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An automated shopping bot designed to make purchases on dark web marketplaces using bitcoin has been released after it was confiscated months ago. The Random Darknet Shopper made headlines last fall after it purchased, among other items, a supply of ecstasy pills from the dark web marketplace Agora. The bot, as well as the items it purchased, was displayed during an exhibition at the Kunst Halle St Gallen art gallery in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

According to a 15th January blog post, the bot was confiscated by the St Gallen public prosecutor’s office, which reportedly cited safety concerns. At the time, !Mediengruppe Bitnik, the team behind the bot, called the confiscation “an unjustified intervention into freedom of art.”


http://www.coindesk.com/controversial-dark-web-bitcoin-bot-released-from-custody/

That's awesome, I've been following this story from the beginning and it's so cool that they released the little guy! They probably realized that the bot's activity would be very hard to prosecute, as there is little legal framework for rogue computer programs.

I found this interesting:


http://mashable.com/2015/04/17/drug-buying-swiss-bot/ (http://mashable.com/2015/04/17/drug-buying-swiss-bot/)

So they destroyed the MDMA that the bot ordered, but maybe if it orders more drugs they will stay in the museum! A good day for art and bitcoin.

I remember when this happened it was quite a story. I actually think that they should let the bot do it's work to see how it will act over time. As long as the people who received the drugs got rid of them or gave them in. It's magnificent that we can achieve something like this. I'm wonder though why did it chose the items that he did (incl. ecstasy)?

This is great. I love the intersection of art and hacking, it's always exciting. By seizing the bot I'm guessing they mean the computer that was hosting it. Right? Because the code could have easily been copied and be living anywhere. Looks like they destroyed the ecstasy, but they returned the shoes ... :P

https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org/media/r/img/thumb/parcel_attorney_04_905.jpg

The robot just wanted to enjoy some M while having a drink wearing his stylish shoes. Is that white plastic thing a condom? lol.

Well, if you are chilling at home and suddendly the door rings and you get some free high quality weed, who would throw it away? I would say thanks robot and proceed.

I've been reading a lot about this bot, never heard about it before... I don't really get what they were trying to do. They just bought random items, for a museum? Why? Not really getting what's the fun in this... Were they just trying to see how would justice react to the bot?

Well, seeing how justice reacted was an interesting  development, but I think they were also trying to provoke questions like: Who/what's responsible if an autonomous software agent commits crime, and maybe how society would react? They're the sort of questions we may have to take seriously in the future, what with things like driverless cars, autonomous drones and DACs (Decentralised Autonomous Corporations) on the horizon...

Thought-provoking stuff.

This is hilarious. A computer bot programmed to buy random stuff from the dark web decided to buy drugs. The bot got jailed and now released.  :D

How was the bot confiscated?

It doesn't make sense.
They mean the computer that was hosting it?
And they had no backups of the bot/code anywhere else?

It really doesn't make sense.....

Yes of course, it is really insane. How can they confiscate a 'bot'? I think they have only seized one copy but there are a lot of other copies.


I think you have already read this article:


«Can a robot, or a piece of software, be jailed if it commits a crime? Where does legal culpability lie if code is criminal by design or default? What if a robot buys drugs, weapons, or hacking equipment and has them sent to you, and police intercept the package?» These are some of the questions Mike Power asked when he reviewed the work «Random Darknet Shopper» in The Guardian.

https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org/r/2015-01-15-statement/

Well then they should arrest you. There are people who don't smoke that stuff.
Exactly. Now when I think about it, you can't jail software.
Even if they don't have a copy lying around, I'm pretty sure that they have the source code backed up. They could just compile it again.

This is even more of an art project as anyone may realize right now. I know it may sound stupid as of now, but I believe the line between AI (which can never be truly intelligent) and what we consider intelligent may get insanely narrow.

thats awesome i have also found this to be incredibly exciting and really welcome the dark web bot into the bitcoin family

what if the bot was a police bot, made only for reveal the criminals? i could see something like this happen easily, then they go out and say stupid thing like bot is confiscated ecc... to mask the thing

I don't think the police have coded/wrote an 'illegal bot' to purchase illegal things on the deep web only to catch the criminals, most probably it was written by someone else (and maybe you can find a copy of this bot in the deep web, I am sure but I have not searched it)

I see :) well, they'll eventually create laws to blame the creator of the bot/system... But getting to the author is a different story altogether.

was just a guess, because i remembered that some agents were disguised themselves as users in the dark web to expose the criminals pedophiles

it's possible that they are doing the same with bitcoin criminals