Silk Road Research site legality

[jimbobway]

It is hard to access silk road.  Would it be legal to have a website that caches silk road daily but u cannot buy anything from it?  It is just for curious people or for journalistic research.

[1715035781]

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[1715035781]

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[1715035781]

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[1715035781]

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[HostFat]

Try tor2web.org

[kais3r]

Try tor2web.org

wow thanks! this is the first i've heard of this service

[malevolent]

Try tor2web.org

wow thanks! this is the first i've heard of this service

Be careful, if you are up to something illegal or you can face problems for viewing tor sites, don't use it, it is not safe.

[Gareth Nelson]

It is hard to access silk road.  Would it be legal to have a website that caches silk road daily but u cannot buy anything from it?  It is just for curious people or for journalistic research.

Under what law is it illegal to merely VIEW silk road?

[anu]

Under what law is it illegal to merely VIEW silk road?

Under the law of anticipatory obedience.

[JDBound]

It is hard to access silk road.  Would it be legal to have a website that caches silk road daily but u cannot buy anything from it?  It is just for curious people or for journalistic research.

Under what law is it illegal to merely VIEW silk road?

It would be a difficult argument to make in any jurisdiction, but it could go towards establishing ones mens rea, i.e. a culpable mindset for an intent to attempt to purchase (insert SR item here). I also imagine that knowing or purposeful conduct would need to be proven as opposed to merely recklessness or negligence. Note that no known prosecutions/cases exist having pursued this argument as it relates to SR.

[anu]

a culpable mindset

I have a hard time imagining many people wishing the introduction of thought crimes. That would be a very slippery slope indeed.

[Matthew N. Wright]

It is hard to access silk road.  Would it be legal to have a website that caches silk road daily but u cannot buy anything from it?  It is just for curious people or for journalistic research.

Under what law is it illegal to merely VIEW silk road?

In Korea, there are actually laws about viewing things like SilkRoad, as visiting the website is seen as intent to buy. The same goes for child pornography though, and if your friend sends you a link to some, are you going to jail for clicking it? I think those laws are all impossible to prove intent without spying on you a bit more.

[JDBound]

a culpable mindset

I have a hard time imagining many people wishing the introduction of thought crimes. That would be a very slippery slope indeed.

In common law systems this is called inchoate criminal liability. The two forms you're likely to see are attempt and conspiracy. Hypothetically then the viewing of SR could also bolster a case for conspiracy. Therein you need agreement between two actors and an "overt act" which could probably be just viewing SR.

Edit: Further it really isn't a slippery slope situation so long as a government respects some conception of a right of privacy and freedom from self incrimination just to name two examples. See U.S. v. Jones http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf ; see also, U.S. Const. 5th Am.

So, while I can think about pushing ole grandpa down the stairs all day long, I actually need to come really close to doing it, or have gotten really far into the planning of it in order to incur liability. Whether or not a "fair" burden of proof is in place in a given jurisdiction is up for debate though.

[anu]

In common law systems this is called inchoate criminal liability. The two forms you're likely to see are attempt and conspiracy. Hypothetically then the viewing of SR could also bolster a case for conspiracy. Therein you need agreement between two actors and an "overt act" which could probably be just viewing SR.

When viewing SR there is you and a WWW server. Not sure if you can count a web server as an actor or if curiosity is something that can be called an "overt act". But then, IANAL and the US already has plenty of laws that qualifies it as at least an authoritarian system. Like threatening married couples with jail for having oral sex. It really seems to me the US govt greatly values inmates over tax payers. So if you are in the US, don't listen to my opinions as I am in a liberal jurisdiction.

[HostFat]

Like threatening married couples with jail for having oral sex.

Just curiosity, are you kidding? Is there a law like this in the US?

[anu]

Is there a law like this in the US?

The law is still on the books in several US states (mostly in the south-east). However, those laws have had no legal weight since the sodomy law in Texas was struck down by a 2003 ruling by the US supreme court. See Lawrence v Texas - Broader Implications.

I think in Michigan it's still in effect, being labelled "gross indecency". Sorry for having strolled OT, but I felt an itch to point out that US law is in several areas more restrictive than even Sharia law.

To get on-topic again:

In Korea, there are actually laws about viewing things like SilkRoad, as visiting the website is seen as intent to buy.

Even if that's true you should be able to get off because only some items on SR are illegal, others are not. You may have intended to buy one of those legal items.

[Athanasios Motok]

I know .onion.to works (tor2web) but I would not suggest visiting these black market type sites as they would be able to see your IP address.
-AM

[HairyMaclairy]

It's not illegal in Australia to view Silk Road but you may be inviting unnecessary government attention to yourself.  Australia actively shares web traffic data with the US and UK security services. 

[Trance]

Try tor2web.org

Beat me to it

Definitely try that

[hilariousandco]

Try tor2web.org

Beat me to it

Definitely try that

That's interesting. Wasn't aware of a service like that, but I'm guessing it's probably not safe to use if you're thinking of doing or viewing any unscrupulous sites haha.

[frajervitalny]

are there some other, silkroad like services?

[hilariousandco]

are there some other, silkroad like services?

There's a few. http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2014/01/24/darklist-aims-to-be-the-yelp-of-silk-road-style-drug-dealers/

[Blozix]

are there some other, silkroad like services?

Use torproject.org and find there search engine like google