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There is a certain point where their bandwidth will exceed the noise threshold and it will be trivial to trace the location of their servers and of their office

by olefoo 14y ago

There is a certain point where their bandwidth will exceed the noise threshold and it will be trivial to trace the location of their servers and of their offices, tor or no tor. And if they are simultaneously the subject of renewed enforcement interest... """ Night City was like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button. Stop hustling and you sank without a trace, but move a little too swiftly and you'd break the fragile surface tension of the black market; either way, you were gone, with nothing left of you but some vague memory in the mind of a fixture like Ratz, though heart or lungs or kidneys might survive in the service of some stranger with New Yen for the clinic tanks. """ - Neuromancer: William Gibson

waterlesscloud 14y ago
I would imagine if your income was high enough you could spread the bandwidth around enough to stay under the radar for a long time. I would think tracing the flow of bitcoins to them might be more productive, though that could be spread around quite a bit too. You're right, though. There's some level at which they'd get nailed.
rorrr 14y ago
> and it will be trivial to trace the location of their servers and of their offices You're very naive if you think that SilkRoad is not running on servers rented anonymously with bitcoins, in a country outside of US/European jurisdiction.
- olefoo 14y ago
  Actually I sort of assume that they are running the servers in a jurisdiction that is less than cooperative with US authorities. But at some point that becomes immaterial. If the operators are ID'd that's when they get in difficulties. If they are smart, they have multiple "real" identities set up to be ID'd first, and a plan to sterilize, evac and start over when the cover is blown. But they have accomplished something that few people ever get to do. Pioneer a new kind of crime.

by olefoo 14y ago

waterlesscloud 14y ago

I would imagine if your income was high enough you could spread the bandwidth around enough to stay under the radar for a long time. I would think tracing the flow of bitcoins to them might be more productive, though that could be spread around quite a bit too. You're right, though. There's some level at which they'd get nailed.

rorrr 14y ago

> and it will be trivial to trace the location of their servers and of their offices You're very naive if you think that SilkRoad is not running on servers rented anonymously with bitcoins, in a country outside of US/European jurisdiction.

olefoo 14y ago
Actually I sort of assume that they are running the servers in a jurisdiction that is less than cooperative with US authorities. But at some point that becomes immaterial. If the operators are ID'd that's when they get in difficulties. If they are smart, they have multiple "real" identities set up to be ID'd first, and a plan to sterilize, evac and start over when the cover is blown. But they have accomplished something that few people ever get to do. Pioneer a new kind of crime.