Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Dread Pirate Roberts on August 14, 2013, 04:02 pm
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UPDATE: The full interview can be found here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/an-interview-with-a-digital-drug-lord-the-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-qa/
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As mentioned in this thread (http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=199579.0), I have done an interview with Forbes magazine's Andy Greenberg. Andy had always treated me with the utmost respect and I felt comfortable trusting him with an interview. I'm reading the article now, so hopefully that was a good call. I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Here is a link to it:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/meet-the-dread-pirate-roberts-the-man-behind-booming-black-market-drug-website-silk-road/
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Pretty positive article. Seems like you picked the right journalist to trust. Just please don't overdo the whole PR thing; the success of SR speaks pretty loudly for itself.
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Typical Forbes reader = upper class white collar = more money in the game at silk road?
I see why the Playboy interview was turned down .... ;D
Let the good times roll!
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Dread Pirate Roberts, apart from buying and distributing massive quantities of illegal drugs, what else can we do to support your libertarian cause?
Because of you and this site a lot of us have become very wealthy, but it's more than just the money to me. I feel like we are part of something revolutionary, creating a life lived the way we want instead of having it dictated to us by a power-hungry government that rarely has our best interests at heart. I want to fight for this in any way possible.
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You are a God sir.
Simply beautiful
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Dread Pirate Roberts, apart from buying and distributing massive quantities of illegal drugs, what else can we do to support your libertarian cause?
Because of you and this site a lot of us have become very wealthy, but it's more than just the money to me. I feel like we are part of something revolutionary, creating a life lived the way we want instead of having it dictated to us by a power-hungry government that rarely has our best interests at heart. I want to fight for this in any way possible.
That is admirable of you Mitch. One thing pops to mind... run a Tor relay. If you run it as a relay node and not an exit node, you won't run into any problems with LE (all traffic to and from will be encrypted) and you will be helping people access sites like SR more quickly and securely. The Tor network is good, but it would be great if there were tens of thousands of relays instead of a couple thousand and only a few hundred high capacity ones.
It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
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I enjoyed the article.
DPR, you are an assest to the libertarian community, as if you didnt already think that. Many young freedom-lovers who are just begining to see the pitfalls of an opressive government (high taxes, no guns, bad food/medicine, and unjust laws) will now have an outlet for their freedom.
I am excited to see the new blood that will be brought into SR and im sure a TON of new sellers/buyers will join our cause.
What i personally am anticipating is those new additions to SRF. Along with an influx of buyers/sellers on the marketplace, we will see a ton of new blood on the forums. Im talking about security innovations and other ways to improve what we have on SR. These new members will learn and teach others and the more like-minded (in their perosnal/political beliefs) people here, the more brainpower we have to avoid LE.
I think you called to much attention to BTC in the interview however. The feds already know what crypto curremcies are used for and they know that BTC is pretty much the weak link for SR. Basically if noone can get BTC noone can use SR. Thats why many sites have been shut down. So prepare for more LE harassment on the BTC exchanges.
I liked learning a little bit more of SR/DPR history. I haven't been here since the begining, but pretty close to it.
TO DPR (the current and all previous) : I thank you immensely for what you have done for those who have a passion for freedom. Keep up the hard work, dont let the wrong things influence you and most importantly, continue trusting noone.
Enjoy that bowl pack brother! Youve certainly earned it along with those other 'first-world pleasures'!
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"Julian Assange with a hypodermic needle"
Not the most flattering comparison :/
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This is a very good article. And kind of explains a bit about you without giving out too much info. I'm very impressed, DPR. I've been following this place since its first month, and I feel this article came out at exactly the perfect time. =) Very impressive.
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I'm thrilled to see positive responses so far. I thought the article was decent as well. There was quite a bit more to the interview than was published. It took about 6 hours to conduct if I remember correctly. Andy mentioned that he'd like to publish the whole thing word for word, so hopefully that will go up today as well.
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“We can’t stay silent forever. We have an important message, and the time is ripe for the world to hear it,”
Couldnt agree more.
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Not a serious question, but what's your favorite strain of MJ?
The article was a good read though. I'm glad to see you are putting the money back into the site. Recently, it looks like you have been putting lots of work into implementing requested features.
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DPR Forbes Celebrity 100 -> #1
Lets be honest all the other celebrities on that list are getting their drugs on SR
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The article was a good read and if that is someone's first introduction to SR I guess it's a pretty good one.
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Excellent article, big up DPR !
Roberts has chosen a risky time to raise his profile, as law enforcement tightens its net.
This is still an answer I'd like to get, why now ? It really seems, in the current context, like a provocation to LE...
“It’s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the Silk Road.”
Loved that part.
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hi hi
I think you called to much attention to BTC in the interview however. The feds already know what crypto curremcies are used for and they know that BTC is pretty much the weak link for SR. Basically if noone can get BTC noone can use SR. Thats why many sites have been shut down. So prepare for more LE harassment on the BTC exchanges.
let's have a little armchair thought experiment, shall we?
let's say that through some unknown magical force all BTC exchanges and companies that provide BTC in exchange for fiat disappear overnight. granted that is incredibly unlikely to happen, but humor me.....
SR only works with BTC, and that will not change in this scenario. BTC in and of itself cannot be shut down. just as bit torrent can not be shut down. distributed networks are excellent with regards to robust staying power.
so now you have a ton of buyers that want BTC to use in exchange for goods and a ton of sellers that HAVE coins that they can do basically nothing with. see where i'm going with this? SR will still work because somehow, someway a buyer and a seller will figure out how to transfer BTC from one to the other, and then back again. with the resulting underlying transfer being cash and goods. be that cash in mail, bank deposit, some international shenanigans where the local law doesnt reach, or whatever. there will ALWAYS be a way to get something to someone and receive proper payment for it.
BTC is and has always been nothing more than an intrinsic unit of value. that value being dictated purely by supply and demand. it's backed by nothing more than people wanting it. it is effectively currency for currency's sake.
also, this doesnt even take miners into consideration, which is a totally legal endeavor in its own right.
you can talk about BTC till you're blue in the face. wont change anything in my opinion. personally, i feel all this subpena nonsense the feds are doing to all the BTC-related companies is not for drug war purposes, but instead for money laundering & tax evasion purposes. governments want their tax money and they know BTC isnt going away. they're a bit scared since they dont know what to do about it. looks like they're trying to be proactive and nip it in the bud with regulations. too bad for them the genie is already out of the bottle....
xoxo
-mb
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Hmmm..
I REALLY hope you don't sell out.. even for $10,000,000,000.
I just don't think I would trust anyone else at this point. Not that I think you will,
but if you do will you let us know?
Much Love DPR, thank you for helping me live my life with personal freedom.
Even if it ends badly, I am proud to be a part of this.
<3 EAG
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That jungle metaphor made me feel warm inside, DPR
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Excellent article, big up DPR !
Roberts has chosen a risky time to raise his profile, as law enforcement tightens its net.
This is still an answer I'd like to get, why now ? It really seems, in the current context, like a provocation to LE...
“It’s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the Silk Road.”
Loved that part.
Honestly, this interview was done a couple of months ago, before all of the shit hit the fan with freedom hosting, tormail, lavabit, etc. Not sure if I'd have changed my decision to do the interview, but I'm still glad it came out despite the other events.
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This prevalence of free will and a defiant shaking fist at the powers that be through SR is an invigorating way to express dissent for those who do not have the means to do it on a personal level.
Who knows how high up the food chain buyers and sellers probably are.
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It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
Amazon EC2 has pre-made tor relay images that make it super simple for anyone to help tor using the cloud.
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Excellent article, big up DPR !
Roberts has chosen a risky time to raise his profile, as law enforcement tightens its net.
This is still an answer I'd like to get, why now ? It really seems, in the current context, like a provocation to LE...
“It’s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the Silk Road.”
Loved that part.
Honestly, this interview was done a couple of months ago, before all of the shit hit the fan with freedom hosting, tormail, lavabit, etc. Not sure if I'd have changed my decision to do the interview, but I'm still glad it came out despite the other events.
I think the timing panned out pretty great actually, the enemy struck a high profile blow or two recently, this may serve as a rallying cry for liberty.
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Maybe this is why bitcoin is on the rise yet again! And also why the SR page is taking a lot longer than usual to load today with more traffic to the server. The flood gates are opened!
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Great work DPR! I am very happy you are making your voice heard. You have an important message and express yourself well.
Silk Road Link is awesome. This article is certainly going to funnel some new business to the site.
Interesting to hear confirmation that you aren't the original DPR.
Doesn't bother me one bit. You have proven yourself time and time again now.
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Long live DPR.
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Great article. Its good seeing you be a little more vocal with the community DPR. I've been here for about 7 months and this past week or 2 you've been a lot more active with the forums than you normally have been. Good to have a reminder that the guy running this thing is just like one of us with the same common interest and goals. Its nice to see the king eat at the same table as us!
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Excellent piece, well written and looks like he's kept his word on the editorial control, and hasn't took any narrative liberties! Especially love the analogy at the end. I think you showed how modest you are, and why 2-3 years down the line we are still thriving under your leadership. So ironic that most people who make Forbes, are actually loving and encouraging the attention. But we can safely say, your place in history is already set in stone. You must look at yourself , and say," I've made it." I've actually achieved something monumental," and I think that means more to you than any recognition, or attention. Loved the story of how you helped rather than sabotaged, the original founder's flaw in wallets. Bravo! 6 hours! the things you do for us!
I can imagine you chilling with a nice Indica spliff, and musing on the article!
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He credits Silk Road’s creation to another, even more secretive entrepreneur whom he declined to tell me anything about and who may have used the “Dread Pirate Roberts” nom de guerre before it was assumed by the person I interviewed. The current Roberts discovered the site shortly after its creation in early 2011. Around that time, he says, he found a security flaw in the “wallet” software that stored Silk Road’s funds. The bug could have allowed a hacker to identify the site’s hardware and steal its Bitcoins. Instead of exploiting the weakness, he helped the site’s founder fix it, gained his trust and became an active partner in the business. Eventually, the current Roberts says, he bought out Silk Road’s creator and assumed full control. “It was his idea to pass the torch, in fact,” says Roberts. “He was well compensated.”
So its official then, the DPR we know today is not the DPR who started the site.
I wonder how many other critical bugs exist in Silk Road's infrastructure. It doesn't seem unlikely that if the current DPR was able to identify something catastrophic in SR's code that a more talented programmer with a little time and motivation wouldn't also be able to do. This doesn't really give me much confidence in SR and I don't know how wise it was to include something like that in the article.
Take for example what has recently happened with people being logged into others accounts without ever meaning or trying to do so. Just a random "conflict" bug apparently which had a 1 in 10²⁶ chance of happening. Yet someone else (if not multiple others) are reporting that this has also happened to them since it was apparently "fixed". Nothing about this has been addresses yet and it raises a lot of discomfort and questions.
Here's some of those questions I raised in another thread -
I wonder what someone malicious would actually be capable of doing? Finalizing orders, viewing sensitive messages, sending messages to possibly scam people who trust the authentic account owner, and changing feedback on vendors. Or what if someone got access to a vendors account this way? They would potentially be able to view all of the messages on the account, some which may contain addresses and such. I don't have a vendors account so I don't know what else but I imagine they could cancel orders, message customers and somehow scam them offsite, or whatever else would be possible had this happened on a vendors account. It worries me that nobody has addressed this yet. Is SR safe to use right now?
As each day passes I have less and less faith in these vehicles we use to gain and maintain our freedoms. Don't get me wrong, I love SR as much as the next guy, but I'm beginning to feel as if it isn't as safe as we all think. We're just pawns in this game that is being played and outside of not trusting anyone at all I don't think anything we do here is as secure as we seem to think. Just my 2 cents.
All that negativity aside, I am still glad to be a part of this place and I hope it continues to thrive. Thanks for maintaining this ship for us DPR and I wish you all the best especially when you need it most. Long live DPR!
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and now bitcoins rise :p
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
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Excellent article, big up DPR !
Roberts has chosen a risky time to raise his profile, as law enforcement tightens its net.
This is still an answer I'd like to get, why now ? It really seems, in the current context, like a provocation to LE...
“It’s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the Silk Road.”
Loved that part.
Honestly, this interview was done a couple of months ago, before all of the shit hit the fan with freedom hosting, tormail, lavabit, etc. Not sure if I'd have changed my decision to do the interview, but I'm still glad it came out despite the other events.
Thanks for clarifying this !
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nice article! SR will live FOREVER.
in the end only true believers will be using the site.
BTC will only rise in value , over time, the only situation i can think of losing its price, is if governments acquire so many BTC, that they would be able to bring the price to whatever level they want.
But i think this is going to hurt only investors, people who use bitcoin don't really care about the price... the VALUE is always the same.
Another factor i am afraid of, is whether the governments will close the BTC exchange sites, one after another.
I believe Bitcoin is the future, and some junkies may become rich out of nowhere :) some have already become.
Fuck man, if only i could tell you how i found about Silk Road........... LIFE has driven me to Silk Road with the help of many many individual facts / problems that rose during some period of my life...
really DPR, I could only tell you my story in PM, it is really interesting..... Everything in my life has lead to me being always ....FREE!
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Pretty cool article. I wish it had mentioned the distinct lack of violence, and increased safety we have dealing this way, instead of visiting sketchy dealers. Congrats DPR, you came off as an intelligent and principled individual, and the timing of this article coinciding with that US senator announcing fewer drug arrests and lighter penalties is just icing on the cake.
I think it's pretty neat that DPR isn't Silk Road, the original owner. I do hope the OG that started this still at least uses or drops by the road, to watch his old baby grow and prosper... though it would be funny as hell if he was the one that started Atlantis as a way of coming out of retirement. ;)
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The full piece is now posted here, It's a bit too long to quote and I assume most will visit the page anyway
Clearnet * http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/an-interview-with-a-digital-drug-lord-the-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-qa/
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DPR, I thought the article was well done and your interview was great. Normally I brush off people who say "we're part of this pro-libertarian anti-government movement", but I think after this article I'm finally feeling it. We're part of the revolution. Fuck yeah.
That being said, I have two questions:
1. If the title of DPR has been passed off before, was the same PGP key passed? If so, how can we trust your PGP key?
2. What's the rationale behind silkroadlink.com? Won't it bring a lot of people who don't care about their security, posing a security threat to themselves?
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hi hi
I think you called to much attention to BTC in the interview however. The feds already know what crypto curremcies are used for and they know that BTC is pretty much the weak link for SR. Basically if noone can get BTC noone can use SR. Thats why many sites have been shut down. So prepare for more LE harassment on the BTC exchanges.
let's have a little armchair thought experiment, shall we?
let's say that through some unknown magical force all BTC exchanges and companies that provide BTC in exchange for fiat disappear overnight. granted that is incredibly unlikely to happen, but humor me.....
SR only works with BTC, and that will not change in this scenario. BTC in and of itself cannot be shut down. just as bit torrent can not be shut down. distributed networks are excellent with regards to robust staying power.
so now you have a ton of buyers that want BTC to use in exchange for goods and a ton of sellers that HAVE coins that they can do basically nothing with. see where i'm going with this? SR will still work because somehow, someway a buyer and a seller will figure out how to transfer BTC from one to the other, and then back again. with the resulting underlying transfer being cash and goods. be that cash in mail, bank deposit, some international shenanigans where the local law doesnt reach, or whatever. there will ALWAYS be a way to get something to someone and receive proper payment for it.
BTC is and has always been nothing more than an intrinsic unit of value. that value being dictated purely by supply and demand. it's backed by nothing more than people wanting it. it is effectively currency for currency's sake.
also, this doesnt even take miners into consideration, which is a totally legal endeavor in its own right.
you can talk about BTC till you're blue in the face. wont change anything in my opinion. personally, i feel all this subpena nonsense the feds are doing to all the BTC-related companies is not for drug war purposes, but instead for money laundering & tax evasion purposes. governments want their tax money and they know BTC isnt going away. they're a bit scared since they dont know what to do about it. looks like they're trying to be proactive and nip it in the bud with regulations. too bad for them the genie is already out of the bottle....
xoxo
-mb
+1.
You're too damn smart for this place. Go away. :)~
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Good job DPR. I was impressed with Greenberg too, I looked around at some of his other work, and it seems you made a good choice in who you granted an interview to.
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Entire article Repost:
FORBES | 8/14/2013 @ 11:31AM |16,757 views
Meet The Dread Pirate Roberts, The Man Behind Booming Black Market Drug Website Silk Road
This story appears in the September 2, 2013 issue of Forbes.
An entrepreneur as professionally careful as the Dread Pirate Roberts doesn’t trust instant messaging services. Forget phones or Skype. At one point during our eight-month preinterview courtship, I offer to meet him at an undisclosed location outside the United States. “Meeting in person is out of the question,” he says. “I don’t meet in person even with my closest advisors.” When I ask for his name and nationality, he’s so spooked that he refuses to answer any other questions and we lose contact for a month.
All my communications with Roberts are routed exclusively through the messaging system and forums of the website he owns and manages, the Silk Road. Accessing the site requires running the anonymity software Tor, which encrypts Web traffic and triple-bounces it among thousands of computers around the world. Like a long, blindfolded ride in the back of some guerrilla leader’s van, Tor is designed to prevent me–and anyone else–from tracking the location of Silk Road’s servers or the Dread Pirate Roberts himself. “The highest levels of government are hunting me,” says Roberts. “I can’t take any chances.”
If Roberts is paranoid, it’s because very powerful people really are out to get him. In the last two and a half years Silk Road has grown into the Web’s busiest bazaar for heroin, methamphetamines, crack, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy and enough strains of marijuana to put an Amsterdam coffee shop to shame. The Drug Enforcement Agency won’t comment on whether it’s investigating Silk Road but wrote in a statement that it’s aware of the site and is “very proactive in keeping abreast” of the digital underground’s “ever-evolving technological advancements.” Senator Chuck Schumer has demanded Silk Road be shut down and called it “the most brazen attempt to peddle drugs online that we have ever seen … by light-years.”
Anyone can download and run Tor, exchange some dollars or euros for the digital currency Bitcoin and go shopping on Silk Road for drugs that are vacuum-sealed and discreetly mailed via the U.S. Postal Service, right under the federal government’s nose. By the measure of Carnegie Mellon researcher Nicolas Christin, Roberts’ eBay-like service was grossing $1.2 million a month in the first half of 2012. Since then the site has doubled its product listings, and revenue now hits an annual run-rate of $30 million to $45 million by FORBES’ estimate. One analysis of the Tor network performed by a student at Dublin’s Trinity College found that Silk Road received around 60,000 visits a day, mostly users seeking to buy or sell drugs, along with other illicit items including unregulated cigarettes and forged documents. Silk Road takes a commission on all of its sales, starting at 10% and scaling down for larger transactions. Given that those commissions are collected in Bitcoins, which have appreciated close to 200-fold against the dollar since Silk Road launched in 2011, the Dread Pirate Roberts and any other stakeholders in Silk Road have likely amassed millions in profits.
Despite the giant DEA crosshairs painted on his back and growing signs that the feds are probing the so-called “dark Web” that Silk Road and other black market sites inhabit, Roberts spoke with FORBES in his first-ever extended public interview for a reason: As with physical drug dealing, a turf war has emerged. Competitors, namely a newly launched site called Atlantis with a real marketing budget and a CEO with far less regard for his privacy, are stealing Roberts’ spotlight.
“Up until now I’ve done my best to keep Silk Road as low profile as possible … letting people discover [it] through word of mouth,” Roberts says. “At the same time, Silk Road has been around two and a half years. We’ve withstood a lot, and it’s not like our enemies are unaware any longer.”
Roberts also has a political agenda: He sees himself not just as an enabler of street-corner pushers but also as a radical libertarian revolutionary carving out an anarchic digital space beyond the reach of the taxation and regulatory powers of the state–Julian Assange with a hypodermic needle. “We can’t stay silent forever. We have an important message, and the time is ripe for the world to hear it,” says Roberts. “What we’re doing isn’t about scoring drugs or ‘sticking it to the man.’ It’s about standing up for our rights as human beings and refusing to submit when we’ve done no wrong.”
“Silk Road is a vehicle for that message,” he writes to me from somewhere in the Internet’s encrypted void. “All else is secondary.”
While Roberts waxes philosophical, his competitors are finding motivation enough in grabbing some of Silk Road’s lucrative drug trade. On June 26 a video ad for Atlantis appeared on YouTube telling the story of “Charlie,” a friendly-looking cartoon hipster. Charlie, according to text that popped up around the video’s frame as jingly music played, is a “stoner” who moves to a new city for work and can’t find any marijuana. That is, until he discovers Atlantis’ “virtual black market,” orders some pot and gets “high as a damn kite.”
YouTube removed the video within days for violating its terms of service but not before it had received close to 100,000 views and pulled the new Bitcoin-based black market into the public Internet’s awareness. Atlantis’ ad took a direct shot at Silk Road, calling itself “the world’s best anonymous online drug marketplace.”
The next day, an employee of Atlantis named “Heisenberg” held a group chat with reporters where he described the site as the “Facebook to [Silk Road's] Myspace.” In comments now deleted from an ask-me-anything session on the social news site Reddit, Atlantis’ chief executive, who goes by the name “Vladimir,” listed advantages over Silk Road like less downtime and smaller fees for sellers. “The road has more users,” he wrote, “but our site is better (to put it bluntly).”
The battle for the Web’s drug corner is on.
***
THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS isn’t shy about naming Silk Road’s active ingredient: The cryptographic digital currency known as Bitcoin. “We’ve won the State’s War on Drugs because of Bitcoin,” he writes.
Bitcoin, which came into widespread use around the same time as Silk Road’s creation, isn’t exactly the financial-privacy panacea some believe it to be–its transactions can be traced using the same mechanisms that prevent fraud and counterfeiting within the Bitcoin economy. But unlike with dollars, euros or yen, the integrity of the nearly $1 billion worth of Bitcoins floating around the Internet is maintained by the distributed computing power of thousands of users who run the crypto-currency’s software, not by any bank or government. That means careful users never have to tie their accounts to their real-world identity. As a result Bitcoin-funded services deep within the dark Web, masked by anonymity tools like Tor, claim to offer everything from cyberattacks to weapons and explosives to stolen credit cards.
Mix up your coins in one of many available laundering services–Silk Road runs one automatically for all transactions on the site–and it becomes very difficult to follow the money. Even the FBI, according to one of the bureau’s leaked internal reports, worries that Bitcoin’s complexity and lack of a central authority “present distinct challenges” for tracking criminal funds. The result is a currency as convenient as PayPal and theoretically as anonymous as cash.
“We’re talking about the potential for a monumental shift in the power structure of the world,” Roberts writes. “The people now can control the flow and distribution of information and the flow of money. Sector by sector the State is being cut out of the equation and power is being returned to the individual.”
Of course, Roberts’ lofty words on individual liberties provide a convenient veneer to justify his profitable business selling illegal, dangerous and addictive substances. But Roberts argues that if his users want heroin and crack, they should have the freedom to buy it and deal with the consequences. Unlike other Bitcoin-based underground sites, Silk Road bans all but what Roberts defines as victimless contraband. He won’t permit the sale of child pornography, stolen goods or weapons, though the latter is a gray area. The site has experimented with selling guns and may yet reintroduce them, Roberts says.
PAGE 2 OF 2
Aside from the thorny ethics of the Bitcoin underground economy, the currency’s wild fluctuations present a more practical problem. Silk Road allows the site’s dealers to peg their Bitcoin prices to the dollar, so that a typical gram of heroin on the site costs around $200 regardless of whether Bitcoins are worth 50 cents apiece, as in early 2011, or $266, at their precrash peak in April 2013. (They’re around $100 today.) The site also offers a currency hedging system that protects dealers against swings in Bitcoin’s value while their drugs are in transit.
Bitcoin did more than enable the modern online black market, Roberts says. It also brought him and Silk Road together. Roberts isn’t actually the site’s founder, he revealed in our interview. He credits Silk Road’s creation to another, even more secretive entrepreneur whom he declined to tell me anything about and who may have used the “Dread Pirate Roberts” nom de guerre before it was assumed by the person I interviewed. The current Roberts discovered the site shortly after its creation in early 2011. Around that time, he says, he found a security flaw in the “wallet” software that stored Silk Road’s funds. The bug could have allowed a hacker to identify the site’s hardware and steal its Bitcoins. Instead of exploiting the weakness, he helped the site’s founder fix it, gained his trust and became an active partner in the business. Eventually, the current Roberts says, he bought out Silk Road’s creator and assumed full control. “It was his idea to pass the torch, in fact,” says Roberts. “He was well compensated.”
In February 2012 a post appeared on Silk Road’s forums proclaiming that the site’s administrator would henceforth be known as the Dread Pirate Roberts, a name taken from the dashing, masked protagonist in the fantasy film The Princess Bride –tellingly, a persona that is passed down in the film from one generation of pirate to another. He soon began to live up to his colorful alter ego, posting lofty manifestos about Silk Road’s libertarian political ideals and love letters to his faithful users and vendors; he’s even hosted a Dread Pirate Roberts Book Club where he moderated discussions on authors from the Austrian school of free market economics. Commenters on the site describe Roberts as a “hero,” a “job creator,” “our own Che Guevara” and a “name [that] will live [on] among the greatest men and women in history as a soldier of justice and freedom.”
When I ask Roberts how he defines his role at Silk Road–CEO? Owner?–he tells me that he considers himself “a center of trust” between the site’s buyers and sellers, a tricky task given that all parties want to remain anonymous. Silk Road has slowly demonstrated to users that it isn’t a typical counterfeit-drug scam site or a law enforcement trap. It’s made wise use of the trust mechanisms companies like eBay and Airbnb have popularized, including seller ratings and an escrow that releases payment to sellers only after customers receive their merchandise.
“Silk Road doesn’t really sell drugs. It sells insurance and financial products,” says Carnegie Mellon computer engineering professor Nicolas Christin. “It doesn’t really matter whether you’re selling T-shirts or cocaine. The business model is to commoditize security.”
With millions flowing into Silk Road, the “vast majority” of which Roberts says is reinvested back in its booming black market, the Dread Pirate brushes off questions about his wealth and lifestyle. He says he carefully limits his spending to keep a low profile but admitted in one forum post to partaking in a few “first-world pleasures.” The only such pleasure he would describe to me is smoking “a bowl of sticky indica buds at the end of a long day.”
“As far as my monetary net worth is concerned, the future value of Silk Road as an organization dwarfs its and my liquid assets. … I wouldn’t sell out for less than 10 figures, maybe 11,” he writes with a dash of vainglory. “At some point you’re going to have to put Dread Pirate Roberts on that list you all keep over at Forbes. ;)”
***
IT’S A RULE AS TIMELESS as black markets: Where illegal money goes, violence follows. In a digital market that violence is virtual, but it’s as financially real as torching your competitor’s warehouse.
In late April Silk Road went offline for nearly a week, straining under a sustained cyberattack that left its sensitive data untouched but overwhelmed its servers. The attack, according to Roberts, was the most sophisticated in Silk Road’s history, taking advantage of previously unknown vulnerabilities in Tor and repeatedly shifting tactics to avoid the site’s defenses.
The sabotage occurred within weeks of rival site Atlantis’ launch. Commenters on the Reddit forum devoted to Silk Road suggested that Roberts’ customers and vendors switch to Atlantis during the downtime, leading to gossip that the newcomer had engineered the attack.
“Rumors, nothing more than that,” says Atlantis’ CEO Vladimir when I interview him in an encrypted chat room. (Like Roberts, Vlad doesn’t share much about himself, other than a background in software development, some experience as a small-time pot dealer and a love of psychedelics.) “I have suspicions [about whether] an attack ever took place. It’s far more likely they were having infrastructure issues.”
Roberts, for his part, won’t comment on the April attack’s source. He tells me he’s happy to see competition in the Web drug market, even as Atlantis boasted in June that it surpassed $500,000 in cumulative transactions. Roberts points out that another site, Black Market Reloaded, has long copied Silk Road’s model–even offering a wider variety of merchandise, including illegal firearms–while still attracting only a small fraction of Roberts’ customers. “I like having them nipping at my heels,” Roberts tells me. “Keeps me motivated.”
In a comment on “copycats” posted to Silk Road’s forums a few days after Atlantis released its video ad, however, Roberts seemed to fire back. “If you take someone’s invention, tweak one little thing and then go around telling everyone that you are ‘better,’ you get zero respect from me,” he wrote. Though the rest of the message focused on the difference between Bitcoin and a newer crypto-currency called Litecoin, users interpreted the comment as a thinly veiled dig at Atlantis.
Meanwhile, Silk Road has also been adopting some of Atlantis’ marketing tactics: In addition to Roberts’ first real interview, he’s created a new public site at SilkRoadLink.com that serves as an online guide to accessing Silk Road, bringing his business, at least tentatively, outside Tor’s obscured network.
Competition aside, Roberts has chosen a risky time to raise his profile, as law enforcement tightens its net. Dealers in South Carolina and Australia have been arrested after allegedly selling on Silk Road, although both may have also been dealing in the physical world. In May the proprietors of a Bitcoin-like digital currency system called Liberty Reserve were indicted and accused of helping to launder $6 billion. That same month the biggest Bitcoin currency exchange, Tokyo’s Mt. Gox, announced it would require identification for anyone seeking to trade in real world currencies. Then, last month, the FBI exploited a vulnerability in Tor to capture the alleged administrator of a child pornography site in Ireland. And, perhaps most threatening to Roberts, the NSA has been revealed to have fed intelligence to the DEA and other law enforcement agencies.
All of that gives Roberts good reason to distrust any means of communication and payment that could possibly be cracked by law enforcement. In 2012 the operators of a Silk Road-like site known as the Farmer’s Market were identified and indicted in a DEA operation called “Adam Bomb.” Though they had used Tor to hide their domain, they had communicated with one another using the encrypted e-mail service Hushmail, a service known to cooperate with law enforcement, and had accepted payments through PayPal instead of Bitcoin. Just days after Atlantis’ Vladimir insisted that he and his “chief operating officer” communicate with me using an encrypted IM program called Cryptocat, a bug in the program was revealed that could have allowed all of our communications to be read.
Despite his caution, Roberts’ personal security remains an open question. But the potential lifetime in prison he might face if identified hasn’t slowed down his growing illegal empire. “We are like a little seed in a big jungle that has just broken the surface of the forest floor,” he wrote in one speech posted to the site’s forums last year. “It’s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the Silk Road.”
—
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
Once SR has collected enough in taxes from sales, lets pool the money buy our own country, write its laws and use BTC as the official currency:)
A utopia if ive ever imagined one.
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It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
Amazon EC2 has pre-made tor relay images that make it super simple for anyone to help tor using the cloud.
Honestly, running bridges on Amazon, which is a US company that will hand over data to the NSA in a heartbeat, or allow them to watch their whole network, is a bad idea. Rent VPSes or servers in non-NATO countries. Most of the Tor network is in North American and Europe, where intelligence agencies cooperate to share data. That's the network's biggest problem right now.
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It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
Amazon EC2 has pre-made tor relay images that make it super simple for anyone to help tor using the cloud.
Honestly, running bridges on Amazon, which is a US company that will hand over data to the NSA in a heartbeat, or allow them to watch their whole network, is a bad idea. Rent VPSes or servers in non-NATO countries. Most of the Tor network is in North American and Europe, where intelligence agencies cooperate to share data. That's the network's biggest problem right now.
Thank you astor for continually helping to keep this community safe. +1 to you, sir.
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DPR, I thought the article was well done and your interview was great. Normally I brush off people who say "we're part of this pro-libertarian anti-government movement", but I think after this article I'm finally feeling it. We're part of the revolution. Fuck yeah.
That being said, I have two questions:
1. If the title of DPR has been passed off before, was the same PGP key passed? If so, how can we trust your PGP key?
2. What's the rationale behind silkroadlink.com? Won't it bring a lot of people who don't care about their security, posing a security threat to themselves?
1. The DPR key was passed off to me. You make a good point though that the original DPR could pose as the current, so when that key is used, you are in a sense trusting the present and past DPRs. I was actually just thinking of updating the key.
2. It will hopefully help people learn about SR, Tor and Bitcoin. It's really up to them how deep down the security rabbit hole they want to go, but I think things are secure enough that it won't be a big issue.
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
Once SR has collected enough in taxes from sales, lets pool the money buy our own country, write its laws and use BTC as the official currency:)
A utopia if ive ever imagined one.
I have mentioned this before on the forums & it is a great idea!
DPR:
This article is pure gold... Thank you for bringing some positivity to the SR name once again, you have such a unique way of translating what we do to the public for easier understanding.
I think this is the most crucial part of everything, let the masses understand, then watch things fall into play.
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
So the question is if Silkroad helps to change our society or the road leds to a land where a society can be build. Maybe we are just crowdfunding an island where the ship full of pirates finally deploys Roberts and his bride (community). Just don't let it end in one of those mass murder things, s.th. I doubt, seeing all the love shared between anonymous strangers in here :D
So just in case...make sure there is enough space for all of us ;)
And if someone really is thinking an interview is changing anything or helps LE. Be sure they know as much as everyone who isn't part of the inner circle of Silkroad. So forum knowledge is LE knowledge and I couldn't spot something that wasn't said or rumored already in this place ;)
Not my primary language I hope it is somehow readable
Take care of yourselves,
Idnlp
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I enjoyed the article.
DPR - When you die or become ill for an extended time, are there contingencies in place for ownership and admin privileges to be passed on to others in your absence?
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
Once SR has collected enough in taxes from sales, lets pool the money buy our own country, write its laws and use BTC as the official currency:)
A utopia if ive ever imagined one.
I have mentioned this before on the forums & it is a great idea!
DPR:
This article is pure gold... Thank you for bringing some positivity to the SR name once again, you have such a unique way of translating what we do to the public for easier understanding.
I think this is the most crucial part of everything, let the masses understand, then watch things fall into play.
What a community that would be 8)
as for the article it was a great read, your doing a great thing for us all here DPR and for that I thank you 8)
I am glad to be part of this community and hope to be for a long time :)
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This article is pure gold... Thank you for bringing some positivity to the SR name once again, you have such a unique way of translating what we do to the public for easier understanding.
I think this is the most crucial part of everything, let the masses understand, then watch things fall into play.
Thank you! I hope I represented us well and by everyone's glowing remarks I'm feeling like it was the right move.
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I wonder what Mr's DPR thinks about it. And the morbid people already planning what happens after are leaders death, you're jumping the gun aren't you? For all you know there might be some little DPR's running about, chips' of the old block, blissfully unaware of the massive undertaking, that will be placed upon their shoulders. I know the most influential martyr's are most powerful after death, but come on, still warm the blood that courses through his veins. Long Live DPR.
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Well done DPR!
I was waiting for this since I saw your previous post. I saw what I expected, you, talking about liberties. You are really right on this point: SR is not about selling drugs, it is about fighting for fundamental liberties.
This system we are living in is so wrong. We have the option to choose a job which we will probably hate for a looong time and we are not allowed to consume our "shit" when we are at our home, alone, not working. No citizens! You are not allowed! You shall watch tv!!
I and all of us will be always yours DPR, and not only for the substances we can find through your creation but for putting this community together and making an impact to the ones who try rule world.
21th century is ours. Monarchs, dictators and elites has ruled for centuries. Let them taste finally slowly slowly the power of connected, enraged masses!
All the best my dear friend!
Adamiz
(My Greek revolutionary spirit got a bit "horny"... Where is the molotov?) 8)
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FUCK DPR. THIS ARTICLE SUCKS. WHAT AN ASSHOLE FOR DOING THIS.
Just figured someone had to be the first! On a serious note...like EVERYONE else...great article, good job at answering the questions.
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FUCK DPR. THIS ARTICLE SUCKS. WHAT AN ASSHOLE FOR DOING THIS.
Just figured someone had to be the first! On a serious note...like EVERYONE else...great article, good job at answering the questions.
LOL
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DPRs will be long gone before they die from ill health or old age. They are all here short term to make a quick buck, squeezing us for every cent like blood from a stone before passing the gauntlet on to someone else. This is why the fees were jacked up recently, so the incumbent DPR can get a quicker payback on his investment and make a profit before passing it on to someone else who will again jack up fees yet again. Hold on to your balls
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Fantastic article i have read it at least 7 times by now and i'm glad that you have chose to do this interview since many people that read the article are open minded.
And the way how you express yourself is by itself fantastic, you should really consider a poetry carrier ;D
All jokes aside, i think many people that have government indoctrination duck tape wrapped around their eyes, mouth and ears are finally able to pull that shit off and think for their own.
I hope people will read more and more of these articles and come to the realization that the government isn't your best friend, the government is that bully that steals your lunch money, the evil uncle that locks you up and tells you what you can or can't do, and that we are in a time where many things are possible and that we can escape from the government straight jacket.
Each person that changes their mind and joins the 'battle' is one more, of course we need the government for certain things but we don't need them to tax us on 80% of our money, they don't have to tax us on our freedom for victimless crimes.
The government is the most selfish, egoist, ignorant, ruthless organization of insecure suit wearing cock muppets.
One day, when people all over the world GROW A PAIR OF BALLS and stop that nazi alá communist brainwash thinking we can make a change and say well guess what? Bite me, we are going to TAX YOU! You with that fancy suit, come here, your pants are way too short, 20 years in jail. YOU THERE COME HERE! work for the DE*? Join the cartels in prison, LIFE!
Not sure if this is making sense but i'm a little bit slow since i opened that special bottle of scotch for our main man DPR
Cheers DPR and SR brothers! ;D
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Definitely wanna show love to DPR and that article, I thought it was well done and very classy, great read.
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I was pleased to learn from the article that DPR is a weed smoker!
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Loved the article just like everyone else was saying. I hope the full interview does get published eventually, hopefully soon.
To DPR or any other members here, how hard is it to run a tor relay to help out? How much knowledge would one need to run one, resources, expenses, upkeep and security possible problems? Any info would be very helpful. :)
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Great article. DPR, reproduce early and often. If you have many offspring to take over the reigns as this grows into a multi-billion dollar empire it will alleviate a lot of the concerns over privacy/anonymity and trust.
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
I'll be there front and center bright eyed and sportin a chillum with waxy covered XXXOG!
Best 5th reason for silk road:
You don't havve to spend countless droning hours chatting it up, listening to phish, humoring your only and least favorite weed dealer just for a fuckin sack!
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Also, it was definitely apparent fees were increesed to recoup the massive amounts invested. And DPR will never die. DPR is not a being but a legacy.
I enjoy the more engaged DP anyhow. He's enjoying his community he's sworn to protect. Of course the more behind the scenes and calculated DPR'ssss will be missed but I'm sure they'll look in on us from time to time like some super hero parent in some super hero movie to make sure we're doing alright :)
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Loved the article just like everyone else was saying. I hope the full interview does get published eventually, hopefully soon.
To DPR or any other members here, how hard is it to run a tor relay to help out? How much knowledge would one need to run one, resources, expenses, upkeep and security possible problems? Any info would be very helpful. :)
I'll get someone to put a document together for us. The most simple way is to use your home computer. In the vidalia settings you can click "sharing" and then "Relay traffic inside the Tor network". Your home IP address would then be in the public tor node directory. There "shouldn't" be anything wrong with this, but if you want to run one anonymously, you'd be better off renting a server and running the node out of a datacenter. I just put it on the to do list to make all of this really easy for you guys. It's fun too and nice to know that you are helping people in oppressive countries speak out and also helping people access Silk Road.
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This here is the best answer for me, and one that I will use in my arguments about drugs.
"Do you feel any moral guilt about selling highly addictive and dangerous drugs to users and even to dealers? Don’t drugs like crack and heroin have harmful effects on your customers and on society? And couldn’t even children manage to get access to them through the Silk Road?”
On the contrary, I am proud of what I do. I can’t think of one drug that doesn’t have at least some harmful effects. That’s really not the point though. People own themselves, they own their bodies, and it is their right to put into their bodies whatever they choose. It’s not my place, or the government’s, or anyone else’s to say what a person does with their own body. Giving people that freedom of choice and the dignity of self-ownership is a good thing.
If someone uses drugs, then goes on to hurt other people, then of course they should be held accountable for their actions, whether they were using drugs or not, but to paint all drug users as “harmful to society” and try to throw them all in cages is despicable and does much more harm to communities and families than drugs ever could. Further, using children to appeal to people’s fears is irresponsible. There are many dangers facing children, the least of which include obtaining Bitcoins, configuring their computer to access Tor and Silk Road, navigating the site to make a purchase, and getting the package delivered past their parents. It is the responsibility of parents and those they trust to educate their children about drugs and everything else they will have to make decisions about in their life. Again, not my place, or the government’s, or anyone else’s."
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Don't we all love a bowl of some sticky indica at the end of a long day. 8) Cheers, DPR, both the article and the Q&A were great reads.
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Entertaining read. Always fun to see what the DPR has to say. You're a very humble bad ass, revered and loved by all of us.
Viva la revolucion!
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I was pleased to learn from the article that DPR is a weed smoker!
Same here. Right on!
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With the unedited interview, did you deliberately revise your answers to avoid stylometric profiling? There are some very specific turns of phrase there, and I've noticed a few grammatical/spelling errors you've made in other posts, suggesting a pattern.
Or perhaps you have no NON-DPR presence online? 8)
Good interview. Have to admit, wish it was with me :'( ;D
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With the unedited interview, did you deliberately revise your answers to avoid stylometric profiling? There are some very specific turns of phrase there, and I've noticed a few grammatical/spelling errors you've made in other posts, suggesting a pattern.
Or perhaps you have no NON-DPR presence online? 8)
Good interview. Have to admit, wish it was with me :'( ;D
I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Glad you liked the interview. We've had our fun too though, eh?
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after reading the whole(rather engaging) interview with Forbes I can say with some degree of certainty that what i have learned is that DPR smokes weeeedd.
All joking aside, good talk DPR. Nice to see you peer out of the shadows every now and again.
Personally I feel you speaking more lately (even of the forums here) is to help combat Atlantis; I am all about it.
Stay safe, because only by keeping yourself safe are you able to keep all of us safe!!!
and for that I for one am thankful!
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I actually enjoyed the interview. Also, I didn't know about the noob clearnet site. :)
I also don't think its a good idea for some noob to pop in an order without knowing wtf they are doing.
I perfectly understand the ideals that created this place, as it really is a wonder.
Thanks?
Anonie.
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These are big steps we're taking friends!
Cyberhugs with you all, and keep fighting.
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Not sure if anyone knows or has asked, but do we know if this will be in a print magazine or only online?
Would be sweet to have a copy for the coffee table!
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I just read the article and I must say that I absolutely loved it! DPR, you sir, are a man with titanium testicles the size of boulders. You did not reveal too much but at the same time you gave a big middle finger to the DEA, NSA and IRS. lol I have the utmost respect for you.
Also, I am glad to see you actively posting on the forums. It speaks volumes of your character. I do not think the CEO of eBay spends much time on their forums.
May you live long and prosper DPR!
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DPR,
Can you arrange to have yourself be publicly identified when you pass away? I am assuming your prob only like 30 years old, and still have at least another 50 years of life to bang out; but I, and probably every other involved SR member, would like to be at your funeral. We would probably need to hold the ceremony in 'Bama's football stadium, but it would be worth it.
I am being serious by the way.
viva la DPR
I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
I feel doing this interview was just another stepping stone towards that goal, DPR. Dread Pirate Roberts, there has been a lot going on with you and rumors about you and what's all been going on. This interview has answered a lot of the questions that has shook the faith of Silk Road and the community for quite awhile now, and it really seems like you have taken that stand as a TRUE leader here and definitely raised the moral of your crew on your ship here. You are changing the world more and more everyday. I've stuck around since right around the beginning because I have firmly believed this place would change the world, and it is just so beautiful to see 2 and a half years later the impact this place is having all over now.
Thank you for being that leader, DPR. This is my true family, and I truly love you and everyone else that is a part of this community. =)
Long live DPR, and even more importantly, long live Silk Road and the purpose behind it.
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With the unedited interview, did you deliberately revise your answers to avoid stylometric profiling? There are some very specific turns of phrase there, and I've noticed a few grammatical/spelling errors you've made in other posts, suggesting a pattern.
Or perhaps you have no NON-DPR presence online? 8)
Good interview. Have to admit, wish it was with me :'( ;D
I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Glad you liked the interview. We've had our fun too though, eh?
And now I know why you put an embargo on our chat ::)
Damn you, Greenberg, you Gazumper!! >:( >:( ;D
Posted by: polyphemusperception Not sure if anyone knows or has asked, but do we know if this will be in a print magazine or only online?
Would be sweet to have a copy for the coffee table!
It's going to be in the 2 September edition I believe
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Great interview DPR! I don't think there is anything in there that you havent stated
or the likes on the forums. love the responses though.Only question I would have is do you
think the clearnet how to link is a good idea? I guess though it is better for someone to be informed
on how to use the site properly than to be "low hanging fruit". well done sir! keep on fighting the good fight!
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I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Did anyone see when Jo Rowling was outed as the author of a crime novel? Experts said that when trying to mask their identity, people almost never try to alter minor words / phrasings. I'd hate to have to deal with the stress of altering my language. Also from the Jo Rowling thing, normal people apparently have the technology (or programs) to compare one piece of writing to the other and determine whether or not it's from the same person. With the NSA collecting as much information as possible, it's just a ridiculous amount of stress to deal with.
I thought the interview was phenomenal. I can't imagine the desire to sell weapons anonymously going over too well with the average reader. Most likely, all they'll think is terrorists might use the site to buy guns; but thankfully that was covered fairly close to the beginning and so many intriguing things were discussed afterwards. With an interview as good as that, hopefully more mainstream coverage is soon to come.
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Great interview!
There may be a little more than meets the eye tho getting into some of these areas;
QUOTE <<People own themselves, they own their bodies, and it is their right to put into their bodies whatever they choose. It’s not my place, or the government’s, or anyone else’s to say what a person does with their own body. Giving people that freedom of choice and the dignity of self-ownership is a good thing.>>
W E L L , Maybe not so fast there Bubba! Most Countries realize that by rights, the population have no rights & they can impose their will since the people have essentially given up their rights (snookered)
By giving us birth certificates individuals have been turned into corporate entities of the shell corporation i.e. Country from which we were born. Which is how we can get shafted by thinking we have certain rights . . . right!
Do a little research on Strawman / Maritime Law / Blacks Law
For a little more info;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH8TOktZJNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG-D_7sr-Fk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nQVv2OmpqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-SPcsfz0_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG5MHhU4rTQ
NCK
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I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Did anyone see when Jo Rowling was outed as the author of a crime novel? Experts said that when trying to mask their identity, people almost never try to alter minor words / phrasings. I'd hate to have to deal with the stress of altering my language. Also from the Jo Rowling thing, normal people apparently have the technology (or programs) to compare one piece of writing to the other and determine whether or not it's from the same person. With the NSA collecting as much information as possible, it's just a ridiculous amount of stress to deal with.
I thought the interview was phenomenal. I can't imagine the desire to sell weapons anonymously going over too well with the average reader. Most likely, all they'll think is terrorists might use the site to buy guns; but thankfully that was covered fairly close to the beginning and so many intriguing things were discussed afterwards. With an interview as good as that, hopefully more mainstream coverage is soon to come.
Curses, and I like to think I alter/disguise my language well.
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Fantastic! I think DPR sailed through those questions with eloquence and wit.
A major win for SR, DPR, bitcoin users, libertarians and like minded folk.
Rockin' job DPR
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long live DPR!!
long live SR!!
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I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Did anyone see when Jo Rowling was outed as the author of a crime novel? Experts said that when trying to mask their identity, people almost never try to alter minor words / phrasings. I'd hate to have to deal with the stress of altering my language. Also from the Jo Rowling thing, normal people apparently have the technology (or programs) to compare one piece of writing to the other and determine whether or not it's from the same person. With the NSA collecting as much information as possible, it's just a ridiculous amount of stress to deal with.
Check out the video linked to in this article for how they use to the techniques to specifically target and track down anonymous online peeps on Tor - http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/security-it/why-hackers-should-be-afraid-of-how-they-write-20130116-2csdo.html
If the unedited video is still available it is a fascinating watch, presentations by experts on how they tracked down some notorious hackers
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To DPR or any other members here, how hard is it to run a tor relay to help out? How much knowledge would one need to run one, resources, expenses, upkeep and security possible problems? Any info would be very helpful. :)
As far as expenses go, you can get a VPS for a few dollars a month, or even as cheap as $10 a year, which would be adequate for a bridge, but for a normal relay, you'd want something bigger. That can cost anywhere from $5 a month for a small VPS to hundreds of dollars a month for a dedicated server with unmetered bandwidth. I think any little bit helps the Tor network, though.
I'll post a tutorial on how to setup a relay, probably tomorrow. It will be *almost* copy-paste easy, but you'll have to change some things for your specific server, like the bandwidth limits.
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I'll post a tutorial on how to setup a relay, probably tomorrow. It will be *almost* copy-paste easy, but you'll have to change some things for your specific server, like the bandwidth limits.
[/quote]
This is why I love you.
We could all research how to do this, but few of us actually want to do that research. Many people have the hardware or funds to do something good for the community immediately available.
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I do intentionally obscure my tone and try to throw in phrases that might send someone down a blind ally. If you notice anything that might be revealing, please let me know privately.
Did anyone see when Jo Rowling was outed as the author of a crime novel? Experts said that when trying to mask their identity, people almost never try to alter minor words / phrasings. I'd hate to have to deal with the stress of altering my language. Also from the Jo Rowling thing, normal people apparently have the technology (or programs) to compare one piece of writing to the other and determine whether or not it's from the same person. With the NSA collecting as much information as possible, it's just a ridiculous amount of stress to deal with.
I thought the interview was phenomenal. I can't imagine the desire to sell weapons anonymously going over too well with the average reader. Most likely, all they'll think is terrorists might use the site to buy guns; but thankfully that was covered fairly close to the beginning and so many intriguing things were discussed afterwards. With an interview as good as that, hopefully more mainstream coverage is soon to come.
She was not outed because of handwriting analysis. She was outed because someone who works at the law firm she employs told his wife of her pseudonym and it spread from there.
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Nicely done DPR, nicely done.
You've touched more lives (and i'm sure you've saved some too) by making all this possible.
And for the previous DPR, if you're reading this:
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
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"At the end of the day I like a nice bowl of sticky indica bud" - DPR
So now we know... DPR is Wiz Khalifa. Mystery solved.
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I have a question for DPR.
DO U EVEN LIFT BRO?
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I've been asking for a legitimate SR interview with a worthy reporter in the mainstream media for months. Finally that day has come. 10/10 performance for DPR! :) :) :) :)
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It was a good interview, thank you DPR.
There are some points in there that I would like to debate philosophically, as the point of the "freedom for the masses" that - as Nietzsche proved much too well - it is just utopia given how the mass possess a collective brain while freedom requires individual intelligence, but this is naturally an ample topic that would need a thread of its own or a dedicated discussion; maybe in the future we will have the opportunity to enter it in the specific.
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Yes Black Iris, good shout, reminds me of one of Nietzsche's favourite quotes, which could be said if any DPR. " For believe me, the secret of realizing the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence, is to live dangerously. Build your homes on the slopes of vesuvius, send your ships into uncharted sea's, live in conflict with your equals and yourselves. Be robbers and ravagers, as long as you cannot be rulers and owners, you men of knowledge"
By the way, I think this DPR is much more engaging, and come on he actually LOL'ed yesterday, when would the old DPR ever LOL?
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It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
Amazon EC2 has pre-made tor relay images that make it super simple for anyone to help tor using the cloud.
+1 Tessellated! Can you give a little more instruction on how to purchase and setup such a relay? Amazon EC2 is sooo perfect! Can anyone get Akamai on board?
Modzi
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I had a whole thing written out, but Fuck it, what I would have said would be preaching to the chore.
Good interview, DPR
Thanks for everything..
From a Free market anarchist.
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I thought it was an excellent interview, for all the white collered clueless people who follow the rules will now realise that this site is run by an intelligent person who has intelligent people work with him and his customers just want the freedom to put what we choose into our bodies and we are also intelligent people ;) Thanks DPR
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I love the idea. How about this idea... let's forge a society where people like us don't have to hide. Then we can party together for many years before death ever finds us.
^^^^This!! 1000 times this.
I hope this step out into the media spotlight furthers the cause, people globally are waking up to the shameful hypocrisy of our governments actions and behavior, Silk Road is operating outside of the systems of coercion and control that seek to enslave us, great interview.
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Interesting read. Hell, I'd read DPR's laundry folding tips if it was published. When people have all these questions about the Captain, but there's nothing to ever read, we get a little hard up for some crumbs.
One thing I wished had made at least a paragraph, is the safety aspect of the Road. Points made about how much safer it is to buy from the Road, then be-bopping down to the ghetto and taking your chances. When buying off the streets, you don't know what the hell you're getting when it comes to many kinds of drugs, and you don't know if you're going to come back home with you're face bashed in, a few air vents in your chest, your wallet and car missing, or the many other ways you can get ripped off.
Taking into account Forbes reader base, I think showing how much more safer the Road is, compared to cold copping, would be something the readers could wrap their head around and endorse. I'd type more, but my eyelids are falling down right now.
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Hi dpr, Well, You certainly have changed your tone regarding interviews etc :)
I was fairly shocked to see you doing one, You dont need to try and compete with atlantis, Those cock bastards wont last forever, neither will we, but we will last much longer, Hell we might even evolve enough to last a good 20 years as long as we keep up.
I noticed this in the article.
"Silk Road bans all but what Roberts defines as victimless contraband. He won’t permit the sale of child pornography, stolen goods or weapons, though the latter is a gray area. The site has experimented with selling guns and may yet reintroduce them, Roberts says."
Is the armory being re-introduced?
Anyways, Stay safe, I wish you the best.
SW
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It is possible to just donate to relay operators, but I think it is much better to run your own. If one group runs most of the relays, that's not really a distributed network.
Amazon EC2 has pre-made tor relay images that make it super simple for anyone to help tor using the cloud.
+1 Tessellated! Can you give a little more instruction on how to purchase and setup such a relay? Amazon EC2 is sooo perfect! Can anyone get Akamai on board?
This is the easiest way to set up a bridge, but these bridges are primarily designed to allow Iranian dissidents to access the Tor network. The NSA can watch everything that happens on Amazon's networks, but the NSA doesn't care about Iranian dissidents. They want those dissidents to access the internet and leak intel about the Iranian government. Our threat model is different. We need to diversify away from the NSA - GCHQ - Euro Intel Coop. Right now, those cooperating intelligence agencies can watch a majority of the Tor network. If they become a global passive adversary, we lose. We have to move the Tor network outside of their surveillance zone.
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Really cool dpr, keep up the good work.
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Hi dpr, Well, You certainly have changed your tone regarding interviews etc :)
I was fairly shocked to see you doing one, You dont need to try and compete with atlantis,
Well, in all fairness, its not his tone that's changed it is, quite literally, him. It's not the same person (as stated in the interview) :)
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Just want to throw a big thank you out to DPR and the SR community. I am fairly new to the road but not at all new to drugs. At times I have struggled with addiction and at others just used for recreational purposes and I wouldn't change any of it. The path I have taken has molded me as a person and I am proud of who I am. Not only am I saving money through SR, I do not have to put myself in danger the way I used to to find my substance of 'choice'. Also I am contributing to help fight the good fight!
What DPR and Silk Road is doing is truly revolutionary and people are gonna look back on what is/has been done here and speak about it for generations. I think the Forbes article came off in a positive light and DPR handled it like a pro. It shows intellect and does not seem like profit is the goal at all. I cannot praise you enough DPR for the way you handled yourself and I really believe that article will get peoples minds ticking...Maybe even shine a new light on what is really going on here.
Thanks again DPR and thanks to the community! 8)
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We don’t allow the sale of anything that’s main purpose is to harm innocent people, or that it was necessary to harm innocent people to bring it to market. For example, anything stolen is forbidden, counterfeit money and coupons which are used to defraud people, hitmen aren’t allowed, and neither is child pornography. No substance on Silk Road falls under those guidelines.
Does that mean counterfeit coupons are prohibited on SR?
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DPR has just ensured the collapse of the worldwide economy through this interview, and most likely the rise of bitcoin due to the lack of value of fiat money in a few short steps:
1. Wall street bankers read article in Forbes
2. Said bankers now know a way to obtain ridiculous amounts of quality cocaine whenever they want to
3. Coked up traders make terrible trades, therefore leading to another 2008 financial meltdown but on a much larger scale
4. Worldwide financial collapse
5. DPR rises from the ashes as the Bill Gates of the new world
DPR, always one step ahead of us. Is this your plan for world domination? hehehe
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While I support about 90% of this article, I would like to call out DPR on a fallacy in one of his answers.
So this was not merely a distributed denial of service attack? It was a zero day exploit? Did it gain access to any data or simply knock the site offline?
I’m not one hundred percent on this, but I don’t think it’s possible to do a DDoS over Tor, or at least it is much harder than doing it over the clear net. The effect of the attack was to block access to Silk Road. No data was leaked, in fact we’ve never had a data leak.
I am personally aware of at least 3 or 4 data leaks due to security issues. The original SQL injections? I guess it depends on your definition of a 'data leak.' Data leaks have 100% happened to certain individuals, but those individuals so far have not published the information anywhere. I've seen the IP of the forum myself twice due to a misconfiguration (which I notified staff of immediately). I have to call shit on this one... Sorry DPR.
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I love the video they posted. The mother fucking revolution is here and rising fast!
Ballsy video ordering drugs and displaying it on their site. Sad they had to flush them down the toilet though :(
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this has been by far the most interesting interview i have ever read :)
Long Live DPR. long live SR.
DPR: please re-introduce guns. I need to have the right to protect myself and my family.
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Really good interview DPR
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Such an inspiring read. My favorite part is when Andy asked if you feel guilty about sending "dangerous drugs" to kids. I FUCKING LOVE YOU. I want to plaster the damn article all over Facebook and email it to all my friends and be like "SEE? SEE PEOPLE? WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS! HOW AWESOME IS DPR? JOIN US!"
but, alasssss, it's in my best interest not to do that ::)
What I CAN do (and may have already :-X ) is fantasize about the MDA-ish/sparkly/shadowy image Forbes used to portray DPR (were those scrubs?) and GET MINE GET MINE! So thanks for that, too :P
And while I'm at it I might as well mention how badly I want to sit down with you, smoke a big bowl of indica slowlyyyyy, and find out what you do late at night after a longggggg, hard day ;)
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My favorite part is when Andy asked if you feel guilty about sending "dangerous drugs" to kids.
yes i totally agree, that was the biggest truth that DPR could mention. If parents cannot protect their children browsing the web, and even let them get to the point that have the drugs on their hands... well .... the least i can say for such parents, is they are irresponsible and do not worth to have a kids at first place.
FUCK THE POLICE - FUCK THE PRISON SYSTEM - DPR LET US HAVE A GUN PLEASE
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"What we’re doing isn’t about scoring drugs or “sticking it to the man,” it’s about standing up for our rights as human beings and refusing to submit when we’ve done no wrong. Silk Road is a vehicle for that message. All else is secondary."
I don't know about you guys, but I don't feel patriotism for my country. I feel patriotism by being a part of this community; what we are doing is truly groundbreaking and I am proud to say that I've been hard at work proving this point for two years.
LONG LIVE SILK ROAD.
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Website say that article will be published in the issue being released sept. 2, 2013.
translation=you all got 2-3 weeks to buy your BTC while they're still in the triple digits.
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Hmm.. brilliant yet insane. Bravo good sirs and women.. bravo.
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Website say that article will be published in the issue being released sept. 2, 2013.
translation=you all got 2-3 weeks to buy your BTC while they're still in the triple digits.
+10000 for you sir. I don't think i can resist this investment opportunity, even though i made a failed 1000 dollar investment a couple months ago when the market crashed( spent it all on drugs tee hee)
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sub'ing for later use
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Brilliant article, I think you were quite smart to avoid certain questions (especially your location and the profit one), and I keep smiling thinking about you kicking back at the end of your long days of doing everything you do for us, enjoying your sticky Indica buds :)
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"Can you tell me anything about the total sales on the site and how fast it’s growing? How many users it has? How much profit you’re making?
No comment."
perhaps could mention user Nos, understand may not been wise to boast about profits.
TWM
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Website say that article will be published in the issue being released sept. 2, 2013.
translation=you all got 2-3 weeks to buy your BTC while they're still in the triple digits.
Excellent article! Also anybody else care to comment on this? Think it may well be very beneficial to stock up BTC's before the 2nd Sep ;D ;D 8)
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DPR, would you be able to let us know how many new accounts are made or if transactions go up after this article was published? I'm interested in the figures.
Thanks.
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Mr. Roberts,
All i have to say is quite simply this, I Love ya!
One day, if ya'd have me, i'd give up my vendors account and the bond to work for you...no string attatched.
Silk Road means the World to me, i'll do whatever it takes to Follow in your Footsteps, and to help others.
Take this however ya want to, Sight unseen, No expectations... I Love ya :)
Thank You for everything. I hope to be back up and running soon, and love every opportunity that i get to speak with you. Stay Diligent in what you do for us!
Love & Hugs from Me to You 8)
ChemCat
O0
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For the people that were interested in running a relay, here's a guide on how to set one up:
http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=202510.msg1455870#msg1455870
Comments welcome.
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Wow. They actually published the URL. I may have to pick up a copy of the next edition of Forbes just for the mindfuck of seeing "silkroadvb5piz3r.onion" in print.
Andy Greenberg asked all the right questions. I wouldn't be surprised if he's lurked the forums a bit. In fact, he may be reading this very post. So good job, Andy!
And great work, DPR. Keep fighting the good fight.
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Wow. They actually published the URL. I may have to pick up a copy of the next edition of Forbes just for the mindfuck of seeing "silkroadvb5piz3r.onion" in print.
Yeah, it will be the first major American print article about SR. Forbes has a circulation of 925,000. Assuming some of those people will show the article to friends, there could be over a million readers, which is an order of magnitude more than the biggest online articles about it. Exciting times!
Andy Greenberg asked all the right questions. I wouldn't be surprised if he's lurked the forums a bit. In fact, he may be reading this very post. So good job, Andy!
He definitely reads the forum. He quoted a forum post of mine months ago:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/04/16/founder-of-drug-site-silk-road-says-bitcoin-booms-and-busts-wont-kill-his-black-market/
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Not to ruin the wave of adulation but you know the DEA is going to drop this issue of Forbes on Obama's desk and ask for triple the resources to come after you claiming you are attempting to spread propaganda and are now a risk to national security as a rogue political actor. Nothing feds hate more than being made to look like fools, gives them extra focus, incentive and resolve to crush you by any means possible. Satoshi never gave any interviews for a good reason. I'm sure every paper on earth would love to hear his about his politics and reasons for creating BTC and yet we never hear from him. Strategically a sound move on his part.
I also found an interesting tidbit from the Freedom Hosting case. The US's entire extradition argument lies on the fact that the guy used a 'US IP address" to access the main server and generate reseller free accounts for Tor users. I believe that would be a Tor exit node. Might want to edit torrc to prevent any US nodes/relays for however you do maintenance of SR and anything else you are engaged in. Stay safe and crank up the paranoia you will need it, if the site get's exploited and somebody magically appears to help you fix it at exactly the right time: it's the fedz
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The business men reading this will finally figure out how to get some good herb etc...
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I also found an interesting tidbit from the Freedom Hosting case. The US's entire extradition argument lies on the fact that the guy used a 'US IP address" to access the main server and generate reseller free accounts for Tor users. I believe that would be a Tor exit node. Might want to edit torrc to prevent any US nodes/relays for however you do maintenance of SR and anything else you are engaged in. Stay safe and crank up the paranoia you will need it, if the site get's exploited and somebody magically appears to help you fix it at exactly the right time: it's the fedz
Citation?
If the guy knew anything about running a hidden service, he would have created a separate one for SSH, with HiddenServiceAuthorizeClient set to stealth. No exit nodes involved, and plausible deniability as to whether the service exists for anyone who crawls the descriptor with a service directory.
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I just realized that the print edition, with about a million units published, jesus... the extent of how far and widely publicized this article will be. :o
Everyone who is anyone reads Forbes. From Obama to Bono to your neighborhood highschool principal. I think if anyone was living under a rock and hadn't heard about Silk Road or DPR.. that rock will be gone in a couple weeks.
I predict the BTC rate is going to very certainly skyrocket.. and that's not just because of crusty old men reading the article and deciding they want to buy bitcoins to buy drugs (although that's going to happen too). Just the fact that "bitcoin" is going to go from a term you read about somehwere online to a household, kitchen table word..
Exciting times indeed. If there was ever a time to buy BTC.. it's now. Like yesterday.
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Imagine being DPR and walking into the book store to buy a copy of that magazine. :)
The clerk will be like, "Oh I read that. It's amazing that someone is doing that. Have you heard about Silk Road?"
And he'll have to say, "No, never heard of it."
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Yeah, it will be the first major American print article about SR. Forbes has a circulation of 925,000. Assuming some of those people will show the article to friends, there could be over a million readers, which is an order of magnitude more than the biggest online articles about it. Exciting times!
Exciting times indeed.
I've always been astonished by the lack of media coverage for SR. I assume it's because no one wants to be accused of giving the site free publicity. I can think of no other explanation. In the last few months there have been plenty of articles about Bitcoin, despite the fact that Bitcoin is far more difficult to understand and far less interesting to the layperson than the story of SR. (Sure, many of those Bitcoin articles briefly mention SR, but few let onto the fact that it was Silk Road more than anything else that proved Bitcoin to be a viable currency.) So yeah, it's great to see this is changing.
He definitely reads the forum. He quoted a forum post of mine months ago:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/04/16/founder-of-drug-site-silk-road-says-bitcoin-booms-and-busts-wont-kill-his-black-market/
Ha! That is too cool.
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Thank you DPR for everything you do for this community. You are an amazing human being and i'm sure there are many others who are in awe of what you do and hope you are able to stay safe and continue doing the great work that you do. Thanks also to all the great community members who make SR and the forums the special place that it is. :)
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Way to go DPR! I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for making me proud!
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Being a celebrity without having to deal with the hassle of the paparazzi, not many can say this about themselves ;)
Good read, keep going DPR, well done.
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Congrats DPR!! You derserve all the 'fame' and fortune you are getting.
I love you man! (in a manly kinda way lol)
Long live DPR
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this has been by far the most interesting interview i have ever read :)
Long Live DPR. long live SR.
DPR: please re-introduce guns. I need to have the right to protect myself and my family.
this discuss go on many time before weapons were ban. weapon to protect self and family need be universal right all over world and believe all should have access. raising profile of SR with weapons believe is not worthy risk.
make separate site and not link to SR.
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I really enjoy reading all the comments in the official Forbes website.
So many different comments, so many brainwashed opinions, such a different world....
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Not to ruin the wave of adulation but you know the DEA is going to drop this issue of Forbes on Obama's desk and ask for triple the resources to come after you claiming you are attempting to spread propaganda and are now a risk to national security as a rogue political actor. Nothing feds hate more than being made to look like fools, gives them extra focus, incentive and resolve to crush you by any means possible.
I have to agree.
If any of you is old enough, remember "the most dangerous man in America". It started the same way.
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So many different comments, so many brainwashed opinions
Probably all from a single agent http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks
Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media
Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda
feds have the same software.
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"Die asholes".
Yes, that's what we're up against.
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i dont know if this has already been mentioned, but i have to admit that i don't like the TITLE of the article: "An Interview With A Digital Drug Lord"
It is misinforming at first sight, and someone may think that DPR is the provider of all these drugs...
in my mind, i imagine "drug lords" as people that have got rich out of selling drugs. No... DPR is not selling drugs. Vendors do.. He MAY be rich because he provided real freedom of choice to individuals.
And i say may... because i well believe that DPR helps a lot of people.. and is not doing this for getting rich, as much he does it for changing the world. I believe also that the previous DPR was the "bitcoinbillionaire" on reddit that was giving away bitcoins, after selling his SR account to new DPR :)
i have never believed in god. But know i do. he exists, and at least he has a nickname :)
Long live DPR / SR
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i dont know if this has already been mentioned, but i have to admit that i don't like the TITLE of the article: "An Interview With A Digital Drug Lord"
It is misinforming at first sight, and someone may think that DPR is the provider of all these drugs...
in my mind, i imagine "drug lords" as people that have got rich out of selling drugs. No... DPR is not selling drugs. Vendors do.. He MAY be rich because he provided real freedom of choice to individuals.
And i say may... because i well believe that DPR helps a lot of people.. and is not doing this for getting rich, as much he does it for changing the world. I believe also that the previous DPR was the "bitcoinbillionaire" on reddit that was giving away bitcoins, after selling his SR account to new DPR :)
i have never believed in god. But know i do. he exists, and at least he has a nickname :)
Long live DPR / SR
Well drug lords don't really sell drugs, they run the organization that sell drugs.
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yes, but in one way or another, they have their workers to do so. Pablo Escobar was not selling drugs himself, i understand what you mean. The most profits were going to Pablo, correct?
The vendors here work for themselves though, not for DPR, and DPR takes only a small fee compared to their total profit :)
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Long life to DPR
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I just have to say again that I am so pleased with the reception the interview is getting with everyone. Lot's of warm fuzzy feelings over here. Thank you everyone for your support. It wasn't perfect, and I've learned a lot about publicity and handling it responsibly already, but over all I couldn't be much happier with how it's all turning out.
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DPR - inquiring minds want to know. What will go through your mind when (after Sept 2nd when the print edition hits the stands and shit gets REAL) you're in a bookstore or walk by a newsstand and see that edition of Forbes on the stand? We're guessing you will smile?
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DPR - inquiring minds want to know. What will go through your mind when (after Sept 2nd when the print edition hits the stands and shit gets REAL) you're in a bookstore or walk by a newsstand and see that edition of Forbes on the stand? We're guessing you will smile?
haha, I'll let you know! Magazines are funny about edition dates. Are we sure the Sept. 2nd issue isn't already available?
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It's not out yet, I checked the bookstore earlier today. BUT, you're right about the dates being fuzzy. A September 2nd issue would actually be on stands about a week prior..
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DPR - inquiring minds want to know. What will go through your mind when (after Sept 2nd when the print edition hits the stands and shit gets REAL) you're in a bookstore or walk by a newsstand and see that edition of Forbes on the stand? We're guessing you will smile?
haha, I'll let you know! Magazines are funny about edition dates. Are we sure the Sept. 2nd issue isn't already available?
No shit, huh.. Damn, I just realized how long it's been since I even LOOKED at a magazine for more than a minute during a glance at the local superette.
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Nice read DPR!
Interesting to read you like a nice joint of sticky buds.. Do you use any other drugs? MDMA, LSD etc..?
Also cool to know that the original owner isn't you. I find it so mind blowing how this website can be passed on just like that, without even the users or LE realizing until now. I wonder if the original owner still lurks the forums.
I love the idea of revealing your actual identity when you pass away, the funeral would be something else.
SR reminds me that there is still hope for this society. +1
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I hate it when SR goes public,just brings in more paranoia in all senses.!
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But it just goes to show, it is extremely public and is thriving. There is power in numbers and I believe it will only continue to get more secure as it continues to grow.
DPR seems more like a human being than ever before! Which is pretty cool. Very excited to see how this publication will affect the future of the road both short and long term.
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Windows was secure till numbers grew.
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Since our clientele are now going to be bankers I'm going to jack up all my prices :-)
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DPR, you da Man (Woman or other evolved being)!. Biggest brass balls in the history of the world! True.
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so people, and God (DPR),
you think that with March -April's massive "advertising" of bitcoins through tv in usa, people were dumb enough not to google "bitcoin", but went straight to big exchange sites just to buy blind??
didn't that brought already big publicity to Silk Road?
bankers must have been from the first customers of SR, don't be fools
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This is absolutely awesome! Well done :)
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Since our clientele are now going to be bankers I'm going to jack up all my prices :-)
Aw man :(
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Like Previously said Love it but feel like it is poking a sleeping dragon
hope I am wrong. when it is in print on the stands we will see I guess
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So what I took from the interview was, DPR would sell us out for $1 Bill dollars?
.................................................
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So what I took from the interview was, DPR would sell us out for $1 Bill dollars?
.................................................
Did you miss the part where dpr said he wasn't the first admin? The site has only been up for two and a half years, so has this dpr been here for six months? Sixteen? We don't know, but anyone willing to put up a billion dollars isn't going to do that to shut it down. That is one serious investment, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how you transfer that much, and hide it.
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So what I took from the interview was, DPR would sell us out for $1 Bill dollars?
.................................................
That would insult him.
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bump.....great article
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So its official then, the DPR we know today is not the DPR who started the site.
I wonder how many other critical bugs exist in Silk Road's infrastructure. It doesn't seem unlikely that if the current DPR was able to identify something catastrophic in SR's code that a more talented programmer with a little time and motivation wouldn't also be able to do. This doesn't really give me much confidence in SR and I don't know how wise it was to include something like that in the article.
Take for example what has recently happened with people being logged into others accounts without ever meaning or trying to do so. Just a random "conflict" bug apparently which had a 1 in 10²⁶ chance of happening. Yet someone else (if not multiple others) are reporting that this has also happened to them since it was apparently "fixed". Nothing about this has been addresses yet and it raises a lot of discomfort and questions.
As each day passes I have less and less faith in these vehicles we use to gain and maintain our freedoms. Don't get me wrong, I love SR as much as the next guy, but I'm beginning to feel as if it isn't as safe as we all think. We're just pawns in this game that is being played and outside of not trusting anyone at all I don't think anything we do here is as secure as we seem to think. Just my 2 cents.
All that negativity aside, I am still glad to be a part of this place and I hope it continues to thrive. Thanks for maintaining this ship for us DPR and I wish you all the best especially when you need it most. Long live DPR!
To a certain degree, I agree with you. Though, that certain degree is no larger or smaller than the degree at which I place that trust in my own physician, the teachers at my children's' schools, the parents at my children's' friends' houses. The grocery store, where I buy my fruit. The pharmacy, where I pick up my vitamins and OTC remedies. Running a credit card at a walgreens. Signing up for an online game. Registering to vote. Calling my parents. Eating lunch. Waking up.
Every single one of those things can be maliciously invaded. Every. Single. One. I'm left to consider, which ones have already been invaded, which ones are likely to have been invaded and I just don't know it, and which am I supportive of... even given that risk.
Honestly, from the standpoint of the "what could be" and "who could do it," the information is plentiful on how scary it really is. The truth is, you aren't safe. That is a truth that is without any semblance of doubt. There will always be someone out there trying to "get in" and cause harm. That is what makes us human, the ability to make the choice between right and wrong. Unfortunately, some make the choice to do wrong. We have to live with that, as it is that very choice that we fight for anyways - and while we think ourselves to be doing right, there are others that think us to do wrong, to do harm.
I am neither surprised, nor shocked, to find out that DPR is not the same person. Hell, the very name hints at that in its reference from The Princess Bride - and I merely assumed that it was true all along, based on that alone. Recently the movie night was for V for Vendetta. The story is both of the initial revolutionary topic, but also of its continuation. This is made obvious in the movie, but it is more widely explored in the novel. V, is not one person. Batman, is also not one person. It comes to mind that this personifies something else - government. We have a president, and have had a president since the birth of our country. That office has changed frequently. The difference is only that we know who the president is. Is it really so different? Each one has changed the country, each has left his mark. Some may see some of those terms as bad, others good. Hardly ineffectual though.
SR is a piece of software. We are a community. SR has bugs, we have flaws. SR has exploits, we have usurpers. SR can be fixed, and we can stand strong in the face of tyranny.
Not to ruin the wave of adulation but you know the DEA is going to drop this issue of Forbes on Obama's desk and ask for triple the resources to come after you claiming you are attempting to spread propaganda and are now a risk to national security as a rogue political actor. Nothing feds hate more than being made to look like fools, gives them extra focus, incentive and resolve to crush you by any means possible. Satoshi never gave any interviews for a good reason. I'm sure every paper on earth would love to hear his about his politics and reasons for creating BTC and yet we never hear from him. Strategically a sound move on his part.
I also found an interesting tidbit from the Freedom Hosting case. The US's entire extradition argument lies on the fact that the guy used a 'US IP address" to access the main server and generate reseller free accounts for Tor users. I believe that would be a Tor exit node. Might want to edit torrc to prevent any US nodes/relays for however you do maintenance of SR and anything else you are engaged in. Stay safe and crank up the paranoia you will need it, if the site get's exploited and somebody magically appears to help you fix it at exactly the right time: it's the fedz
While I agree it is something of an insult and a sort of challenge to the governments of the world - and, as I mentioned before, this is not out of tune with the character developed in The Princess Bride - I think that a poor assumption of location is made. Obviously one can make the argument that the CIA can assassinate someone from anywhere... but lets be honest. DPR is probably one of the CIA's best friends. He keeps what they're doing on TOR in the shadows, and DPR/SR is the perfect bait for real targets to think TOR is their golden goose of security. (**Edit: I don't mean to imply he/us/the app are bait, I mean that TOR and the CIA have other desires, and those desires are best served by an active community on TOR. To destroy SR would be counter to that, and with the CP bust "justice has been served" on TOR for now.)
Let's not forget the truth everyone: TOR is a CIA invention.
Imagine being DPR and walking into the book store to buy a copy of that magazine. :)
The clerk will be like, "Oh I read that. It's amazing that someone is doing that. Have you heard about Silk Road?"
And he'll have to say, "No, never heard of it."
Imagine every one of us going into a book store to buy a copy of that magazine,
The clerk will be like, "Oh I read that. It's amazing that someone is doing that. Have you heard about Silk Road?"
We'll all say, "No, never heard of it."
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Excellent interview.
Great respect to you!
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So its official then, the DPR we know today is not the DPR who started the site.
I wonder how many other critical bugs exist in Silk Road's infrastructure. It doesn't seem unlikely that if the current DPR was able to identify something catastrophic in SR's code that a more talented programmer with a little time and motivation wouldn't also be able to do. This doesn't really give me much confidence in SR and I don't know how wise it was to include something like that in the article.
Take for example what has recently happened with people being logged into others accounts without ever meaning or trying to do so. Just a random "conflict" bug apparently which had a 1 in 10²⁶ chance of happening. Yet someone else (if not multiple others) are reporting that this has also happened to them since it was apparently "fixed". Nothing about this has been addresses yet and it raises a lot of discomfort and questions.
As each day passes I have less and less faith in these vehicles we use to gain and maintain our freedoms. Don't get me wrong, I love SR as much as the next guy, but I'm beginning to feel as if it isn't as safe as we all think. We're just pawns in this game that is being played and outside of not trusting anyone at all I don't think anything we do here is as secure as we seem to think. Just my 2 cents.
All that negativity aside, I am still glad to be a part of this place and I hope it continues to thrive. Thanks for maintaining this ship for us DPR and I wish you all the best especially when you need it most. Long live DPR!
To a certain degree, I agree with you. Though, that certain degree is no larger or smaller than the degree at which I place that trust in my own physician, the teachers at my children's' schools, the parents at my children's' friends' houses. The grocery store, where I buy my fruit. The pharmacy, where I pick up my vitamins and OTC remedies. Running a credit card at a walgreens. Signing up for an online game. Registering to vote. Calling my parents. Eating lunch. Waking up.
Every single one of those things can be maliciously invaded. Every. Single. One. I'm left to consider, which ones have already been invaded, which ones are likely to have been invaded and I just don't know it, and which am I supportive of... even given that risk.
Honestly, from the standpoint of the "what could be" and "who could do it," the information is plentiful on how scary it really is. The truth is, you aren't safe. That is a truth that is without any semblance of doubt. There will always be someone out there trying to "get in" and cause harm. That is what makes us human, the ability to make the choice between right and wrong. Unfortunately, some make the choice to do wrong. We have to live with that, as it is that very choice that we fight for anyways - and while we think ourselves to be doing right, there are others that think us to do wrong, to do harm.
I am neither surprised, nor shocked, to find out that DPR is not the same person. Hell, the very name hints at that in its reference from The Princess Bride - and I merely assumed that it was true all along, based on that alone. Recently the movie night was for V for Vendetta. The story is both of the initial revolutionary topic, but also of its continuation. This is made obvious in the movie, but it is more widely explored in the novel. V, is not one person. Batman, is also not one person. It comes to mind that this personifies something else - government. We have a president, and have had a president since the birth of our country. That office has changed frequently. The difference is only that we know who the president is. Is it really so different? Each one has changed the country, each has left his mark. Some may see some of those terms as bad, others good. Hardly ineffectual though.
SR is a piece of software. We are a community. SR has bugs, we have flaws. SR has exploits, we have usurpers. SR can be fixed, and we can stand strong in the face of tyranny.
Not to ruin the wave of adulation but you know the DEA is going to drop this issue of Forbes on Obama's desk and ask for triple the resources to come after you claiming you are attempting to spread propaganda and are now a risk to national security as a rogue political actor. Nothing feds hate more than being made to look like fools, gives them extra focus, incentive and resolve to crush you by any means possible. Satoshi never gave any interviews for a good reason. I'm sure every paper on earth would love to hear his about his politics and reasons for creating BTC and yet we never hear from him. Strategically a sound move on his part.
I also found an interesting tidbit from the Freedom Hosting case. The US's entire extradition argument lies on the fact that the guy used a 'US IP address" to access the main server and generate reseller free accounts for Tor users. I believe that would be a Tor exit node. Might want to edit torrc to prevent any US nodes/relays for however you do maintenance of SR and anything else you are engaged in. Stay safe and crank up the paranoia you will need it, if the site get's exploited and somebody magically appears to help you fix it at exactly the right time: it's the fedz
While I agree it is something of an insult and a sort of challenge to the governments of the world - and, as I mentioned before, this is not out of tune with the character developed in The Princess Bride - I think that a poor assumption of location is made. Obviously one can make the argument that the CIA can assassinate someone from anywhere... but lets be honest. DPR is probably one of the CIA's best friends. He keeps what they're doing on TOR in the shadows, and DPR/SR is the perfect bait for real targets to think TOR is their golden goose of security. (**Edit: I don't mean to imply he/us/the app are bait, I mean that TOR and the CIA have other desires, and those desires are best served by an active community on TOR. To destroy SR would be counter to that, and with the CP bust "justice has been served" on TOR for now.)
Let's not forget the truth everyone: TOR is a CIA invention.
Imagine being DPR and walking into the book store to buy a copy of that magazine. :)
The clerk will be like, "Oh I read that. It's amazing that someone is doing that. Have you heard about Silk Road?"
And he'll have to say, "No, never heard of it."
Imagine every one of us going into a book store to buy a copy of that magazine,
The clerk will be like, "Oh I read that. It's amazing that someone is doing that. Have you heard about Silk Road?"
We'll all say, "No, never heard of it."
oustanding post. glad you have you part of the community offbeatadam!
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oustanding post. glad you have you part of the community offbeatadam!
O.o.
Err.
That was largely unexpected. Thank you.
You know, I was reading back over my post, and I realized I hadn't said a single thing about the interview. Then I read your reply, not knowing it was there after I hit refresh.
In regards to the interview: Journalism has always had its personnel that personify what we believe in, even if at heart they may not - or, actively avoid and do not. I think we owe it to the various reporters that have taken the objective view on our community. This interview most of all, demonstrates that fact.
A few quotes on Journalism:
"In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the public. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. " - Hugo L Black, a Justice during the case Nixon brought against the New York Times in printing the Pentagon Papers
"Great is journalism. Is not every able editor a ruler of the world, being the persuader of it?" Thomas Carlyle, on the French Revolution.
"I suppose, in the end, we journalists try - or should try - to be the first impartial witnesses of history. If we have any reason for our existence, the least must be our ability to report history as it happens so that no one can say: 'We didn't know - no one told us.' " - Robert Fisk, "The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of The Middle East"
And this one, while not necessarily absolutely about journalism, I found while reading wikiquote to confirm the quote from Carlyle.
"One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections." Robert H. Jackson, a justice on the supreme court during the West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette hearing that protected students from being forced to salute, and pledge allegiance, to the American flag.
The interview itself, was as I expected it to be. It is, as it would be said, as it should be. It is definitely to turn heads when it is read, and it will demonstrate that we are here. We are not going anywhere. If that doesn't scare someone, it should.
That being said, I see a lot of BTC speculation in regards to this. While the Forbes article will generate views, hits, and research into the subject - and purely by work of numbers an increase in sales is inevitable due to this... I don't think it will have all that great of an effect on bitcoin. Especially not to the end that everyone wants to believe. Bitcoin used to fluctuate like that, but, by weight alone it is too heavy to average out in such a manner as an order of magnitude or even a 50% increase in 24 hours. At the end of the day, Forbes readers are still the same investors that are scared of us. They don't hire us, consider us intelligent, or see us as equals.
And besides, every investor in the US has to deal with the SEC enough as it is, and worldwide there are regulations and regulators all over the place that would just love to slap some kind of levy. Until the heat dies down on the subpoenas and the US learns what cryptocurrency actually means, they can't touch it with anything more than their hidden securities, and trust me:
They're already doing that, and they have been for some time now.
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Guys check out the podcast of the program called To the point on PRI. They were talking about SR, DPR and TOR.
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I got it!!!!
Found it today at a Target. The issue isn't what I expected from what Forbes indicated its Sept 2nd would look like. The cover is a huge gold asterisk with a dollar sign in the middle and text that reads "Highway To Wealth"
The interview is on page 132. The issue has a ton of opposing ideas, dealing doubly with the NSA privacy issues, and our free responses to the tyranny.
Beyond our own its actually a pretty good divergence from the normal Forbes reading.
Edit: After getting home and starting to read, this is actually a bit more interesting. I don't know if there is just a secondary article accompanying a special issue that was released early, but, this article isn't so much an interview as an actual ARTICLE. Greenberg offers a lot of commentary, and only quotes DPR inline.
I hadn't noticed this earlier either, but this issue is actually labeled a special issue. It's got the markings on it that it should be "Displayed until November 11, 2013."
I'm only a paragraph or so in.
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awww yeahhh here we go!
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Finished the article. You know, it's actually a really good article. It's interesting. You can almost see that Andy himself may disagree with everything, but the objective side of him swings the other way. On one side he's trying to really emphasize the fact that we sell harmful things, while trying very hard to also make sure the point: we sell things that CAN be harmful, if used wrongfully, because it is our freedom to take that risk.
He mentions Atlantis a little more, but it is in a very negative light. He almost makes them seem petty, as though they're cocky and egotistical, almost the bill gates & microsoft to our steve jobs & apple. Where he refers to DPR as our founder and "captain" he refers to Atlantis instead as a standard corporate entity. Vladimir is the CEO, Heisenberg is a trusty minion and "founder," its all very obviously in a negative note.
I'm going to be keeping an eye out for people reading it and see if i can't pick up on what is said. I know that I saw the online article floating around some mailing lists and the discussions are interesting. Most of it appears positive, with some background noise questions like "Can I block TOR on my home router and prevent my kids from getting to this place?"
Interestingly enough, some of the more negative talk I've seen actually latches not onto DPR and SR, but onto Atlantis. The outlandish personality and the celebrity persona that they/he has taken on in order to promote, particularly the public methods that are obviously kid facing - and the cartoon, which was obviously engineered to tell kids "You can score this without your parents knowing!" and put on youtube. The same people are somewhat supportive on the opposite side, they're actually saying in not so many words that its nice the interview is in a more adult publication and not something that would easily catch their teenagers' eyes.
Back to the article though. There are some very interesting FAVORABLE points in the article about the concept though. For example:
"Silk Road doesn't really sell drugs. It sells insurance and financial products," says Carnegie Mellon economics professor Nicolas Christin. "It doesn't really matter whether you're selling T-shirts or cocaine. The business model is to commoditize security."
He also mentions some of our discussions, including DPR's book clubs. He also mentions how we view SR and DPR, mentioning the creation of jobs and the like.
In a funny piece, he does mention how DPR stuck to the very specific cryptic methods of interaction, while Atlantis chose to use Cryptocat. He also mentions how days after their conversation over Cryptocat, it was determined that a bug exists that could expose and decrypt the discussion.
Unfortunately though, and I know this will disappoint some, no mention of the .onion url or the silkroadurl website is present in this article.
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I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Hey DPR,
Can I ask: how many people have access to this account to post as DPR? And do they all have access to the password to PGP sign messages?
x Eiley
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I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Hey DPR,
Can I ask: how many people have access to this account to post as DPR? And do they all have access to the password to PGP sign messages?
x Eiley
hmm... I think I like this one being a mystery.
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I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Hey DPR,
Can I ask: how many people have access to this account to post as DPR? And do they all have access to the password to PGP sign messages?
x Eiley
hmm... I think *we* like this one being a mystery.
fixed that for you!
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Hi all, and perhaps a lil info from DPR would be interesting here..
Just re-read the Forbes article, and I was struck by it's USA-centric slant. According to paragraph 4, the goods go out in the 'U.S. Postal Service, right under the federal government's nose.' Kinda makes it seem like the whole SR trade is originating in, and entirely taking place in, the U.S. Only very late in the article is there a single mention of non-U.S. vendors (Australian).
Only SR might know the figures, but an awful lot of trade is international, or within other countries internally, having little or nothing to do with the U.S. I think this is one aspect of SR that makes it what it is - I can order domestically in my country, or from overseas, as I decide, and I don't live under a federal government.
DPR - is it just Greenberg's spin on it to paint SR as an entirely U.S. phenomenon? Does he realize how international it is?
Take care
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Hi all, and perhaps a lil info from DPR would be interesting here..
Just re-read the Forbes article, and I was struck by it's USA-centric slant. According to paragraph 4, the goods go out in the 'U.S. Postal Service, right under the federal government's nose.' Kinda makes it seem like the whole SR trade is originating in, and entirely taking place in, the U.S. Only very late in the article is there a single mention of non-U.S. vendors (Australian).
Only SR might know the figures, but an awful lot of trade is international, or within other countries internally, having little or nothing to do with the U.S. I think this is one aspect of SR that makes it what it is - I can order domestically in my country, or from overseas, as I decide, and I don't live under a federal government.
DPR - is it just Greenberg's spin on it to paint SR as an entirely U.S. phenomenon? Does he realize how international it is?
Take care
hi hi
i saw a list of all active SR vendor's listed regions once a few weeks back..... and like most internet things, SR is primarily in USA. however UK and AUS also have very sizable vendor populations. the rest of the world is rather sparse. from what i remember there was proportionally about 2:1 USA:UK.. AUS had slightly less than UK, or maybe it was other way around...
forgive me i dont have the link handy, it was found on these forums somewhere....
xoxo
-mb
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Hi missbliss,
Ta for that, but I still think the article makes nothing of the international side. Lots of stuff surely coming out it's traditional brewing grounds in the Netherlands and Germany (know I have bought from these places).
Guess what is bothering me is that it seems to weaken the importance of what SR is achieving, as though just a tightening down on U.S. postal systems and state laws etc would somehow constrain SR, as though it is CONTAINABLE (within borders, for example). And that's not it at all.
It was still a decent article. And I would still like to hear DPR's thoughts.
Take care
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Hi missbliss,
Ta for that, but I still think the article makes nothing of the international side. Lots of stuff surely coming out it's traditional brewing grounds in the Netherlands and Germany (know I have bought from these places).
Guess what is bothering me is that it seems to weaken the importance of what SR is achieving, as though just a tightening down on U.S. postal systems and state laws etc would somehow constrain SR, as though it is CONTAINABLE (within borders, for example). And that's not it at all.
It was still a decent article. And I would still like to hear DPR's thoughts.
Take care
I wouldn't read into it too much. Forbes is an American publication, and it is directed at the American mid-upper and upper class. To bring into account worldwide figures, would have required worldwide contribution. This is a magazine that largely tries to report specifically on what it can... and Greenberg spent a good amount of time dealing with its US component. If he had say, gone to England and tried to get some through the post, that'd be something to add to the article... but he didn't. He stuck to what he knew and what he had experienced.
Frankly, since I've never dealt with anything but mail in the US and Canada, I have no idea what/who/how mail is handled or behaves outside of my home base. I know Australia has become tight on its restrictions, I know that Europe has some things we don't and has shit of some things we have amazing. That is the extent. I'm sure if I researched, and I'm sure if Greenberg researched, I could come up with a pretty good amount of information... but I don't think many of his readers would have found value in it.
I think to a certain extent, since the article is distributed here on our forums in a global manner, that the opinion will sway towards angst against the US centric opinion... but, at the same time, if DPR hadn't posted it, it'd only be the US who would have found out for the most part.
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I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Hey DPR,
Can I ask: how many people have access to this account to post as DPR? And do they all have access to the password to PGP sign messages?
x Eiley
hmm... I think *we* like this one being a mystery.
fixed that for you!
Haha.
-
I'm here to answer any questions you have as best I can.
Hey DPR,
Can I ask: how many people have access to this account to post as DPR? And do they all have access to the password to PGP sign messages?
x Eiley
hmm... I think I like this one being a mystery.
This is great, yet the thought never occurred to me at all. I haven't seen or read "The Princess Bride" . It's was a totally unexpected revelation upon reading the Forbes interview. Perfect plausible deniability, and also a great long term plan (if the plan is as per the film) - pass on control of the site when the time and successor feels right, although there is a risk of passing on to a mole. That would of course be the end of the site, so I suppose that's not really the plan at all.. oops I am losing my train of thought.
Do be careful of not getting too "personally" involved in the outward side of the site - letting your personality come across too much (as much as we appreciate your likeable personality). Surely exposing more of yourself can only be a bad thing.
ah, but, yourself.. you may not be one person.
wow. you're adding mystery even when it seems like you're revealing more.
amazing.
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Do be careful of not getting too "personally" involved in the outward side of the site - letting your personality come across too much (as much as we appreciate your likeable personality). Surely exposing more of yourself can only be a bad thing.
I like the new, engaged DPR. It's like the pre-4/20 DPR came back. The year between is what had the old timers wondering and worrying.
This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The more DPR talks, the more there seems to be a community vibe.
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Do be careful of not getting too "personally" involved in the outward side of the site - letting your personality come across too much (as much as we appreciate your likeable personality). Surely exposing more of yourself can only be a bad thing.
I like the new, engaged DPR. It's like the pre-4/20 DPR came back. The year between is what had the old timers wondering and worrying.
This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The more DPR talks, the more there seems to be a community vibe.
I miss Gary. He wouldn't recognize me as Bruce but we had a few cool conversations on the forum.
:(
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DPR whats ur name and address and how many times have u gotten laid
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Slightly off topic, but maybe not. It just occurred to me that I was reading about the UNABOMBER the other day. I'm sure it's common knowledge to most of you, but it was all new to me - being a bit naive.
He was discovered because of his strong feelings and opinions - his atypical moral perspective was recognized by his sister-in-law and then his brother (her husband).
DPR: I was as enthusiastic and agreeable of your moral perspective and leadership, and envious (and proud) of your ability to communicate it so effectively, as I am of the likes of Linus Torvalds, Eric S Raymond, and Richard Stallman in the world of computer software freedom.
I do worry though that the individuality and rarity - the uniqueness, of your public words, could lead to somebody realizing a link between you in the real world and the entity that is DPR.
You know, it's like an artist. Somebody can recognize a painting as being in a particular artist's style. Your words are your art and could be recognized.
Thinking about it more though, they would have to publish your Forbe's interview on the daily evening news, and every layman would have to read it. I suppose the layman isn't interested in Silk Road and Bitcoins in the slightest. Your friends/family probably won't see the Forbes article. ?
Still, be careful. I get the impression that you are much smarter than me anyway so I'm sure you/yous have it covered ;)
Does it sound like I have overdone the cocaine tonight? :D
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The more DPR talks, the more there seems to be a community vibe.
Definitely!
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but, at the same time, if DPR hadn't posted it, it'd only be the US who would have found out for the most part.
This is a global forum and somebody would have posted it allowing everyone to see
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This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The hyper-secure astor uses tor2web? :o ;D
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but, at the same time, if DPR hadn't posted it, it'd only be the US who would have found out for the most part.
This is a global forum and somebody would have posted it allowing everyone to see
That's true. I suppose I was a little ignorant/arrogant in that assumption.
I was more basing it off what I presumed to be the unlikely event that someone in SR would be looking at Forbes unknowingly and discovering it, without prior knowledge.
I suppose that it could be easily assumed (or, at least, construed) that DPR, or someone close to DPR, would have likely spilled the beans either privately or publicly, and it would have eventually made its way here.
This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The hyper-secure astor uses tor2web? :o ;D
+1. I was just about to follow the link too. Some 'splainin to do on that one!!!
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This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The hyper-secure astor uses tor2web? :o ;D
Anyone here not using onion.to can see that the original link I posted is straight .onion. Perhaps you only revealed your own insecure practices via a proxy rewrite. ;)
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This post by Gary Oak summed it up nicely at the time: https:https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to.to/index.php?topic=94549.msg669172#msg669172
The hyper-secure astor uses tor2web? :o ;D
Anyone here not using onion.to can see that the original link I posted is straight .onion. Perhaps you only revealed your own insecure practices via a proxy rewrite. ;)
Haha, touche! ;) But as a totally non-anonymous member, I have no need to use Tor for the forums. ::)
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Haha, touche! ;) But as a totally non-anonymous member, I have no need to use Tor for the forums. ::)
If onion.to can replace every instance of .onion with .onion.to, then it can read your password when you enter it in too.
So you're trusting that the onion.to admin is a good person and doesn't hack your account, spam, post cp on your behalf, etc. Also, I hope you don't use that password anywhere else.
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Haha, touche! ;) But as a totally non-anonymous member, I have no need to use Tor for the forums. ::)
If onion.to can replace every instance of .onion with .onion.to, then it can read your password when you enter it in too.
So you're trusting that the onion.to admin is a good person and doesn't hack your account, spam, post cp on your behalf, etc. Also, I hope you don't use that password anywhere else.
I never considered this... but of course they'd do that, wouldn't they. Otherwise half the darknet would be broken links. Astor makes an excellent point though: Tor replaces SSL on the darknet, more or less, and it's assumed you're using it (which is why the site doesn't use SSL). Without SSL or Tor, everything you transmit is not only in plaintext, it's also guaranteed to be visible to whoever runs (or controls) the .onion.to site you go through.
Including all the messages you exchange with other people. Everything they say is plaintext and visible as well, even PMs.
That's kind of mean; you should point that out to people at least :(
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Haha, touche! ;) But as a totally non-anonymous member, I have no need to use Tor for the forums. ::)
If onion.to can replace every instance of .onion with .onion.to, then it can read your password when you enter it in too.
So you're trusting that the onion.to admin is a good person and doesn't hack your account, spam, post cp on your behalf, etc. Also, I hope you don't use that password anywhere else.
I never considered this... but of course they'd do that, wouldn't they. Otherwise half the darknet would be broken links. Astor makes an excellent point though: Tor replaces SSL on the darknet, more or less, and it's assumed you're using it (which is why the site doesn't use SSL). Without SSL or Tor, everything you transmit is not only in plaintext, it's also guaranteed to be visible to whoever runs (or controls) the .onion.to site you go through.
Including all the messages you exchange with other people. Everything they say is plaintext and visible as well, even PMs.
That's kind of mean; you should point that out to people at least :(
All good points, which I hadn't considered. I only started using tor2web a little while ago. Naturally I don't recycle passwords, but i hadn't considered the PM thing. I'll certainly only do PMs over Tor from now on.
Fortunately I don't think I've had any non-PGP encrypted sensitive discussions over PM.
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The use of .to should be discouraged at every opportunity, those using it are either incredibly naive about the risks they are taking or in the one isolated case of our resident journo you really have no need to remain anonymous, glad to see you considered the private messages issue though.
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I never considered this... but of course they'd do that, wouldn't they. Otherwise half the darknet would be broken links. Astor makes an excellent point though: Tor replaces SSL on the darknet, more or less, and it's assumed you're using it (which is why the site doesn't use SSL). Without SSL or Tor, everything you transmit is not only in plaintext, it's also guaranteed to be visible to whoever runs (or controls) the .onion.to site you go through.
Including all the messages you exchange with other people. Everything they say is plaintext and visible as well, even PMs.
That's kind of mean; you should point that out to people at least :(
Well yeah, that's why the Atlantis admins were fucking retarded for posting onion.to links to their site on clearnet, like in that reddit AMA.
Remember that Atlantis phishing proxy that sniffed account credentials? onion.to could do the same thing, and that was the officially admin-approved way of accessing Atlantis.
All of these third party services like onion.to, onion.sh, tor2web.org, Privnote, SMS4Tor, etc., should be abandoned because they increase your attack surface, forcing you to trust in the good will of third parties that you know nothing about.
All good points, which I hadn't considered. I only started using tor2web a little while ago. Naturally I don't recycle passwords, but i hadn't considered the PM thing. I'll certainly only do PMs over Tor from now on.
Fortunately I don't think I've had any non-PGP encrypted sensitive discussions over PM.
FYI, onion.to and tor2web.org are different things. :)
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I never considered this... but of course they'd do that, wouldn't they. Otherwise half the darknet would be broken links. Astor makes an excellent point though: Tor replaces SSL on the darknet, more or less, and it's assumed you're using it (which is why the site doesn't use SSL). Without SSL or Tor, everything you transmit is not only in plaintext, it's also guaranteed to be visible to whoever runs (or controls) the .onion.to site you go through.
Including all the messages you exchange with other people. Everything they say is plaintext and visible as well, even PMs.
That's kind of mean; you should point that out to people at least :(
Well yeah, that's why the Atlantis admins were fucking retarded for posting onion.to links to their site on clearnet, like in that reddit AMA.
Remember that Atlantis phishing proxy that sniffed account credentials? onion.to could do the same thing, and that was the officially admin-approved way of accessing Atlantis.
All of these third party services like onion.to, onion.sh, tor2web.org, Privnote, SMS4Tor, etc., should be abandoned because they increase your attack surface, forcing you to trust in the good will of third parties that you know nothing about.
All good points, which I hadn't considered. I only started using tor2web a little while ago. Naturally I don't recycle passwords, but i hadn't considered the PM thing. I'll certainly only do PMs over Tor from now on.
Fortunately I don't think I've had any non-PGP encrypted sensitive discussions over PM.
FYI, onion.to and tor2web.org are different things. :)
You wouldn't believe how many people are still falling for the Atlantis phishing scam and signing up with the same credentials as their SR accounts only to be relieved of all their BTC soon afterwards with nothing more than a few hacked feedback's further propagating the scam.
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I didn't know that was still going through the feedback system. Sucks. :(
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I didn't know that was still going through the feedback system. Sucks. :(
I've probably seen around 10 posts this week from people who have fallen for it and those are just the ones who posted about it, I should imagine there are a shit load more victims who just go direct to SR support and do not advertise what happened on the forums, I mean would you want to admit you clicked on an obvious phishing link then used all the same SR credentials to open another account on a rival site? I'd def think twice about hitting post on that badboy.
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FYI, onion.to and tor2web.org are different things. :)
I think that might have changed recently. The Tor2Web logo appears at the top of onion.to sites now (as of about a week ago) :)
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Ah, you're right. The site looks completely different. That might be why Moritz Bartl used onion.to in his examples of how his Tor mail gateway would work. Looks like he bought the domain, since there's a link to Torservers on it now.