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Into The Woods
Quarantine King


Registered: 04/20/13
Posts: 10,864
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Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown
#19308219 - 12/21/13 02:16 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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A Brisbane man who allegedly helped run online drug and hacker bazaar Silk Road has been arrested as part of an international police operation.
Peter Phillip Nash, 40, was arrested on Friday at his Brisbane home by Australian Federal Police as part of an operation that also captured two others named in an indictment issued by the US Justice Department.
Andrew Michael Jones, 24, was arrested in the US, while Gary Davis, 25, is believed to be in Ireland, according to the department officials.
Attorney-General George Brandis has confirmed Nash's arrest, saying he is wanted in the US "for conspiracy to traffic narcotics, conspiracy to commit computer hacking and conspiracy to commit money laundering".
If found guilty, he will face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Nash is listed in the indictment as the website's primary moderator and was allegedly paid between $US50,000 and $US75,000 a year.
He appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday and was remanded in custody.
The extradition process can be long and complex. He will next appear in court on February 19.
Court documents show that during its more than two-and-a-half years in operation, the site was used by thousands of drug dealers to traffic heroin, cocaine and amphetamines.
Officials in October arrested the alleged mastermind of the website, Ross William Ulbricht, who was said to go by the name Dread Pirate Roberts.
Ulbricht, who is awaiting trial in New York, has denied the charges and also claims he is not Dread Pirate Roberts.
Last month, a message appeared on the social media site Reddit claiming Silk Road had reopened weeks after it was shut down by the FBI.
The message was signed "Dread Pirate Roberts".
The message said Silk Road had implemented "a complete security overhaul" to keep the marketplace out of the reach of authorities.
The site is accessible only through online encryption offered via a service known as Tor.
Federal agents announced in October they had shut down the website, which used privacy protecting Tor and Bitcoin digital currency to shield the identities of buyers and sellers.
Authorities said that from about January 2011, Ulbricht ran a marketplace that hawked heroin, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine, as well as hacker tools such as software for stealing passwords or logging keystrokes on people's machines.
Silk Road took in commissions ranging from eight to 15 per cent of sales, raking in at least $80 million on more than $1.2 billion worth of transactions, the criminal complaint estimated.
US attorney Preet Bharara said the investigation is ongoing.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-21/brisbane-man-arrested-in-crackdown-on-silk-road-site/5171148
Edited by Into The Woods (12/21/13 02:23 PM)
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Into The Woods
Quarantine King


Registered: 04/20/13
Posts: 10,864
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Into The Woods] 1
#19308228 - 12/21/13 02:18 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Another sad day for libertarianism.
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Joker Flash


Registered: 04/11/13
Posts: 334
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Into The Woods]
#19308420 - 12/21/13 03:17 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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I agree! I had high hopes for 2.0 but it was just too soon, I don't believe they put as much effort into looking at their employee base and site structure as they should. I think they jumped the gun to make sure they didn't lose their customer base, and that it bit them in the ass. It's a shame but it should be a warning to the others out there to be extra careful. I bet and hope we'll see the rise of another credible marketplace soon, who will have learned from past mistakes. I wish it didn't happen but I'm not surprised.
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Into The Woods
Quarantine King


Registered: 04/20/13
Posts: 10,864
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Joker Flash]
#19308455 - 12/21/13 03:31 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Well, as they say
You can never arrest an idea.
Most likely, multiple other marketplaces will pop up in their place looking to fill the role and that's the way it always will be.
And as far as looking into their employees, I have a feeling, not that I have anything to back this up with, but that most of them were original SR staff but I also think (as has been speculated by others, too) that there is a rat somewhere high up in the ranks, someone who's a trusted member and has infiltrated administration.
This is bad times for SR.
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Joker Flash


Registered: 04/11/13
Posts: 334
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Into The Woods]
#19308547 - 12/21/13 03:58 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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That's a great quote. It's appropriate enough to be spray painted on every street corner.
I think I've read in other news articles on here that some of the other newly arrested were employed at least since June, so I wouldn't doubt they were the old admins. They really should have jumped ship once Ulbricht was sunk, it wouldn't be worth having having several agencies searching for you 24/7, while not even knowing if you can trust those around you.
That's really what I love about the concept, there's the possibility of being successful for a very long time if you do your research and are compulsively paranoid. It has irresistibly high profit potential and I think once all the coders have had the time to figure out better security there will be markets popping up like crazy. It's just a matter of time because, like you said, you can never arrest an idea.
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Repertoire89
Cat



Registered: 11/15/12
Posts: 21,773
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Into The Woods]
#19308576 - 12/21/13 04:11 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Could be a rat, they might have had enough info from DPR's equipment too.
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shopdropper
Professional Psychonaut


Registered: 03/13/06
Posts: 1,623
Loc: Sailing the sea of cheese
Last seen: 6 months, 24 days
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Repertoire89]
#19308581 - 12/21/13 04:16 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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how the fuck is that life!!! \
-------------------- DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of the information herein. The information dicussed in these posts is purely hypothetical, and for intelectual purposes only. Any similarity between internet chat and real life is pure coincidence.
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screamphilling
Stranger


Registered: 05/30/08
Posts: 212
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: shopdropper]
#19309187 - 12/21/13 07:23 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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wait, this article is all about v1.0. 2.0 is functional as far as I know? they're shutting down for 6 days or so for maintenance over the xmas holidays. Synced up nicely to a drop in bitcoin prices (along with China cracking down)
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: Joker Flash]
#19309214 - 12/21/13 07:33 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Joker Flash said: you can never arrest an idea.
That is a great saying, but unfortunately, they certainly can try
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Joker Flash


Registered: 04/11/13
Posts: 334
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: screamphilling]
#19309236 - 12/21/13 07:38 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Really? There's so much news from that part of the internet that I can't keep up If it's up I'm glad!
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Blind fool
Herr Doktor



Registered: 10/02/12
Posts: 664
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Re: Brisbane man arrested in Silk Road online black market crackdown [Re: musiclover420]
#19309905 - 12/21/13 11:16 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
musiclover420 said:
Quote:
Joker Flash said: you can never arrest an idea.
That is a great saying, but unfortunately, they certainly can try 
Well the idea itself is not possible to arrest, however as it has been demonstrated it is possible to arrest the individuals who are physically realizing the idea.
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