Right now, if you wanted to, you could log onto the internet, order a bunch of drugs, and have them delivered to your doorstep. There's none of the awkwardness of dealing with your shady, coked-out bartender, but all of the legal risk: If the cops found out, you'd still go to court. Not so for Random Darknet Shopper.
If you're the kind of person who splits rent with roommates, frequently dines out in large groups, or has a recreational drug habit, Venmo is a fantastically hassle-free way to make payments. It is the rare internet startup that actually provides its users with a useful tool, rather than an attention-sucking advertisement delivery service disguised as a platform for connecting with friends. So why does Venmo insist on being a terrible social network, too?
Today, a jury found Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht guilty of seven charges related to his alleged role in running the deep-web bazaar for drugs and other contraband. Ulbricht admitted in court to creating the site, but insisted that he sold it to another operator and left the business before the FBI arrested him in 2013.
The most lurid detail in the trial of alleged Silk Road boss Ross Ulbricht was discussed in court yesterday, when an attorney read from emails that prosecutors claim show Ulbricht ordering hits on five people from a member of the Hell's Angels. Wired published a transcript of those emails in full—and the exchange sounds like a deep-web update on Léon: The Professional or Kill Bill.
The trial of Ross Ulbricht—the man the federal government says was behind The Silk Road—has been a kind of legal coming-out party for the darker corners of the internet. Jurors have had to acquaint themselves with things like the anonymizing browser Tor, and Ulbricht's surprise defense involved the disgraced founder of a failed Bitcoin operation. But the courts have also had to contend with friendlier facets of web culture, like emoji.
A bot created by a group of artists spent the last few months selecting items at random from a Silk Road-style darknet marketplace, buying them with Bitcoin, and having them shipped to a gallery in Switzerland. After the it bought some ecstasy pills and a counterfeit passport, we asked: How will authorities deal with the complex legal and moral issue of a piece of artificial intelligence breaking the law? It turns out, the answer was simple: just arrest the computer.
Once a week for several months, a bot created by a group of artist-hackers purchased one item selected at random from Agora, a Silk Road-style darknet marketplace, and had it delivered to an art gallery in Switzerland. In November, the bot bought a packet of ecstasy pills that were hidden inside a DVD box, and last month, it picked a forged Hungarian passport. Who committed a crime?
