Silk Road 2.0 Launches

I&#x27;d never buy heroin from a website, but I see the Silk Road as cyber-civil-disobedience, and I hope the persona of DPR and the site itself are as unsinkable as they claim.<p>The drug war is a ghastly thing, and the number of people we lock up in the US is more shameful than our foreign policy. You can begrudge the first DPR his lame security, shady murder contracts, and ill-gotten fortune, but he&#x27;s the product of our system, and his shame is our shame.

Yesterday my cousin was found dead. He had committed suicide. It was the end of a long battle he had been waging against himself. Drugs have destroyed this small part of my family, but i&#x27;m really glad to see something like the silk road revitalized.<p>I think the sooner we realize how fleeting a battle it is to fight them, the sooner we can place the money where it belongs.<p>My cousin is dead now, but I think my tax money would be better spent helping him kick his habit, than locking him up.

Senator Tom Carper&#x27;s statement on the launch:<p>“This new website – launched barely a month after Federal agents shut down the original Silk Road -- underscores the inescapable reality that technology is dynamic and ever-evolving and that government policy needs to adapt accordingly. Rather than play ‘whack-a-mole’ with the latest website, currency, or other method criminals are using in an effort to evade the law, we need to develop thoughtful, nimble and sensible federal policies that protect the public without stifling innovation and economic growth. Our committee intends to have that conversation – among others - at our hearing this month on virtual currency.”<p><a href="http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/majority-media/chairman-carper-statement-on-the-unveiling-of-the-so-called-silk-road-20-website" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hsgac.senate.gov&#x2F;media&#x2F;majority-media&#x2F;chairman-ca...</a>

Not unexpected of course, the demand for narcotics and other services is still out there. I can&#x27;t help but wonder if this isn&#x27;t a bit like becoming the new head of some terrorist organization, the target is now painted day-glo orange and we know that it is not only on the &#x27;radar&#x27; of law enforcement, its a priority target. The clock starts, and a number of resources are now tasked with taking you out.<p>Of course the genius of the Princess Bride with respect to the DPR character is that <i>the character</i> cannot be killed or captured or prosecuted, because it isn&#x27;t really a person, it is an idea. And that was wonderfully illustrated in the book, film, and now in world around us.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it&#x27;s a honeypot. Just a hunch.

This is just an example of the massive waste of resources used up by the drug war (assuming this is what it claims to be, point stands regardless). So the Silk Road was shut down, but all that did was reduce the available supply of the drugs. It did nothing to address the demand side of drugs, which is really what drives everything. All attacking the supply does is make it more lucrative for those who are able to evade law enforcement.<p>There is some role for law enforcement to play in discouraging the supply of drugs (if the society we live in remains one where drug use is considered negative). However, the vast majority of resources should go towards addressing the demand (making people want them less, treatment, etc., I don&#x27;t mean just arrest all the buyers).

My favorite bit is Forbes&#x27; publishing software automatically linking the handle &quot;Steve Jobs&quot; to their profile of the real Steve Jobs. Classy!

There is cool interesting feature — two factor auth. But not your usual one. It ask you to decrypt random string encrypted with your public GPG key (you provide it in prefs).

A serious question: while I have nothing against Silk Road (the drug war is a waste of money anyways), aren&#x27;t people afraid of putting stuff in their body that they had an anonymous person send to them? I mean, unless the seller has a reputation, isn&#x27;t there is a substantial risk of using that drug?<p>Are my fears unfound? On one hand, the idea of buying drugs online is probably more safe than doing it on the streets, but the anonymity this offers has a potential downside like the one I mentioned above.

Never, ever, <i>ever</i> trust anyone or anything that suddenly reappears after a major bust by the authorities. <i>NEVER</i>.<p>Move on.

<a href="http://silkroad6ownowfk.onion/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;silkroad6ownowfk.onion&#x2F;</a>

Hopefully it won&#x27;t be another &quot;Project: Black Flag&quot;, <a href="http://buttcoin.org/silk-road-replacement-project-black-flag-closes-shop-owner-thanks-everyone-free-coins" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;buttcoin.org&#x2F;silk-road-replacement-project-black-flag...</a>

The sudden rise of terribly programmed, horribly insecure marketplaces as hidden services since SR went down has been absolutely fascinating.

Well, that was inevitable.

Is there a place he could run this from and be safe? Like a country without extradition where it would be difficult for US gov to come in and arrest you anyway.<p>The single dumbest thing the last DPR did was continue living in the US

As I&#x27;ve never heard of the site before it was seized, the DEA gave it some good advertising. They probably will have grown the site much quicker by trying to stop it.

So how do we know that this is not the FBI waiting for people to place orders&#x2F;post listings so they can arrest them?

They claimed to have caught the Dread Pirate Roberts... but then again who&#x27;s to say?

I am serious here too: I don&#x27;t support the website&#x27;s initiative. I endorse the technical aspect of it as a way to test whether the design is optimal and achievable, but in no way would I ever support drug dealers.

Honeypot

The interesting thing to me is that, in theory, the same kinds of extreme privacy-protecting, anonymity-maximizing measures which can be used to host any kind of Silk Road, or to visit it and use it, can ALSO be used by... wait for it... wait for it... yes the law enforcement folks. In other words, how can you be sure that this new Silk Road 2.0 is not a sting honey pot setup by the FBI itself?<p>I don&#x27;t buy stuff like that and never will. But if I did, I wouldn&#x27;t go near anything using the Silk Road name after a seizure&#x2F;arrest has been publicly documented.<p>Remember, on the Internet, nobody knows if you&#x27;re a dog. Or a teenager living in your mom&#x27;s basement in Russia. Or an FBI agent munching on donuts in Washington DC. Etc.

pretty sure its a honeypot.

Domain registered by FBI