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Follow the Silk Road: Telecommunication Policy on Darknet

Over the past several decades, the international drug trade has flourished as

authorities in various parts of the world struggle to curb the transportation of thousands

of pounds of controlled substances across borders. The United States declared its own

war on drugs in the 1970s under President Nixon; according to the Bureau of Justice

Statistics, over 1 million Americans are incarcerated for drug-related offences (Carson

and Sabol). Many of the offenders apprehended are drug traffickers and dealers, and

the scales of their operations may vary (Sledge). Given the risks of distributing drugs in

person, dealers and distributors have turned to the internet to sell their products. Of

course, they cannot simply make listings on eBay for a kilo of cocaine, so they must turn

to the virtual black market to ensure their safety. With hefty risks involved, the buyers

and sellers conceal themselves in the obscurity of what is referred to as darknet (Van

Hout).

Darknet is considered by many to be the cesspool of the internet and is often

referred to as a black market of sorts. Darknets are frequently used for hosting pirated

content for others to download using peer-to-peer connections. This illegal filesharing,

known as pirating, is illegal in many countries, including the United States, as the

leech or recipient is not paying for the material being downloaded. This deprives the

content creator of money that the law dictates they are owed, and under the law, it

strongly resembles copyright infringement; violators may be prosecuted accordingly

(Panethiere).
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Darknet is also commonly used as an umbrella term that encompasses websites

that specialize in counterculture, taboo, or illegal activities aside from pirating. This can

include websites as innocent as conspiracy theories or as heinous as child

pornography. Although many of these websites are free to access, others require

payments or purchases. Given the illegal content they host, users seek to obscure

themselves and their payment methods using special browsers, web add-ons, and even

currency. Through various virtual private networks, peer blockers, and proxies, both

host and user can remain anonymous if they are careful and use the correct

combination of protections. These elements make the online drug trade virtually

risk-free for seasoned vendors and consumers (Van Hout), and it makes identifying and

prosecuting them exceedingly difficult, but not impossible.

The difficulty is highlighted in the case of Ross Ulbricht, the founder and creator

of the most well-known darknet marketplace, Silk Road. Ulbricht created Silk Road as

an escape from government regulation of currency and trade, as the website operated

on BitCoin and required users to obscure themselves using aliases, browsers that

concealed their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and other scrambling software and

tactics. Using the anonymous BitCoin and escrow, users were able to trade under a free

market with organic price competition (NPR).

While Ulbrichts ultimate goal was an organic free marketplace, Silk Road was

also constructed to escape the confines of the law as a whole; it became a massively

popular operation. Regardless of his intentions, Ulbrichts humble project became a

hotbed for illegal trading. Hacking services and illegally acquired weapons were not
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outside the scope of Silk Road, and both client and vendor were happy to partake in

their secure, anonymous transactions that the website had to offer. Ulbricht did not

appear to be bothered by this, as he was profiting from the trading that occurred on Silk

Road. The currency of choice being BitCoin worked to his advantage, as the bulk of the

funds could not be traced back to him. His objective to hide his and his clients actions

from law enforcement was fulfilled - for a time.

Careless transactions on Ulbrichts part caused him to eventually be tracked and

apprehended by the FBI. Ulbricht himself did not appear to be a drug dealer, hacker,

murderer for hire, or peddler of child pornography, but his website certainly hosted

most, if not all, of the above. Ultimately, he was charged for laundering money, hiring a

hitman, conspiracy, and other offenses related to Silk Road. His empire crumbled as the

FBI took the website down (Deutsch Welle). Not long after, however, Silk Road 2.0 was

created and ready to handle buyers and vendors, although it too faced its demise soon

after the first did (Rusche). Even BitCoins CEO at the time was arrested for money

laundering, purchasing drugs via Silk Road, and other related offenses, so it became

clear that the precautions in place were insufficient (Albanesius). To this day, there are

still variants of Silk Road accessible through Tors network, but the existing ones have

more encryption features and safeguards in place to help users hide.

The need for anonymity is obvious in the context of Silk Road and its successors:

the bulk of users are conducting trades or soliciting services that are illegal in the

country or countries involved. Although the bulk of transactions have been based in the

United States, other countries with dicier laws and varying levels of enforcement were
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on sending and receiving ends of services as well. This alone complicates the legal

process and the ability to prosecute users who are caught in shady dealings (Dolliver).

Law enforcement continues to shut down these sites and attempt to prosecute those

who run them, if they can be found. US attorney Preet Bhara stated Lets be clear

this Silk Road, in whatever form, is the road to prison. Those looking to follow in the

footsteps of alleged cybercriminals should understand that we will return as many times

as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars. We dont get tired, as a

threat to newly created sites on the same note. It turns out, however, they do get tired

(Rusche).

Silk Road and other websites that peddle physical material, such as drugs,

pornography, weapons, and contraband tend to be the focus given the public health risk

(Mackey and Liang). Other services, such as online piracy clients, are largely ignored in

comparison, given the abstract nature of copyright infringement. There was a time when

prosecuting people and entities who took advantage of the ease of piracy was common;

Napster is one of the more well-known companies that sued for copyright infringement

related to music streaming without paying royalties (Biddle et al). Another popular client,

Limewire, also had to pay over a hundred million dollars for copyright infringement; the

difference with that client, though, is that users did not have to pay to use it, unlike

Napster; the free version of Limewire allowed users to browse various parts of

unknowing peers hard drives and download what they please. Those who were less

computer savvy did not know to limit peer-to-peer sharing to only select folders, so

Limewire opened a gateway to peoples personal files (Billboard).

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Limewires settlement was monumental not only for the music industry but for

software developers and CEOs as a whole. Creator Mark Gorton was held personally

liable for the copyright infringement that Limewire enabled, and the service remained

suspended throughout the entirety of the case and afterwards. Unlike many other

software gaffes and lawsuits, Gorton was actually held accountable, similarly to Ulbricht

and the CEO of BitCoin. However, most writeups regarding Limewires settlement do

not indicate that Gorton was actually using his own software (Billboard).

This accountability becomes less trendy as time passes, and Limewires fall

starts to solidify a different model: separation of host and client. A popular client,

BitTorrent, is an application that takes the portions of torrent part files from hosts such

as MiniNova, Demonoid, or The Pirate Bay and enables the user to download from the

host. Limewire was the gateway directly to someone elses folders, whereas BitTorrent

and similar programs simply unpack the files that are hosted elsewhere. This removes

some liability from the creators but puts more of the burden on the file host website

(Zhang et al). Limewires hefty settlement caused developers to fear accountability and

go the BitTorrent route instead, where hosts could be as far as Sealand and have little

contact with government entities that would want to put a stop to their activities

(McCormick).

Sealand in particular created a major problem for government entities that

wanted to halt piracy and filesharing altogether. Ryan Lackey and Sam Hastings,

inhabitants of Sealand, used the remote British outpost as a host for content that is

popular on the darknet, excluding higher risk files (McCormick). Since they considered
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Sealand its own sovereign nation, they felt it exempt to international trade agreements

and anti-piracy and copyright infringement initiatives. HavenCo, the entity that hosted

the files on Sealand, chose this strategic location due to increased regulation. As of the

mid-2000s, though, the host seemed to cease operations and move elsewhere, as

Sealands permanent residents still feared legal action despite the status of their tower

(Hermida). Although HavenCos demise preceded Limewires, the hosting model

remained the preference of pirates, creating a system of seeders and leechers that is

still popular today.

HavenCo and similar services laid the groundwork that warranted the anonymity

and security offered by Tor and other IP-cloaking clients. Tor, or The Onion Router is a

secure network that once housed Silk Road and continues to house its offshoots and

adaptations. While it seems to function as a normal browser, it is predominantly used for

navigating deep web and darknet. Darknet is unsearchable, despite the fact that Tor

does have a search function; this means users who want to participate in the activities

available in darknet need a tip and, subsequently, a URL to navigate where they want to

go. For trading websites, these URLs tend to be complicated and impossible to guess

(Watson). In addition, the users credentials are encrypted with obscure passwords and

multiple safeguards to prevent account compromisation. Some of these websites have

credit card numbers, weapons, research chemicals, pornography, and other contraband

for purchase using BitCoin. The buyer encrypts their address when sending their

purchase request to the vendor, which they are free to decline, and places the

appropriate amount of BitCoin in escrow. Upon the buyer receiving the product, the
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payment is released to the vendor. This transaction is lengthy, but it prevents scams,

despite the original Silk Road being a free market. Ulbricht and his followers understood

the need for this system: the goal was to circumvent the government, not rip off honest

consumers purchasing questionable materials (Van Hout).

While a government-free marketplace might sound desirable in theory, Silk Road

and similar websites are not typically composed of innocent kids buying marijuana to

smoke on weekends. Darknet drug marketplaces also carry opioids, roofies, research

chemicals, and synthetic drugs marketed as the real substance. For this reason among

others, many government bodies consider the online drug trade a public health threat.

Even vendors that sell pure, authentic, legal prescription drugs are a problem, given the

fact that buyers may elect to self medicate with drugs they should not be taking to begin

with. Desperate consumers who have no health insurance or access to a doctor might

resort to the darknets pharmacies only to experience detrimental consequences. On

the same note, the vendors make acquiring legal drugs such as Adderall and Percocet

significantly harder, since these are commonly peddled drugs both on the streets and

online. When the vendors are caught selling legal prescriptions acquired using

deception, doctors become more cautious about prescribing the drugs in question,

forcing people who legitimately need them to jump through hoops to acquire them

legally. The drug trade becomes more complicated every time a bust occurs (Mackey

and Liang).

Unfortunately for law enforcement, these complications are occurring in such an

abstract, obscured environment. Tor and other peer blocking utilities make it
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excessively difficult to track offenders; face-to-face drug deals almost always leave a

traceable trail and require fewer warrants and less explanation for probable cause. In

order to seize someones computer or other assets, law enforcement must have a

reason to be watching the person in the first place. In the streets, it can be fairly obvious

who is buying or selling drugs simply based on actions and movements. Over the

internet alone, incriminating posts help, but those who use Silk Road variants are not

the sort of people who take risks in terms of business dealings, given the extensive

encryption and track covering measures (Martin).

Even if there is probable cause that allows agents to monitor vendors and sellers,

there is yet another obstacle to overcome: borders and regulations (Mackey and Liang).

It is difficult enough to find the offenders who use Tor, peer blockers, and other proxies,

but deciding whether they are in an area that facilitates law enforcement is another

issue completely. Following elusive traders over borders can get risky for agents involve

and stir the international pot if boundaries are overstepped. It is imperative that officers

work together to find out where the criminals actually are and evaluate how to address

the situation without stepping on other nations toes. Despite the fact that the bulk of this

trade occurs in the United States, even state-by-state differences and enforcement can

matter at times. Federal prosecution is the solution to that issue, but it is still difficult to

get an accurate reading on where the offenders are (Dolliver). According to Mackey and

Liang, there are global gaps in drug trade and enforcement, and the differences in

regulation between places can be challenging at times, especially when agents decide

to apprehend and prosecute.

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Further complications with regulation and enforcement involve the political and

private sector powers at play. Often, the manufacturing and acquisition of the drugs or

other materials being peddled is completely legal, so there is little agents can do to

cease the flow of contraband entering the black market. Stopping the substances at

their source would be the easiest way to curb illegal trading of all sorts, but there are

legitimate businesses that knowingly or unknowingly profit from these illegal sales,

sending the demand for their products upwards. Beyond the physical products, even

webmasters and hosts benefit from the illegal trade through ads, spam, data sales, and

other digital content acquisition and transmission. Mackey and Liang cite search engine

optimization and adwords as legitimate ways legal businesses pull profit from shadier

parts of the internet. Forums on which some discussion of these illegal substances or

even sales occur generate revenue as well, so the law cannot simply limit this

expression on the internet.

Mackey and Liang continue to argue that shuttering these online pharmacies is

insufficient. After charges have been filed and the sites have been removed, the

webmasters or associates are free to start all over again. Even with assets seized, they

have the ability to restart their enterprises at full or even greater force (Mackey and

Liang). This phenomenon is what allowed the webmaster of Silk Road 2.0 to begin his

operation even when Ulbricht had been arrested. The replacement site had largely the

same layout and clientele, and it was operational for months before being removed from

the web again. Even with 2.0 gone, similar sites have flourished in addition, still building

off of the same idea and structure that Silk Road had crafted. Some of these websites
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rise arbitrarily - it does not take shuttering one to open another (Dolliver). Some are

even operated by the same person simultaneously; others have completely new players

in the market; the same can go for both buyers and vendors. If you build it, they will

come, applies heavily here, and law enforcement must find a way to be one step ahead

of the drug traders (Martin).

Despite the attempts and regulation and wrestling over borders, there is a

glimmer of hope for law enforcement. The drug deliveries and mail surveillance are a

somewhat reliable way to identify who is buying drugs online, but this, of course,

requires a tip of some sort in the first place; usually that tip is money

(Mansfield-Devine). Mackey and Liang also mention that police can rely on

run-of-the-mill detective work by going undercover in forums, becoming part of the

community, and vanquishing the criminals from the inside. Even if the DEA finds the

dealers and buyers, the rest of the contents of the darknet are still a problem. How does

one find someone who leaves no trace? Are forum posts and messages enough?

Courts call entrapment into question - is there a way to avoid it on paper? How does

one track BitCoin that has never been tied to any sort of bank account or credit card?

When the user is buying something digital material, such as a credit card number or

pornography, what are agents going to seize when they raid the home? The computer is

the obvious answer, but encryption and hidden locations complicate this (Martin), and it

makes the DEA agents action of copying the contents of Ulbrichts hard drive far more

understandable. It is extremely easy to hide behind a computer and run a business, but

it is far harder to live with consequences of such when law enforcement has their hands
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tied by international relations, politics, and abstract evidence (Mackey and Liang). All of

this contributes to how difficult it can be to keep these criminals or scam artists in jail, if

they can be brought in in the first pace. The police simply must bide their time,

assimilate, and strike (Mansfield-Devine).

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