The Dread Pirate Roberts allegedly ran the Silk Road, the world’s most successful online drug bazaar, until the feds caught him earlier this month. His real name, according to a 39-page federal complaint against him, is Ross Ulbricht, 29. He supposedly took the pseudonym from a character in the movie and book, The Princess Bride. In the Silk Road, DPR, as his followers called him, created a business model for anyone wanting to sell illicit items online using free encryption software called Tor and the virtually anonymous crypto-currency Bitcoin. Though the feds have taken Silk Road offline, there are plenty of folks lining up to be the next Dread Pirate Roberts.
This article examines the greater implications of the Deep Web, the massive and growing anonymous area of the Internet. But from the perspective of lawmakers and law enforcement in Washington, Silk Road presents a double conundrum. It’s a blueprint for criminals the world over at a time when FBI resources are stretched thin and political will to empower government snooping has cratered. And it has created a regulatory headache in figuring how to deal with whole new currencies, tax havens and virtual online markets.
1 Comments in Response to Why The Deep Web Has Washington Worried
The question I ask is, Have the Feds been able to crack the Bitcoin encryption used by Dread Pirate Roberts so that they can access his bitcoins in SPENDABLE form? If not, all they have done is made the rest of the bitcoins around the world slightly more valuable by taking Roberts's bitcoins offline.
The real problem is that Government officials and law enforcement have mixed feelings about this whole encryption thing. After all, who are some of the biggest criminals in the world? Aren't some of the BIGGEST criminals Government officials who terrorize the whole world by not obeying the Constitution? Aren't they the ones who would benefit the most from something like Bitcoin and the Deep Web?
And as for the smaller BIG criminals, isn't it law enforcement? Law enforcement is some of the BIGGEST criminals who interact with the people daily. Just look at all the police brutality hits you get when you Google "Police Brutality." You can be sure that while they are freaking out on the outside about Bitcoin and the Deep Web, they are inwardly happy that THEY can get away with a whole bunch of things, a whole lot easier, that were formerly difficult without Bitcoin and the Deep Web.
So you see the real problem regarding the Deep Web for Government. The problem is not the existence of Bitcoin and the Deep Web. The problem is how to keep it ALL for themselves, and not allow the public access to it. Two-faced Government!
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Bitcoin hit a high of just under $235 last night. This is the highest it has been since it came down after the $290 high half a year ago. Chinese usage of Bitcoin has topped MtGox (out of Japan), which has been the king of the hill for ages now.