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    CaryGrantLivesAdrian Chen
    10/02/13 12:40pm

    There are several people that go by the moniker DPR and several systems put in place, as everyone knew this day would come. William Ulbricht is being charged over a package intercepted containing fake identification as well as conspiracy to arrange the murder of a fellow Silk Road employee who threatened to leak the personal information of thousands of users.

    It appears from people accessing the root of the site that someone took the site down and uploaded only a single image in its place. Whether or not this means that any account data or hopes of relaunching in the near future have been secured is unknown, but it is estimated that the FBI seized approximately 26,000 bitcoins. The amount of money in escrow and deposit addresses is massive, and any user, merchant or customer that had money in their account or in escrow is likely shit out of luck.

    The site will be back up in a month or so, right now everyone with money invested is scrambling trying to find the mirror that isn't a phishing site. Scammers are going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars doling out fake Silk Road mirrors, and the chaos among lay users is going to mean a lot of disruption in the rest of the market.

    I know I have an alternative marketplace within the U.S, but for many customers, they will be forced to work with sketchy merchants without the use of SR's user feedback, insurance, and escrow services. Worse yet, they may have to buy their psychoactive substances from traditional street drug dealers, once again having to worry about purity, contamination, and the threat of violence.

    If DPR is guilty of trying to have someone killed, let him pay for it. But anonymous commerce isn't going anywhere and you can pry my private key from my cold, PGP-encrypted hands.

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      Veronica CorningstoneAdrian Chen
      10/02/13 12:27pm

      Thank god I never got my nerve up and got bitcoins and went there. I sure wanted to.

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        satanmademedoitVeronica Corningstone
        9/02/14 1:27pm

        you're an idiot.

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        Veronica Corningstonesatanmademedoit
        9/02/14 4:16pm
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      WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAdrian Chen
      10/02/13 12:17pm

      Thanks, Obama.

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        GrimkeWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
        10/02/13 12:26pm
        GIF

        Are we over gifs yet?

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        Ara_RichardsGrimke
        10/02/13 12:34pm

        God only knows putting food in your mouth and chewing is a difficult endeavour.

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      SuperHybridSystem3Adrian Chen
      10/02/13 12:16pm

      Honestly, the whole thing was pretty stupid. You better be REALLY, REALLY sure that your secrecy is truly unbreakable before you handle $1.2 billion in drug sales. Like so certain that the only way to get there is maybe looking back after the fact. Or at least have an escape plan, because you can't honestly think the Feds are never going to figure this shit out.

      Also, I would imagine the least of his troubles are the Feds right now. There are quite a few people out there who he convinced to use his product, which was apparently not at all immune to law enforcement. In fact, it was kind of a really good way to aggregate every bone-headed drug buyer/seller around. I'm sure there are more than a few coke dealers out there thinking, "Gosh, he rounded us up in one spot, and then the Feds busted him... it's almost like he planned it for them."

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        ExtraExtraSuperHybridSystem3
        10/02/13 12:40pm

        If what's been said about the encryption and such is true, it's going to be hard to pin down individual users or sellers. Who knows if it's really that hard to break though?

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        SuperHybridSystem3ExtraExtra
        10/02/13 12:46pm

        Presumably, this indictment wasn't part of the plan... Apparently we should take everything this guy has said about the security of the site with a grain of salt.

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      I love you but I've chosen hooning!Adrian Chen
      10/02/13 12:18pm

      I would've expected that a guy named Ulbricht knows how to build walls around himself.

      HEEEEYYOOOOOO...

      Get it?

      Ulbricht... you know, like Walter Ulbricht....

      ...the guy who built the Berlin wall? No, not Adolf Hitler! That was after Hitler. Like twenty years later.

      *Sigh*

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        Sean BrodyI love you but I've chosen hooning!
        10/02/13 12:23pm

        Tough room

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        spaced99I love you but I've chosen hooning!
        10/02/13 12:27pm

        Something something Checkpoint Charlie something, amirite?

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      NefertittiesAdrian Chen
      10/02/13 12:20pm

      This really is devastating. And I only used the site once. But I got what I paid for and they even tried to help me resolve an issue I had just like Ebay or Amazon might, only more efficiently. I'm sad. I definitely would have used them again. The owner was providing a service and doing it well. I am too old to go looking for someone to sell me some shrooms, which would have been my next trip.

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        Ara_RichardsAdrian Chen
        10/02/13 12:15pm

        He has the best lawyer working for him, so it'll all work out in the end.

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          JennifartAra_Richards
          10/02/13 12:20pm

          Certainly the best-dressed, anyway.

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          Max 2000Ara_Richards
          10/02/13 12:56pm

          I don't think Saul's gonna be enough. Better bring out the heavy artillery.

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        BurningTheBurnsAdrian Chen
        10/02/13 12:20pm

        He sounds like a wonderful person. He is being accused of taking out a hit on someone threatening to reveal user identities.

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          BeastisFed1BurningTheBurns
          10/02/13 12:24pm

          Now that's what I call a businessman with ethics, who actually takes his business's mission statement and protection of his customers seriously

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        CornetteFaceAdrian Chen
        10/02/13 12:16pm

        The Feds are the biggest organized crime syndicate in the world. In my neighborhood there is a "drug free school zone" sign right in front of a liquor store.

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          Ara_RichardsCornetteFace
          10/02/13 12:36pm

          What about Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin? They have to be up there, right?

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        butthaverAdrian Chen
        10/02/13 12:14pm

        If the FBI wanted to make a REAL bust, they'd be rounding up 15-20 members of congress on Capitol Hill right now.

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          spaced99butthaver
          10/02/13 12:31pm

          Why stop at 15-20 members.

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