4 ms·

So does this new information validate that this service that provided for the exchange of illegal narcotics was in fact evil and should have been shut down much

by dkhenry 13y ago

So does this new information validate that this service that provided for the exchange of illegal narcotics was in fact evil and should have been shut down much sooner. How does this knowledge effect the ongoing debate about digital privacy ?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
DanBC 13y ago
I'm a lot more concerned about paedophiles using tor to share images of child sexual abuse than I am people using Silk Road to buy very expensive drugs. > How does this knowledge effect the ongoing debate about digital privacy ? We need things like tor because governments have demonstrated willingness to break strict controls. More innocent regular people use anonymous or private communications. As a side effect genuinely bad guys have better protection. The blame lies with over-reaching governments, not with the technology.
ihsw 13y ago
No, this information is just hearsay. This is a PR campaign by the Obama administration to justify cracking down on Bitcoin and Tor. Until DPR has tried and convicted we should assume that all reporting on this criminal investigation is lies and slander. I'm not trying to defend DPR, torture, or any of that, but we need to hold ourselves to higher standards. This kind of news caters directly to us -- the affluent tech crowd -- and we should be especially careful. The submitters of these news articles will need to be closely scrutinized as well.
- mbetter 13y ago
  Oh, get fucked.
  - dkersten 13y ago
    What a way to have a debate. Your comment totally proves GP wrong!
- bdcs 13y ago
  In contrast to mbetter, I agree with your assesment.
- tptacek 13y ago
  The Obama administration is so concerned about Bitcoin that they created a fake murder for hire scheme instrumented by a fake undercover cop documented in a federal indictment that supersedes another federal indictment that explicitly says Bitcoin has lawful uses, and is so concerned about Tor that... what, they stopped funding it?
  - ihsw 13y ago
    I'm not saying that DPR is innocent, on the contrary. I'm saying that the government will be using this as an opportunity to shout from the highest mountaintops that decentralized systems of currency/information transfer is dangerous. Of course, those doing the shouting will be the mainstream media -- mouthpieces of the government. Criminal investigations are one thing, but guiding and manipulating the general populace is something else entirely. Tomorrow we will definitely be seeing lots of news about DPR, Bitcoin, Tor, and drugs -- this situation will be spun to high hell, both for supporting decriminalization and undermining it.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      Did you miss the part about how the indictment said the opposite about Bitcoin?
      - ihsw 13y ago
        If the media reports that -- despite DPR's unsavoury activities -- BTC has its uses then I will quickly and happily eat crow. I'm expecting the worst tomorrow, especially considering all elements in the situation have very poor reputations (Silk Road, BTC, Tor, Tor hidden services).
    - mbreese 13y ago
      So far all I'm seeing is the government saying that they think a guy who ran an underground drug network tried to have people killed. I seriously doubt they care that much about Bitcoin in this instance.
  - onedev 13y ago
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > This is a PR campaign by the Obama administration to justify cracking down on Bitcoin and Tor. If the US government wanted to "crack down on Tor", they could just stop funding it; the US government created Tor, and has always been the main funder of Tor development. > Until DPR has tried and convicted we should assume that all reporting on this criminal investigation is lies and slander. There's healthy skepticism, and there is credulous conspiracy theory. You seem to have opted for the second.
- MattyRad 13y ago
  Take out the second sentence and you're good. Otherwise you're guilty of a little hearsay yourself.
- tsotha 13y ago
  Did they really crack down on Tor or did they just compromise the hell out of it?
MatthewPhillips 13y ago
They captured him using good ole fashioned detective work so... strengthens privacy argument as surveillance isn't needed to catch the bad guy.
MatthewPhillips 13y ago
They captured him using good ole fashioned detective work so... strengthens privacy argument as surveillance isn't needed to catch the bad guy.
betterunix 13y ago
"How does this knowledge effect the ongoing debate about digital privacy ?" Not at all. You cannot encrypt a dead body, or a blood smear, or the fact that someone connected to you has disappeared. This is kind of like asking how the news that the mafia avoids using telephones to conduct their business will affect the debate about privacy in one's home. The right to privacy will always be use by criminals. That is the price we pay for our civil rights.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

by dkhenry 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

DanBC 13y ago

I'm a lot more concerned about paedophiles using tor to share images of child sexual abuse than I am people using Silk Road to buy very expensive drugs. > How does this knowledge effect the ongoing debate about digital privacy ? We need things like tor because governments have demonstrated willingness to break strict controls. More innocent regular people use anonymous or private communications. As a side effect genuinely bad guys have better protection. The blame lies with over-reaching governments, not with the technology.

ihsw 13y ago

No, this information is just hearsay. This is a PR campaign by the Obama administration to justify cracking down on Bitcoin and Tor. Until DPR has tried and convicted we should assume that all reporting on this criminal investigation is lies and slander. I'm not trying to defend DPR, torture, or any of that, but we need to hold ourselves to higher standards. This kind of news caters directly to us -- the affluent tech crowd -- and we should be especially careful. The submitters of these news articles will need to be closely scrutinized as well.

mbetter 13y ago
Oh, get fucked.
- dkersten 13y ago
  What a way to have a debate. Your comment totally proves GP wrong!
bdcs 13y ago
In contrast to mbetter, I agree with your assesment.
tptacek 13y ago
The Obama administration is so concerned about Bitcoin that they created a fake murder for hire scheme instrumented by a fake undercover cop documented in a federal indictment that supersedes another federal indictment that explicitly says Bitcoin has lawful uses, and is so concerned about Tor that... what, they stopped funding it?
- ihsw 13y ago
  I'm not saying that DPR is innocent, on the contrary. I'm saying that the government will be using this as an opportunity to shout from the highest mountaintops that decentralized systems of currency/information transfer is dangerous. Of course, those doing the shouting will be the mainstream media -- mouthpieces of the government. Criminal investigations are one thing, but guiding and manipulating the general populace is something else entirely. Tomorrow we will definitely be seeing lots of news about DPR, Bitcoin, Tor, and drugs -- this situation will be spun to high hell, both for supporting decriminalization and undermining it.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Did you miss the part about how the indictment said the opposite about Bitcoin?
    - ihsw 13y ago
      If the media reports that -- despite DPR's unsavoury activities -- BTC has its uses then I will quickly and happily eat crow. I'm expecting the worst tomorrow, especially considering all elements in the situation have very poor reputations (Silk Road, BTC, Tor, Tor hidden services).
  - mbreese 13y ago
    So far all I'm seeing is the government saying that they think a guy who ran an underground drug network tried to have people killed. I seriously doubt they care that much about Bitcoin in this instance.
- onedev 13y ago
dragonwriter 13y ago
> This is a PR campaign by the Obama administration to justify cracking down on Bitcoin and Tor. If the US government wanted to "crack down on Tor", they could just stop funding it; the US government created Tor, and has always been the main funder of Tor development. > Until DPR has tried and convicted we should assume that all reporting on this criminal investigation is lies and slander. There's healthy skepticism, and there is credulous conspiracy theory. You seem to have opted for the second.
MattyRad 13y ago
Take out the second sentence and you're good. Otherwise you're guilty of a little hearsay yourself.
tsotha 13y ago
Did they really crack down on Tor or did they just compromise the hell out of it?

MatthewPhillips 13y ago

They captured him using good ole fashioned detective work so... strengthens privacy argument as surveillance isn't needed to catch the bad guy.

MatthewPhillips 13y ago

They captured him using good ole fashioned detective work so... strengthens privacy argument as surveillance isn't needed to catch the bad guy.

betterunix 13y ago

"How does this knowledge effect the ongoing debate about digital privacy ?" Not at all. You cannot encrypt a dead body, or a blood smear, or the fact that someone connected to you has disappeared. This is kind of like asking how the news that the mafia avoids using telephones to conduct their business will affect the debate about privacy in one's home. The right to privacy will always be use by criminals. That is the price we pay for our civil rights.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]