Posted: 11/28/2012 2:52:22 AM EDT
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So I've known about TOR for a while now but other than playing around with it briefly a few years ago and getting fed up with their speed issues, I havent really thought very much about it since. Fast forward to about a year ago when the gawker piece came about about 'the place' which then became a bit of a topic on arf I briefly thought about it again. Finally for the last few weeks I've been completely consumed with watching as many presentations as possible from Defcon in Vegas over the last few years including the guys from TOR who really laid out the coming shitstorms regarding personal privacy in the coming decades in the center stage. So low and behold a few days ago I load up a Linux OS on a sterile USB card and dl and startup TOR which is light years ahead of where it was just a year or two ago in about 3 minutes after getting started. Naturally I wander on over to the 'marketplace' just to see whether or not what they say is for real or just a journalists aged view of a technology that they simply arent able to understand. Hollllllyyyyyyyy shiiittttttttttt if it is as secure as everyone seems to agreee it is, other than those dummies who cut corners or do ssomething sloppy, I think I may have to start rethinking my views on not whether or not the .gov should be able to regulate and tax certain commodities and products, but very simply if they will eve be able to in the coming few years. For those who have no idea what the anything I just means.... https://www.torproject.org/index.html.en .<- with this type of software it has become possible for black markets dealing in absolutely all kinds of very fun stuff to move from the alleys and street corners onto the internet.. Its pretty wild. http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/06/black-market-drug-site-silk-road-booming-22-million-in-annual-mostly-illegal-sales/ |
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Quoted: Seems you'd still need a mailing address which, for all the proxies and bitcoin anonymity, still connects you with the real world. Someone is shipping, someone is receiving, and there is a courier in the middle with drug dogs and the whole bit. right now they appear to exist with impunity, actual name actual address. I believe that the hassle of getting a federal warrant to open the package is one thing, then a second warrant to search the home once its received makes it quite a pain. also im not entirely sure if the receiver has technically committeed a crime if he receives a package on his doorstep 'unsolicited' and waits for 2 days to open it and bring it inside. also the keyword is 'a' mailing address whatever the case its certainly interesting |
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Quoted: Quoted: Seems you'd still need a mailing address which, for all the proxies and bitcoin anonymity, still connects you with the real world. Someone is shipping, someone is receiving, and there is a courier in the middle with drug dogs and the whole bit. right now they appear to exist with impunity, actual name actual address. I believe that the hassle of getting a federal warrant to open the package is one thing, then a second warrant to search the home once its received makes it quite a pain. also im not entirely sure if the receiver has technically committeed a crime if he receives a package on his doorstep 'unsolicited' and waits for 2 days to open it and bring it inside. also the keyword is 'a' mailing address whatever the case its certainly interesting That's crazy talk. Also the article indicates some of the larger sellers have "disappeared", and another site which was busted. I'd expect all eyes are on TOR and people operating within. |
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Quoted: I have absolutely no dog in this issue but check out these figuresQuoted: Quoted: Seems you'd still need a mailing address which, for all the proxies and bitcoin anonymity, still connects you with the real world. Someone is shipping, someone is receiving, and there is a courier in the middle with drug dogs and the whole bit. right now they appear to exist with impunity, actual name actual address. I believe that the hassle of getting a federal warrant to open the package is one thing, then a second warrant to search the home once its received makes it quite a pain. also im not entirely sure if the receiver has technically committeed a crime if he receives a package on his doorstep 'unsolicited' and waits for 2 days to open it and bring it inside. also the keyword is 'a' mailing address whatever the case its certainly interesting That's crazy talk. Also the article indicates some of the larger sellers have "disappeared", and another site which was busted. I'd expect all eyes are on TOR and people operating within. Black Market Drug Site 'Silk Road' Booming: $22 Million In Annual Sales What surprised Christin most was the high level of customer satisfaction: 97.8% of customers gave sellers positive reviews, despite the fact that Silk Road’s use of Tor’s IP-masking abilities and Bitcoin makes it nearly impossible for anyone who uses the site to identify anyone else. "On a site like Silk Road, where…most of the goods sold are illicit, one would expect a certain amount of deception to occur. According to the Farmer’s Market indictment, however, that site sold around $1 million worth of illegal drugs between January of 2007 and October of 2009. With Silk Road generating close to twice that amount in a mere month, its operation has reduced its recently-busted competitor to a street-corner hustler by comparison. the extremely high customer satisfaction rate clearly indicates they are moving a ton of product. according to the article which is based directly on a peer reviewed journal article the site that was previously shut down was using money orders and other traceable means of purchase, unlike bitcoins, this place also does twice the income in a month then they did in almost 3 years. It appears ot me like one of those extremely odd situations that will be very difficult for LE to break up. Neither TOR nor Bit Coin are willing to cooperate whatsoever with authorities, users by natures are all very computer literate, and other than just seizing the extrmeely small packages in customs, the odds of actually being able to make an arrest are much much more difficult. Plus USPS is bankrupt, and if you anyone happened to catch 60 minutes a few weeks ago, words cant describe what the drug and money situaitoin is right now going on at the southern border, I cant imaginee any of this stuff even rates enforecement compared to what they showed in Mexico. |