58 pm
Fuck Will for exposing stealth details. I hope he gets his ass raped by LE and hungry prisoners.
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: SpaceAce on June 14, 2013, 01:47 pm
lol fuck em both!
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: wiggum on June 14, 2013, 10:35 pm
Fuck Will for exposing stealth details. I hope he gets his ass raped by LE and hungry prisoners.

Or worse, maybe his parents will ground him and take away his PS3 for a week :D
Title: Re: SILK ROAD AND THE FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF ONLINE DRUG SHOPPING- Aus Article
Post by: UK Stealth on June 14, 2013, 10:57 pm
I think the problem with the world theses days stem from decades and decades ago, i made a post on similar stuff ages ago.

Fear is a valuable Tool in the heavy handed. has been that way since dawn of time.
and if in fear you will succumb to it.

One of the main reasons it is coming back into use on an industrial level and medical level...

Because the usa and some of its States are getting it right at last, and standing up to the powers that be.

Its all about learning some history, i personally think...

and why i made this post several months ago about some reasons.

 what inspired me to kinda get the post together was SILKROAD.

As stated before in the last posts ect. its not all my content.

just my determination to open eyes and minds.

http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=146886

 ???