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August 29, 2016, 04:17:20 AM |
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There are thousands of transactions carried out on the entire Dark Net on a daily basis. Most of these markets will either fall victim to hackers, covert law enforcement operations, or greed in the form of exit scams. Hackers generally prey on the markets long before law enforcement can get their hands on them. However, there are a few markets that would survive the test of time, expanding their sites, adding security features, and growing to bring in annual profits of over $100m. Such markets do not go unnoticed by law enforcement, or even the press. We all remember the shutdown of Silk Road, then Silk Road 2.0. Now we have several other markets in its place, the most prominent one at the moment being AlphaBay. So, why does the government specifically choose to go after Silk Road, when there are all these other markets out there?
To get a better understanding of the answer to that question, we must look at it from a clearnet perspective. There are currently hundreds of mass torrent sharing sites that infringe on copyrighted material. However, it is only one site, ThePirateBay, which stands out to law enforcement, and is subject to shutdowns, raids, and investigations. You see, ThePirateBay has been involved in activism for Aaron Swartz, and against SOPA/other controversial legislation under the US administration. This one website stood out in particular because it had an agenda. They told all these rich, greedy corporations to literally screw themselves (on their "Letters" page).
Ross Ulbricht (AKA DPR) had a very unjust trial. The judge was very dismissive, and had a clear cut bias against DPR, viewing him not as a hero of living in modern times but as a dangerous terrorist. The federal government does not have the time and resources to go after everybody involved in trading on the network, so they specifically go after the loud ones, the ones with a voice, the activists, the guys who will receive press coverage. As a "beware, we're coming for you, be intimidated" message.
I have been stopped and profiled by law enforcement on many occasions. Every single time, they want me to unlock my electronics so they can access the files in it. They do this only because I have been flagged and put on several watchlists for my TOR usage and investigative journalism against PRISM.
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