What’s The Silk Road? No, not the ancient trade route.
It’s a modern trade route (or rather was, since it was taken down by the FBI). A route that has been an end-to-end implementations of the Bitcoin technology and was touted to give anonymity to both buyers and sellers. The Silk Route website was started in 2011 and eventually became a multi-billion dollar black market website. You could not reach it using your browser; something called a TOR Anonymizing Browser was required. It was a place where one could anonymously buy drugs or guns. The currency used was Bitcoin.
It made the buying and selling of illegal substances very easy. But, ultimately, investigative authorities caught up with some of the buyers (an Australian was the first to be convicted of crimes directly related to The Silk Road). The alleged owner of Silk Road, the man behind the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” – Ross William Ulbricht – was arrested in October 2013. He was charged with money laundering, computer hacking and conspiracy to traffic narcotics, among others. His trial has begun on 13th January 2015 and the defence is arguing that Ulbricht is the ‘fall guy’. They have agreed that he did indeed start The Silk Road, but, apparently gave control over to others as he found it too stressful.
Update: 4-Feb-2015:
From bbc.com:
Ross Ulbricht, 30, was convicted by a Manhattan jury on all seven counts including narcotics and money laundering conspiracies.
Prosecutors said more than a million drug deals took place on Silk Road, earning Ulbricht about $18m in Bitcoins
His defence lawyers had argued he was framed for much of the site’s activity and had quit the site.
The jury deliberated less than a day before handing down the verdict, which leaves Ulbricht facing a possible life sentence.
US Attorney Preet Bharara said the conviction sent a clear message: “The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from arrest and prosecution.”