http://www.businessinsider.com.au/silk-road-drug-baron-sentenced-to-2015-5?op=1
"Ulbricht bears responsibility for the overdoses, addictions, and other foreseeable repercussions of the illegal drugs sold on Silk Road"
I don't see the leaders of major tobacco getting sent to life for the lives its destroyed. But fuck logic right?
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b..but when corporations do it its fine! they have to make money somehow right? but seriously on a documentairy on a guy selling meth there were idiots complaining he was a monster, its not the sellers fault if someone chooses to buy dangerous drugs, and even if you can uphold a moral standard towards these guys why does the tabacco and alcohol get a free pass, i see noone complaining these corporations are monsters and everyone involved should get "life in prison"
Kinda of mixed on that one, while he did knowingly offer a service that people could obtain illicit goods, the person that bought and did the drugs is responsible for their overdose, death and addiction. Even if some one was in a bad situation where they were forced to do drugs of they took it unknowingly blame still falls on the person that actually gave it to them.
Not like it will really impact that kind of thing on the internet much in the end anyways, it just gives other people a good look at what and how it was done and helps them learn how to protect themselves from the law in the future.
Oh I agree it does mostly fall onto the user, but the fact remains that what he does is pretty much the same as big tobacco, they know full well that its dangerous to the user yet still sell it.
Ross Ulbright had absolutely terrible opsec, but for that he doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Fuck the United States of America. Long live Crypto Anarchy.
Ross Ulbricht Lawyer and Mother Reaction To Life In Jail
Ross is a hero, a free thinker who reduced street violence. I feel bad for his family, his mom has been fighting for his freedom.
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Why we need to pay higher taxes to keep this harmless individual locked up (not to mention the lack of his paid taxes and the contribution he would have made to society) is beyond comprehension. it makes me sick that we have victimless crimes such as drugs, then let child molesters out of prison to kill kids. There is no reason why recreational drugs are illegal. I would say the same for adult prostitution. We cannot afford this silliness any more. Furthermore, the impact of normal people getting a record than being unable to work has had a devastating impact on so many families and harmed our economy in aggregate.
Who are these clueless philistines who think this judge is not an immoral savage? It makes me sick to think that people who have that much power can be that out of touch.
You should read up on the Cypherpunks and Crypto Anarchy, as well as Voluntaryism, to have a greater understanding of what he did. He sought out to make money, yes, but he also created the site for philosophical reasons. He discussed them at great length on the Silk Road forums, which I frequently read. Aside from making money, the idea of the site was to allow people to voluntarily exchange goods outside of the reach of government, because that reach violated people's natural human rights. The philosophical axiom is that you have a natural right to voluntarily trade with another person, so long as neither party is using force or coercion against the other. This is a natural, human right, and freedom. The violation of freedom is when government claims the authority to deny that right to trade, and immorally acts upon that claim.
You can agree or disagree with the philosophy, and it has positive and negative implications. But understand the reasons for the site before saying what he did was stupid. Again, he did it to make money, which is not a stupid thing to do, as all of us do something to make money, but he also did it for philosophical reasons.
The way in which he did it was objectively stupid.
i can't state my opinion as i do not know all facts. I doubt fbi/cia would publish all data they've collected, still I would enjoy reading through them if they did.
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Trading in illegal drugs is still a crime whether online (or face-to-face) in America or Australia; there is no middle-ground on the drug-trade or the purveyors of this crime.
At present there is an 'Ice Epidemic' in Australia, and the authorities have been scrutinising parcels heavily (I have a relation who is employed by Australian Customs, and another who works for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) {the American-version of the FBI})
The point is that people have a right to choose what they put into their bodies. If a person doesn't have the right to choose what they put into their body, how can they have the right to forbid what another person puts into their body?
Yes, possessing and consuming drugs is a crime. But it's invalid because choosing what goes into your body is a natural human right, and as such, taking drugs is also a right.
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Hits are definitely despicable. You do know thought that he wasn't tried, convicted, or sentenced for murder for hire, right? Merely running a drug site on the deep web. Do you think that's worth two life sentences with no possibility of parole? Actual killers and child molesters get less time.
From what i've read about the Silk Road and it's owner, I don't see anything wrong with what he did. He just opened a site a charged people money for a sellers account, what they did with it was non of his business. And besides, you couldn't get to the website just by opening your everyday browser and googling silk road, you had to get a browser like Tor and then get onto the website. Plus you had to have a bitcoins to buy stuff on it, so you pretty much knew what you were getting yourself into.
Just to clarify, I don't support the use of drugs. What people want to do with their body is their own thing, everybody can think for themself. So accusing the guy for every overdose and death due to drugs is a bit silly, to say the least.
I think in the grand scheme of things, logic doesn't exist. As you put it @Big_Al_Tech "I don't see the leaders of major tobacco getting sent to life for the lives its destroyed." I agree with you 100% Its times like this I say Stop the world, I want to get off... Mans law is pathetic. e.g. A woman can have an abortion and that woud be legal, but if the baby was born and then killed, that would be illegal. A soldier can shoot and kill another person and that would be seen as legal during a battle, yet if he or she did the same thing while not in battle, it would be illegal. A tobaco company can make cigarettes that give you cancer and kill, yet they are legal. Someone grows cannibis at home and thats illegal.
No sense at all... scratches head :o/
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Maybe they too should be handed the same sentence. It's a logical fallacy to say that there is a good side and an evil side and since both of them made money off of addiction, both should be punished.
@resistor you can write it how the hell you want it a try to point his philosophical discussions. He setup Silk Road with the intention of selling and distributing illegal goods and considered to be illegal goods across the globe.
So yeah that he sits in jail is fine by me, however and this is why I do not concur with the sentence he got, He get life in jail for selling stuff which the US sees no cent from since they said they lost around $183 million yet bankers and people in mortage business just get a slap on the wrist yet they crippled the economy on a global scale. I mean the US had to pump in 4,5 trillion just to save banks in order not to let the entire economy collapse. Greece and basically all of southern Europe are close to bankruptcy and yet Not one person was charged of anything. Even if the entire Silk Road would sell 1000x more then it would still be a drip in the ocean compared to what banks did.
I guess I will become a banker and just launder criminals money since a slap on the wrist is the worse that could happen then.
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I find the sentence repulsive. Not because he doesn't deserve a sentence, but because he is being sentenced not only for what he did, but also being scapegoated for what other people have done using his site. What is a reasonable sentence for putting two criminals in contact in the U.S. (for the purpose of committing a crime) and taking money for it? What is a reasonable sentence for doing this repeatedly repeatedly? That's what I would expect he should have got.
This is as crazy as illegal file sharing sentences. For some reason, it seems that people in U.S. do not believe in correctional facilities nor the possibility of redemption. I would prefer to see this guy being sentenced to become a productive citizen, then having myself sentenced to waste my tax-money on his incarceration and anal rapings for the next 60 years.
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Freedom for dreadpirate Roberts!