Your claim of 'extortion' is quite ridiculous. Vendors are not permitted to engage in OOE deals, and they agree not to engage in such deals when signing up to become a vendor. If they feel that they don't need to pay commissions that's fine - they don't have to open a vendor account on Silk Road if they don't wish to pay commission. If they wish to vend to a global customer base with Silk Road's reach without fees they are free to set up their own marketplace and grow it to the size of Silk Road with security of its members as the number one priority. Doing that without charging a commission will prove impossible. Commissions are a necessity in order to reinvest in Silk Road and ensure that vendors are actually able to sell their products safely in the first place, and equally, that buyers are able to buy the products that a vendor is offering. If and when we catch a vendor sticking their middle finger up at Silk Road by screwing us out of the commission that they agreed to pay when signifying their agreement with the Seller Contract, there are consequences for that. Libertas