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This presentation was given at a meeting at The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
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Silk Road an online market place :The past, present and the future
Tim Bingham4th December 2013
Silk Road Vendors Advertising Page
Silk Road Forum Page
Online Drug Shopping The online promotion of ‘drug shopping’ and
user information networks is of increasing drug policy, public health and law enforcement concern.
The shift toward widespread global availability of all drugs is evident in the recent online presence of drug marketplaces such as ‘Silk Road’; ‘Black Market Reloaded’, ‘Atlantis’ , ‘Sheep.’
The ‘Deep Web’ has secure and confidential communication lines by encryption of computer IP addresses using Tor anonymising software or web proxy to the Tor network (http://tor2web.org ).
Most users use ‘PGP4Win Gpg4win’ a system which enables the secure transmission of emails and files with the help of encryption and digital signatures.
‘Silk Road’, the virtual drug marketplace: A single case study of user experiencesVan Hout & Bingham (2013)
Online researching of drug outcomes, particularly for new psychoactive substances was reported.
Relationships between vendors and consumers were described as based on cyber levels of trust and professionalism, and supported by ‘stealth modes’, user feedback and resolution modes.
The reality of his drug use was described as covert and solitary with psychonautic characteristics, which contrasted with his membership, participation and feelings of safety within the ‘Silk Road’ community. (parallel life).
He appeared conscious of periods of excessive drug use where loss of control was evident, and subsequent self-monitoring and control of his drug consumption occurred.
‘It has woken me up to ask is what is an acceptable level of use or is it acceptable to use at all.’
‘Getting onto Tor is quite easy really, you have the open Tor project which is on a freely available website and you can download the software and all of a sudden you on the Deep Web once you’re on there, you only need the link to get onto Silk Road.’
The participant observed the need for exercising personal caution by encrypting computer hard drives and following the guidelines for ‘Tor’ encryption software.
All you have to do is to go onto the internet and look at the Tor websites so if you’re on Silk Road and look at the forums, there are people there telling you how to use the site safely and properly.
The participant reported a euphoric ‘joyful’ experience once on ‘Silk Road’. A wide variety of drug product hostings were visible particularly for new psychoactive substances and drugs not easilysourced within his locality.
‘I got on there and I was blown away by it really, it really kicked me for six. There were things on there that I had wanted to try for a long time, but have never had either the contacts or the desire to go and source from the street’.
Surfing the Silk Road’: A study of users’ experiences.Van Hout & Bingham (2013)
Majority of participants were male, in professional employment or in third level education.
Drug trajectories ranged from 18 months to 25 years, with favourite drugs including MDMA, 2C-B, mephedrone, nitrous oxide, ketamine, cannabis and cocaine.
Few reported prior experience of online drug sourcing. Reasons for utilizing ‘Silk Road‟ included curiosity, concerns for street drug quality and personal safety, variety of products, anonymous transactioning, and ease of product delivery.
Vendor selection appeared based on trust, speed of transaction, stealth modes and quality of product. Forums on the site provided user advice, trip reports, product and transaction reviews. Some users reported solitary drug use for psychonautic and introspective purposes.
Minority reported customs seizures, and in general a displacement away from traditional drug sourcing (street and closed markets) was described. Several reported intentions to commence vending on the site.
“I first signed up on Silk Road back in 2011, and didn't order anything until May
2012. I now use it because the quality of drugs is so much better. Silk Road
provides lab tested substances in which I know the quality….I can make a rational
decision on what quantity to use to best minimise harm. You know what you’re getting and you can see feedback and honest advice from other buyers of the product. I'll never use a street dealer again. I also feel Silk Road is a lot safer than buying from the street in many ways.”
“The feedback system is revolutionary for a market like this. All my fears about
quality are gone. I know what I'm getting and I know that it's good. The Silk
Road is a paradise for responsible drug dealers. You have to be patient and you have to be smart to get there and use it. Bit Coin isn't easy to get and use. You have to learn the ropes. But it's totally worth it. It's changed my life
significantly.”
“The community here is awesome. There is a "Drug Safety" forum. The whole
philosophy behind the place is that if you want to put heroin in your body, go
ahead. But hey, if you want to get off that nasty drug, we're here to help you too.
It's not like real life where street dealers might coerce you into keeping your
addiction.‟
Responsible Vendors, Intelligent Consumers: Silk Road, the online revolution in drug tradingVan Hout & Bingham (2013)
Vendors described themselves as 'intelligent and responsible' consumers of drugs. Decisions to commence vending operations on the site centred on simplicity in setting up vendor accounts, and opportunity to operate within a low risk, high traffic, high mark-up, secure and anonymous Deep Web infrastructure.
The embedded online culture of harm reduction ethos appealed to them in terms of the responsible vending and use of personally tested high quality products. The professional approach to running their Silk Road businesses and dedication to providing a quality service was characterised by professional advertising of quality products, professional communication and visibility on forum pages,speedy dispatch of slightly overweight products, competitive pricing, good stealth techniques and efforts to avoid customer disputes.
Vendors appeared content with a fairly constant buyer demand and described a relatively competitive market between small and big time market players.
Concerns were evident with regard to Bitcoin instability.
Recent events September 2013 Atlantis closes down with the owner(s) taking the bitcoins in. A lot of people thought that the site was a honeypot for Law Enforcement entrapment
October 2013 – The FBI closes down the site, however the forum kept running with vendors and buyers sharing public PGP Keys and email addresses.
November 2013 – The site is back up and running with a reported 20,000 signed up
End of November 2013 reports that the admins of Sheep Market Place had taken 39,000 Bitcoins worth $40 million from its users.
End of November 2013 reports that the admins of Sheep Market Place had taken 39,000 Bitcoins worth $40 million from its users.
1st December this site was launched online via Tor
Bitcoins Buyers and vendors use ‘Bitcoins’ (BTC) to conduct all transactions, which is a non-
government-controlled anonymous and untraceable crypto-currency, used as peer-to-peer currency and indexed to the US dollar to prevent excessive inflation or deflation.
For users transacting on ‘Deep Web’ sites, ‘Electrum’ is an anonymous Tor server used to access a virtual wallet containing BTCs and ensures payment anonymity via online verifiable transactions occurring without a central third party.
18th November 2013 the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee convened to discuss virtual currencies and the potential risks and value that they can add to both the US and international economies.
There has been a significant increase in the currency rate of the BTC 1am Friday, EST 29th November 2013 Mt Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange, valued each coin at $1,242
Stability off the currency as previously highlighted is the greatest concern
Tim Bingham - email [email protected]
Litecoin
Litecoin is not alone in its gains, with others like Peercoin and Namecoin making similar gains.
Where Now ? What Next ? Silk Road has a brand name out of all the sites currently it has a community of people
that support such a site. This site is more than a site that sells drugs it’s a community of people who buy and sell drugs , it’s a site that also has members that provide good reliable information on drug use .
Silk Road 2.0 has an ethical edge to it where the site donates funds to charities anonymously.
Silk Road 2.0 has already 20,000 registrations
We will see a growth in the online ‘hidden web’ markets – however people are wary that some of these sites could be scams
Not all sites are set up to accept other forms of currency's.
The BTC is variable and uncertainly remains.
Will the BTC become legal tender as discussed in August 2013 in Germany
