Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison

[BADecker]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

[crazyearner]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

True to the point him not harming anyone totally agree on that. But how the government will look at it is that he provided a place for such activity's to manifesto on and be allowed. Ff you where a legit business and having such services on would go to removing them. Theirs a lot of grounds government got Ross on than just him not harming anyone.

And some of his quotes..

“I never wanted that to happen,” he said. “I wish I could go back and convince myself to take a different path.”

“I’ve changed. I’m not the man I was when I created Silk Road. I’m a little wiser. A little more mature and much more humble,” Ulbricht pled in court.

“The stated purpose [of Silk Road] was to be beyond the law. In the world you created over time, democracy didn’t exist. You were captain of the ship, the dread Pirate Roberts. You made your own laws,” Forrest told Ulbricht as she read the sentence.


Trying to be above the law is just going to land you in what has happened here. If he would of thought it out and made changes as quoted then indeed could of turned it around but that didn't happen. It was an amazon of drugs and above the law. Places alike should not be allowed to be ran. They just cause bad news and you can run sites like it that sell drugs on providing their permitted in them countries, but as what was sold on it from stolen good to drugs and them some is not right in any sense. And to have an index full of them is just like the pirate bay shit that went on class of hot linking to pirated and copied stuff. Hot linking is you in a way providing an index to content that is illegal and can be prosecuted for. Government and law is stupid at most times but it is their to serve and protect in many way and many ways piss people off.  I don't like the law and government if their was no government and law perfect, but how would anything be controlled, simple it wouldn't .

[quad588]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

Ross ran a market that allowed criminals to perform illegal actions...while he wasn't harming anyone, he was giving others the ability to harm people and ability to break the law.
That is like a hitman agency. The man who is operating the business (not killing anyone but lets people hire hitmen and so forth) is not doing anything himself, but he is still allowing others to kill for money under his business.

[crazyearner]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

Ross ran a market that allowed criminals to perform illegal actions...while he wasn't harming anyone, he was giving others the ability to harm people and ability to break the law.
That is like a hitman agency. The man who is operating the business (not killing anyone but lets people hire hitmen and so forth) is not doing anything himself, but he is still allowing others to kill for money under his business.

Took the words right out of my mouth their. Just because one does not do it but provides services to perform action or actions is just as bad as doing them in the eyes of the law. I late law with a passion but has helped me a few times and in others pissed me right off when needing never their and when don't need them their in ya face.

[BADecker]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

Ross ran a market that allowed criminals to perform illegal actions...while he wasn't harming anyone, he was giving others the ability to harm people and ability to break the law.
That is like a hitman agency. The man who is operating the business (not killing anyone but lets people hire hitmen and so forth) is not doing anything himself, but he is still allowing others to kill for money under his business.

Took the words right out of my mouth their. Just because one does not do it but provides services to perform action or actions is just as bad as doing them in the eyes of the law. I late law with a passion but has helped me a few times and in others pissed me right off when needing never their and when don't need them their in ya face.

In the States, common law rules, if one uses it. This makes the division between illegal and unlawful very hard to see at times.

The government is illegal by their own tactics, more so than any man or woman... especially more than Ross, who was a proponent of freedom through his action rather than through talk alone.

[gentlemand]

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave.

Any sale of any hard drug to anyone anywhere in the world is soaked in the blood of the supply chain. Anybody who enables their sale in whatever form it takes is feeding the cycle of violence.

You'd have to be monumentally dim, or just a selfish prick, to not be slightly bothered by that when some coke flies up your nose. Same goes for many other things that we consume every day of course but the drug trade is even more vicious and brazen than most.

[enthus]

Places like silk road only do one thing and that causes more problems than cures and gives Bitcoin and other crypto a bad name for all the illegal activity's that where conducted on them. Cracking down on them and putting a stop to them I agree to. People who use places like silk road take the risk and are fully aware if things go wrong. When I was on it the amount of stuff that could be bought was a shock to me after seeing so many bad things and services you could buy with a click of a button and a payment of coin. Once all places like Silk road are stopped the better it will get for Bitcoin to be a much better legal friendly crypto to be used in the future.

Did you ever notice how government is trying to make Bitcoin illegal? In New York there are already laws that make business owners get licensing to use Bitcoin. I would rather have freedom across the board for Bitcoin. It is places like SilkRoad that enhance Bitcoin freedom.

Don't you like freedom? Government makes it so that you don't have the freedom to personally prosecute someone in a court of law if they harm you. You have to do it government's way, where government prosecutes, and you pay big money to a lawyer. No freedom there.

Yeah I love my freedom however that is a totally different ball game in New York and lots of areas with US they like to restrict everything they cant control or partly control, so they will just make illegal. SilkRoad did nothing but cause problems. Looking at all the operations it had running on it, if it did not have as much wrong doing and illegal things to buy then maybe it would be still running today. In what way did SilkRoad enhance Bitcoin freedom? as I do not see much actual good that happened from it other than more people got burned in it. So buying drugs, guns, weapons, knifes, services that are all illegal how on earth this makes Bitcoin enhances its freedom is far from that I would think.

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave. Prove Ross was hurting anyone. Government couldn't do it. Because government couldn't prove Ross hurt anyone, yet they enslaved him in prison, it was government hurting Ross. Government is the bad guys.

Ross ran a market that allowed criminals to perform illegal actions...while he wasn't harming anyone, he was giving others the ability to harm people and ability to break the law.
That is like a hitman agency. The man who is operating the business (not killing anyone but lets people hire hitmen and so forth) is not doing anything himself, but he is still allowing others to kill for money under his business.

Took the words right out of my mouth their. Just because one does not do it but provides services to perform action or actions is just as bad as doing them in the eyes of the law. I late law with a passion but has helped me a few times and in others pissed me right off when needing never their and when don't need them their in ya face.

Exactly...that is why he is sentenced to life. Who knows the effect this marketplace had on people.

[ivan19]

Stuff like this happening always reminds me that you can never trust anyone if you're doing illegal things. Always keep the information to yourself.

[gambit1]

That's the problem. Illegal doesn't mean anything if you are not hurting someone or damaging his property. If you aren't hurting someone, illegal is simply a method for making you a slave.

Any sale of any hard drug to anyone anywhere in the world is soaked in the blood of the supply chain. Anybody who enables their sale in whatever form it takes is feeding the cycle of violence.

You'd have to be monumentally dim, or just a selfish prick, to not be slightly bothered by that when some coke flies up your nose. Same goes for many other things that we consume every day of course but the drug trade is even more vicious and brazen than most.

To be fair gentlemand its the illegality of drugs that causes most of the problems not the drugs themselves. When the prohibition of alcohol was abolished all of the violence associated with its supply chain disappeared. Problems with alcohol continued but the street violence went. There are no turf wars over alcohol anymore you just buy it in a shop.

[gentlemand]

To be fair gentlemand its the illegality of drugs that causes most of the problems not the drugs themselves.

Absolutely. And the Al Capones pretty much immediately went away. If drugs were the same then there wouldn't have been a Ross Ulbricht in the first place.

As I've said before if he was directly linking little fellas making the stuff alone in jungles and labs with consumers and cutting out all of the supply chain then all this talk of reducing harm is valid and that's an admirable thing. But in most cases he wasn't.

[QuestionAuthority]

To be fair gentlemand its the illegality of drugs that causes most of the problems not the drugs themselves.

Absolutely. And the Al Capones pretty much immediately went away. If drugs were the same then there wouldn't have been a Ross Ulbricht in the first place.

As I've said before if he was directly linking little fellas making the stuff alone in jungles and labs with consumers and cutting out all of the supply chain then all this talk of reducing harm is valid and that's an admirable thing. But in most cases he wasn't.

In the movie, The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin, there is a drug dealer that called himself "Mr. Bitcoin". He explains how he used Silk Road to buy and ship all of the drugs he sold on the street (for an incredible markup I'm sure). So you're right, Ulbricht wasn't stopping street sales. It's more likely SR helped small street dealers and college campus dealers to acquire a larger and more dangerous variety of drugs than they would normally have access to by other means. The argument that somehow Ulbricht was a humanitarian is absurd.

[BADecker]

Many of you jokers fail to understand that the people who are in authority are just like you... people.

What gives them the right to have authority over you?

They get authority by being shrewd and lying and cheating and killing and stealing authority. And you WANT them to have authority over you?

"They are play you, son."

[cjmoles]

There are so many other people who deserve to be punished more than Ross that get away with hurting millions and millions of people.  All the big bankers that that the US government bailed out are a few examples.  They didn't get punished at all for ruining millions of lives; in fact, the US government rewarded them for their greed and dishonesty.

[QuestionAuthority]

There are so many other people who deserve to be punished more than Ross that get away with hurting millions and millions of people.  All the big bankers that that the US government bailed out are a few examples.  They didn't get punished at all for ruining millions of lives; in fact, the US government rewarded them for their greed and dishonesty.

What you're doing is similar to a non-visual gestalt psychology. You see patterns that aren't there and rationalize actions based on that false perception.

The earth is flat because when I stand on a beach I can see the ocean is flat. When I stand on a mountain top I see the land is flat so the earth is flat.

The individual in society is responsible for his actions. The government is comprised of all voting people in a democracy. In your mind, the government becomes an individual that can be equally judged alongside the individual.

What you should say is, we are all collectively guilty as a society of crimes far worse than the crime Ulbricht committed. Does that knowledge release the individual from the responsibility for his crime? No.

[BADecker]

Ross's only crime was screwing the big bankers. He cut into their business, and he showed others how to do the same. If you want to see what I mean, read and understand https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1270603.msg13111302#msg13111302.

[cjmoles]

There are so many other people who deserve to be punished more than Ross that get away with hurting millions and millions of people.  All the big bankers that that the US government bailed out are a few examples.  They didn't get punished at all for ruining millions of lives; in fact, the US government rewarded them for their greed and dishonesty.

What you're doing is similar to a non-visual gestalt psychology. You see patterns that aren't there and rationalize actions based on that false perception.

The earth is flat because when I stand on a beach I can see the ocean is flat. When I stand on a mountain top I see the land is flat so the earth is flat.

The individual in society is responsible for his actions. The government is comprised of all voting people in a democracy. In your mind, the government becomes an individual that can be equally judged alongside the individual.

What you should say is, we are all collectively guilty as a society of crimes far worse than the crime Ulbricht committed. Does that knowledge release the individual from the responsibility for his crime? No.

Your argument would be valid and sound, if the government were comprised of all voting people; however, it is not.  The US government is comprised of those representatives funded by the big banking moguls.  Most of the decisions made in the US are not voted on by the "people."  They are passed by those who are placed into congress by super political action committees and lobbiest backed by big money.  And, if you were standing on that "mountain top" and looking out, you'd see that for yourself.

[BADecker]

There are so many other people who deserve to be punished more than Ross that get away with hurting millions and millions of people.  All the big bankers that that the US government bailed out are a few examples.  They didn't get punished at all for ruining millions of lives; in fact, the US government rewarded them for their greed and dishonesty.

What you're doing is similar to a non-visual gestalt psychology. You see patterns that aren't there and rationalize actions based on that false perception.

The earth is flat because when I stand on a beach I can see the ocean is flat. When I stand on a mountain top I see the land is flat so the earth is flat.

The individual in society is responsible for his actions. The government is comprised of all voting people in a democracy. In your mind, the government becomes an individual that can be equally judged alongside the individual.

What you should say is, we are all collectively guilty as a society of crimes far worse than the crime Ulbricht committed. Does that knowledge release the individual from the responsibility for his crime? No.

Of course, the earth is not flat. Your eyes are simply curved in the opposite direction. Now that you know this, what are you really looking at when you see a woman with curves.

 

[Gleb Gamow]

Overheard at prison:

Prisoner1: I killed two people. I get out in 23 years.
Prisoner2: I killed my girlfriend's baby. I get out in 7 years.
Prisoner3: I killed several people by selling them bad drugs. I get out in 12 years.
Prisoner4: I killed a van full of people cause I was drunk. I get out in 19 years.
Prisoner5: Hey, new guy. What you'll get?
Ross: Life.
Prisoner6: Dude, what the fuck did you do?
Ross: I was an admin of some website...

[BADecker]

Overheard at prison:

Prisoner1: I killed two people. I get out in 23 years.
Prisoner2: I killed my girlfriend's baby. I get out in 7 years.
Prisoner3: I killed several people by selling them bad drugs. I get out in 12 years.
Prisoner4: I killed a van full of people cause I was drunk. I get out in 19 years.
Prisoner5: Hey, new guy. What you'll get?
Ross: Life.
Prisoner6: Dude, what the fuck did you do?
Ross: I was an admin of some website...

Prisoner7: What website was that?
Ross: Only the website that offered the most freedom in the world!
Prisoner8: Wait 'til you're in for a while. You'll be running it a thousand times better and freer.

[QuestionAuthority]

There are so many other people who deserve to be punished more than Ross that get away with hurting millions and millions of people.  All the big bankers that that the US government bailed out are a few examples.  They didn't get punished at all for ruining millions of lives; in fact, the US government rewarded them for their greed and dishonesty.

What you're doing is similar to a non-visual gestalt psychology. You see patterns that aren't there and rationalize actions based on that false perception.

The earth is flat because when I stand on a beach I can see the ocean is flat. When I stand on a mountain top I see the land is flat so the earth is flat.

The individual in society is responsible for his actions. The government is comprised of all voting people in a democracy. In your mind, the government becomes an individual that can be equally judged alongside the individual.

What you should say is, we are all collectively guilty as a society of crimes far worse than the crime Ulbricht committed. Does that knowledge release the individual from the responsibility for his crime? No.

Your argument would be valid and sound, if the government were comprised of all voting people; however, it is not.  The US government is comprised of those representatives funded by the big banking moguls.  Most of the decisions made in the US are not voted on by the "people."  They are passed by those who are placed into congress by super political action committees and lobbiest backed by big money.  And, if you were standing on that "mountain top" and looking out, you'd see that for yourself.

That's the excuse the voting public uses to be lazy. I have many friends that bitch about the government constantly but ask any of them if they voted in the last election and they start giving you excuses why they were too busy. The USA has pathetic voter turn out numbers. 57.7 percent of eligible voters turned out for the 2012 elections. If you don't vote then you get the government you deserve.

I'll change the statement above to suit you. What you should say is, 57.7 percent of society are all collectively guilty of crimes far worse than the crime Ulbricht committed. Does that make him any more or less guilty or invalidate his punishment. No!