Dark web Silk Road illegal marketplace mastermind sentenced

[dust]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikehayes/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-dread-pirate-roberts-sentencing#.mmYkwqBq3m

 

What do we think?

 

The comments section on that Buzzfeed article is full of people lamenting the strong sentence whilst 'rapists and murderers only get 8-9 years' (or along those lines).

 

I don't know the man, and I never used the site. He may well be a complete sociopath, but isn't it true that the major and only really relevant result of what he did was the enabling of truly free trade?

 

______________________________________

 

 

And this goes into slightly different territory, but: in a laissez faire (or wuwei) society, shouldn't drugs be legal anyway? I can buy knives, (3D printers to print) guns, cigarettes to give me cancer and emphysema, alcohol to give me liver failure and encourage violence, cars and trucks to run people over with...

[Apech]

he conspired to try to have people killed ... so I think that is justification in part.  But it is true that financial crime gets harsher treatment than crimes against the person.

[dawei]

I don't know the man, and I never used the site. He may well be a complete sociopath, but isn't it true that the major and only really relevant result of what he did was the enabling of truly free trade?

 

Seemed harsh to me

[idiot_stimpy]

But it is true that financial crime gets harsher treatment than crimes against the person.

 

What about the bankers?

 

You get a sentence that suits the establishment. 

[Apech]

What about the bankers?

 

You get a sentence that suits the establishment. 

 

 

True I was thinking of bank robbers and so on.

[Nungali]

We need a new term 

 

Banker robbers

[thelerner]

I think the average convicted killer gets 21 years.  The silk road guy seemed to have put 'hits' out on 6 people; black mailers, ex-employers he thought had embezzled.  There's pretty damning phone evidence of it.   Plus there were several people who over dosed after taking drugs bought through his system.  Those deaths real and ordered but not carried out murders, along with hubris displayed as the cops moved in, seem to be the cause of mass sentence. 

 

It'd be interesting to know what the sentence would be without the death considerations.  Maybe much less, or not, particularly if he was considered a king pin type drug lord.  Who knows, maybe its better to get an exaggerated sentence that can be appealed, then a 30 year, by the book verdict that can't.

[soaring crane]

Banksters (that's the term for them) tend to be far better educated and more difficult to pin crimes on than say drug dealers, or football association administrators....

[Nungali]

Study law &  politics  if you want to be a successful criminal .

[zerostao]

Study law &  politics  if you want to be a successful criminal .

you wouldnt add medicine and religion?

 

"Plus there were several people who over dosed after taking drugs bought through his system.  Those deaths real and ordered "

http://beyondmeds.com/2011/10/08/deathsdrugs/

 

well then , let's arrest big pharma and give them life sentences, right?

Edited May 31, 2015 by zerostao

[thelerner]

you wouldnt add medicine and religion?

 

"Plus there were several people who over dosed after taking drugs bought through his system.  Those deaths real and ordered "

http://beyondmeds.com/2011/10/08/deathsdrugs/

 

well then , let's arrest big pharma and give them life sentences, right?

the 'deaths .. and ordered' was referring to hits the man put out on people (blackmailers and ex-employees).  Its not the same as over dosing on some anonymous persons drugs.  And that kind of overdose is not the same thing as medical accidental deaths.  Buying anonymous drugs from anonymous people is imo a hell of a lot riskier then buying an over the counter drug from big pharma. 

 

If you have a thing against banksters, fine, don't use banks, checks or credit cards.  Have a problem with big pharma don't buy or use drugs or see doctors who prescribe them.  Thing is..  despite the horror stories, most of the time they work fine, literally 10's (or 100's) of millions of times a year, loans and drugs work the way they're suppose to.  To trust an anonymous drug dealer more then a banker or doctor is foolish in my opinion.  Thats my experience, if yours is different, go for it, I hear some drug dealers give out loans. 

 

back on OP.  The man would have more sympathy from me if hadn't put out hits on others.  He played the game of drug kingpin and seemingly got lost in a soulless role. 

Edited May 31, 2015 by thelerner

[zerostao]

i didnt bring up bankers or banksters, i did mention religion, i guess that is money for most. anyways

i aint looking to take out any loans in either case.

i didnt even suggest if i thought the sentence for the silk road guy was just or not, i merely pointed out your point about folks dying from drugs. it either merits a judicial sanction or not imo

" And that kind of overdose is not the same thing as medical accidental deaths. "

imo death from drugs is actually the same as death from drugs.

i dont do drugs from any source, excepting coffee and rarely nicotine, well, i like my herbs.

"Thing is..  despite the horror stories, most of the time they work fine, literally 10's (or 100's) of millions of times a year, loans and drugs work the way they're suppose to. " i am not qualified to agree or disagree with that statement. sounds a lot like russian roulette to me.(with the loans and/or drugs)

 

i think the OP nailed it spot on "and only really relevant result of what he did was the enabling of truly free trade?"

 if he ordered hits/executions that is an entirely different matter,,

but i doubt the banksters, big pharma, politicians, and our ever more repressing authorities would allow another silk road even if it was run by someone who did not put out "hits"

when the cia or big pharma unleashed crack in oakland or oxycontin in appalachia, they didnt get shut down. so it seems to be the "truly free trade" aspect that hung this dude. he didnt have a license and didnt require licenses from the subscribers.

[thelerner]

So.. you think there's no difference between the safety in OTC drugs in a pharmacy and illegal drugs bought off the street?  That they're both Russian roulette?

 

I don't think our authorities will allow aother silk road, ie selling drugs anonymously on the internet, because selling illegal drugs is against the law.   Such drugs are illegal and police agencies will move to arrest people selling them.  They'll arrest king pins, dealers on the corner and users.  Because there's big money to be made the opportunity for corruption is likewise huge. 

 

You think the CIA is currently selling drugs in Oakland?  Which pharmaceutical company is currently illegally selling oxycontin in appalachia?  If you know please give evidence, thats it going on now, since it 'didn't get shut down'. 

 

I don't think its a matter of free trade, he was breaking the law, using new tech to sell drugs, got away with it for a while, was caught.  Nothing to do with banksters, big pharma or politicians.  Maybe the law will change some time, it'll become like ebay, or craigslist, but illegal mind altering drugs are not like used bikes.  Some are addictive and over doses kill. 

 

I'd rather see (some of) them legal (or decriminalized) and controlled, made in factories with safeguards and monitored then anonymously manufactured and sold. 

[dust]

well then , let's arrest big pharma and give them life sentences, right?

 

Some are guilty of misconduct, for sure. Not as many as some would like to believe, of course -- many people are just trying to make medicine. But yes, I don't see much difference between illegal drug dealers and the way pharmaceutical companies produce and ruthlessly market drugs that people only need because there is a continually developing dependence on medicine to make up for people's slovenly attitude towards life.

 

 

 

If you have a thing against banksters, fine, don't use banks, checks or credit cards.  Have a problem with big pharma don't buy or use drugs or see doctors who prescribe them.  Thing is..  despite the horror stories, most of the time they work fine, literally 10's (or 100's) of millions of times a year, loans and drugs work the way they're suppose to.  To trust an anonymous drug dealer more then a banker or doctor is foolish in my opinion.  Thats my experience, if yours is different, go for it, I hear some drug dealers give out loans. 

 

http://www.economist.com/news/schoolsbrief/21584534-effects-financial-crisis-are-still-being-felt-five-years-article

 

In theory a bank's job is simple: some people give you their money to take care of, and perhaps make a little profit with, and others come to you to ask for money so that they can set up a business (or whatever). A banker needs to be able to deduce which people to lend money to so that they get a greater return, and at the very least not lose the money that people have trusted them with.

 

But many bankers and regulators all over the world, through some mixture of incompetence, arrogance, and laziness, failed at this most fundamental task, and the result was a worldwide 'crisis'. Partly as a result, entire countries have been adversely affected. If punishment is something that we as a society do, shouldn't it be meted out to people like that?

 

 

back on OP.  The man would have more sympathy from me if hadn't put out hits on others.  He played the game of drug kingpin and seemingly got lost in a soulless role. 

 

I have no sympathy for him. He knew what he was doing. I just don't think I believe that the official attitude towards him and his ilk is warranted. People should be able to buy and sell what they like, as long as others don't get hurt in the crossfire.

[zerostao]

"That they're both Russian roulette?"  YES

 

"You think the CIA is currently selling drugs...? YES

 

"Which pharmaceutical company is currently illegally selling oxycontin in appalachia?"

 multiple companies, not one. of course there is a lot of skirting the laws, playing some shell game hiding the pea, playing in the grey area of what is legal or not, i guess if unleashing this type of poison is legal then, well its ok.and not russian roulette at all

but when big money is at stake, greed will find a way. if they do get caught actually breaking the law, a fine is paid and business goes on. maybe a doctor is suspended,(but only after he made his millions) no one goes to jail and folks keep on dying here etc. 

 

"If you know please give evidence," it isnt really a secret or anything.  there is quite a bit of documentation available already that is being ignored. apparently if a tree falls in the forest and someone in the city didnt hear it, then it doesnt make a sound.

 

"Because there's big money to be made the opportunity for corruption is likewise huge."

exactly and the banksters, big pharma, law enforcement, politicians, media, are all in on the joke.

[idiot_stimpy]

To those who seek to control us, in death we will be free.