Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Blacksheep991 on October 01, 2012, 05:23 am
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I'm sitting here thinking about the evolution of technology and in specific crypto-anarchism. I can't help but think that SR is the evolution of technology a logical next step to many advances that have come before it. In specific I am speaking of Napster. Napster was one of the first to promote the idea that the internet could be used in order to provide a workaround to conventional acquisition of music. It was revolutionary, the idea that one could simply go on the internet and no longer pay for music astounded many including myself. Of course, the government and LE could not stand for this. Any government will reject acquisition of goods, whether they be digital or physical in nature, if they cannot control and regulate how they are acquired. So of course Napster was promptly shut down. However, the beautiful thing about this is that once an idea is introduced and made public, it is impossible to stop that idea from evolving. In essence "The flood gates where opened". Following Napster came applications such as Kazza, BearShare, Limewire, etc, all aimed at replicating the original design of Napster. These all in turn were shut down by LE and thus Bittorrent became popular. Because Bittorent lives within the users sharing their data, there is no way in order to shut it down, because it does not exist as a singularity it is something the government cannot and will never be able to control.
Now I ask the question, does anyone think that LE can actually get enough of a hold on SR to shut it down? And if so is it so farfetched to think that since something of this nature has existed and thrived before that shutting it down will stop it? I am of the belief that since this idea has already been exposed to the public, and we all see that cryto-anarchism can thrive, will not another more powerful, and secure version of SR come to light and continue to do what SR does so well. Can it ever be stopped completely, I THINK NOT!
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I think you're on to something. Certainly purchasing drugs online was possible before the Silk Road, but it's never been this secure, organized, and big. The Silk Road has indeed started a revolution of sorts with so much momentum that I'd say it's core ideas are impossible to stop. Now, two questions still remain: can it ever become "mainstream" and will drug enforcement groups ever be able to stop it? These are very difficult to answer.
I think the Silk Road has built-in flaws that will impede its growth at some point and is the reason it's still a fringe idea. Some of these flaws -- 1) the technological requirements of operating TOR, 2) purchasing bitcoins, 3) learning how to use encryption software and 4) the threat of getting scammed -- will lessen as the userbase expands. What won't change is the mechanism in which drugs are exchanged from seller to buyer. This is by far the biggest risk a buyer takes and the reason why many people competent enough to buy here decide not to. At the end of the day, you're putting your safety in the hands of an anonymous drug dealer who holds all of your personal information. That's a scary thought, and I wonder if it will prevent the average joe from buying here, even if the Silk Road becomes as easy to use as Amazon.
I find law enforcement outright shutting down this place to be unlikely (unless it grows 100X in size). That would require them attacking TOR (which they won't do due to its many beneficial uses) or bitcoin (more likely, but still very improbable at this point due to its legitimate uses and market speculation). A more probable way this place gets shut down is by DPR somehow fucking up and getting caught, which would have happened by now and would only be replaced by The Silk Road2. Perhaps the biggest threat of all is LE scaring off people by posing as vendors and taking down random buyers "as an example". I don't know the legality of this (they would have to start off a legit vendors) and how they would go about doing it, but if the risk of arrest was too high, they would effectively shut down the site.
Right now, the SR is so insignificant in relation to the rest of the drug trade that law enforcement hasn't bothered going after it. If millions of people start using it and it becomes even a fraction as big as Napster, that might change. Even a year and a half later and with all its success/exponential growth, the Silk Road is still at its introductory phase. A tipping point that truly challenges the integrity of the site is eventually going to have to occur -- and that's probably many years down the road.
So yeah, I agree with you, but I don't think this game has been yet been won. We don't know if the integrity of TOR and bitcoins will remain sound decades from now or if a fatal flaw will arise that we haven't yet taken into account Something important IS going on here though and I wouldn't be surprised if this place gets a mention in your grandchild's history textbook, regardless of the outcome: "The Silk Road- the biggest "fuck you" to the government since the French Revolution".
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just use a vpn "virtual private network" to download ur torrent stuff!
dont decrease the Tor bandwith with this shit - have u donated to tor?
there are vpn's that are free to a certain amount of mb.
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I am not speaking of using TOR and Bittorrent together I was simply using bit torrent to try and explain a connection between p2p networks and SR. I don't even use cryptography for bit torrent I am not worried about the government suing me for downloading a movie that is a slim to none chance. And to answer your question, no I haven't but I plan to donate.
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The Silk Road- the biggest "fuck you" to the government since the French Revolution".
;D
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"The Silk Road- the biggest "fuck you" to the government since the French Revolution".
Shouldn't that read the biggest "va te faire foutre" to the government since the French Revolution ;D
Vive la révolution
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I am not speaking of using TOR and Bittorrent together I was simply using bit torrent to try and explain a connection between p2p networks and SR. I don't even use cryptography for bit torrent I am not worried about the government suing me for downloading a movie that is a slim to none chance. And to answer your question, no I haven't but I plan to donate.
sorry - my misunderstanding!!
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Silk Road didn't open the floodgates, Bitcoin did. Silk Road just happens to be the biggest ship in the water, now.
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If you think the flood gates have been permanently opened, you underestimate the power of a tyrannical government. I hope it never comes to that, of course.
It will always be possible for a small segment of the population to out cat-and-mouse authority. We live in a (at the moment) relatively free society, but at the direction we're going I think that segment is more likely to decrease rather than increase.
For example, if bitcoin became illegal, or some negative regulation/restrictions put onto them breaking anonymity. Legit organizations like bitinstant wouldn't be able to provide the service they currently do, and your average joe would have less ability to enter the market. Btc mining would be tougher to do, some heavy duty miners would get thrown in jail. Others would get scared and exit the market. Some would remain, but like I said it would an ever smaller number.
I'm certainly a pessimist, but I don't see any flood gates opening.
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I agree that segments of the system that make SR work will most likely be shut down such as the bitcoin currency. However, as stated earlier in this thread SR has yet to reach a level high enough to truly warrant government intervention. Not only that but since crypto-anarchism exists as a lets say, a free market or an unidentifiable zone, it transcends government all together each government individually would have to outlaw these practices. I know for a fact in I believe the UK (I could be wrong, it's some country though) that cryptography is not illegal but users of lets say PGP can be prosecuted if they do not hand over their private key to the government if they request it. It is like refusing to take a breathalyzer its automatic admission of guilt. However, as before stated I believe that bitcoin if shut down would give birth to another e-currency, if not several. Did Napster not birth the creation of close to 8 p2p clients that came after it? It is the idea of a free (black) market that I claim cannot and never will be stopped. We see it is possible so technically the possibilities are endless in that respect. The government can outlaw SR and shut down what makes it work, but they can never shut down an idea or a way of thinking it will continue to evolve like a virus.
We brought the guillotine lets behead some government laws ;D
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