Revolution from a Raisin:

a historical investigation into technological trends

Derek Burns

Meth.Prof. Pacholl

January 29, 2014

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The question of what role government ought to play in the freedom versus security of

it’s constituents remains to be an essentially fundamental, ongoing and, as of recently, open

debate between administrations and constituents. Yet, given the recent revelations of Edward

Snowden the question of our privacy was one answered not by the American people but

instead by bureaucrats from behind closed doors. Mr. Snowden illuminated a present nation-

state which shared many components with Orwellian predictions and made previously

illegitimate paranoia seem sensible. Even so, for the past number of years a group of people

had been, for numerous reasons, arming themselves against invasions of personal privacy. The

technologically enabled, “hacker” or internet renegade has constantly strove to distance

themselves from the intrusive presence of watchful government agencies and very well

currently possesses the technological mitigation to the omnipresent eyes of the NSA. Portrayed

in the media, due to there inherently anti-establishment agenda, as social dissidents recent

developments have shed light on their activities as largely self-occurring as they pose only a

very limited threat to national security. What this subculture has accomplished in recent years

should be recognized for what it is; digital obscurity, monetary freedom and economic

experiments that successfully existed apart from government regulation. These developments

and their implications are far reaching and the complexities of which should be further

entertained.

As FBI agents descended upon the Glen Park public library, tackled and handcuffed on

the floor of the science fiction section lay Ross William Ulbricht. Allegedly, Ross had been tied

to the cyber avatar Dread Pirate Roberts (DPR) who was the lead manager and moderator of

what Senator Chuck Schumer in June of 2011 described as “a certifiable one – stop shop . . .

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that represents the most brazen attempt to peddle drugs online that we have ever seen”1.

October 2nd, 2013, effectively marked the end of DPR’s two and a half year stand-off with

basically every criminal division the United States has an acronym for. Dread single handedly

created and maintained the largest online drug distribution platform the world has ever been

exposed to. Since its opening on the “Deep Web”, Silk Road: Anonymous Marketplace,

retained over 1 million user accounts, was effectively responsible for an estimated $1.2 billion

U.S. dollars in transactions, and netted the founder around $100 million in appreciated

commissions of which investigating agencies could only locate around $30 million. The

government’s inability to uncover the proceeds and the length of time it took them to trace and

effectively close the market can be attributed to DPR’s utilization of two key technologies – Tor

and Bitcoins. The presence of Tor, an internet obscuration technology, created a separate

internet known as the “Deep Web”, and allowed for a lack of traceability of all internet traffic to

and from the site. The emergence of the digital currency Bitcoin, effectively allowed for all

transactions to occur anonymously. These technologies essentially paved the way for the

creation of such a market. Though numerous other technological safeguards were

implemented, Tor and Bitcoin represented the most paramount elements which coalesced to

allow for the precipitation of The Silk Road. The fact that all these technologies were combined

to allowed for the invocation of such a market has engulfed the inter-web. Concurrently, how

and why Bitcoin, Tor and the Silk Road were created hearkens to an intrinsic, revolutionary

trend our society has begun exhibiting over the last 3 years.

1 “Schumer Pushes to Shut Down Online Drug Marketplace,” Last modified June 5, 2011, http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Schumer-Calls-on-Feds-to-Shut-Down-Online-Drug-Marketplace-123187958.html.

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The Tor Project embodies online anonymity. Based out of Cambridge and registered as a

U.S. based non-profit organization Tor was originally created and implemented by the U.S.

Naval Research Laboratory and utilized technology known as “Onion routing.”2 Essentially, Tor

services employed sophisticated encryption technologies which distributed one’s internet

traffic through multiple locations known as Tor nodes. These nodes are placed around the

globe and are traversed before arrival at the targeted digital destination. When put another

way, if one were to ship a package from New York to California with the return address on the

package, the origin of the package could easily be traced. However, if one were to ship the

package first from New York to Georgia, where the contents of package could then be placed

inside of another package, listed with a Georgia return address, then re-shipped to its original

California destination, the process of locating the package’s initial origin of New York has

effectively become more complicated. Tor essentially performs this same process with internet

traffic. The Tor nodes re-package and re-ship the internet traffic multiple times and

concurrently process multiple packages from multiple origins simultaneously, obscuring both

the origin and destination of the package. Furthering the complication of this process was that

many of these nodes existed in other countries which entertain different privacy laws and levels

of international cooperation. For instance, if the U.S. attempted to trace internet traffic that

had been routed through a Tor node located in Syria, the lack of international cooperation

between the two countries would more than likely inhibit the U.S. from accessing their internet

traffic log. Even if one’s original location was within the U.S., the fact that it had been routed

through Syria would create a digital fog that would obscure the digital signature from the initial

2 “Tor: Overview,” https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en

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country which the traffic had emanated. Concurrently, the complexity and decentralized

nature of the Tor service effectively thwarted the government’s attempt to locate both the

users and the servers of Silk Road.

Thus far, Tor served to obscure internet traffic allowing one anonymous passage to visit

an otherwise illegal website. As with any marketplace, payment in exchange for goods and

services acted as the overt function of the Silk Road. Herein lies the intrinsic relationship the

Silk Road had with Bitcoin. Originating in 2009, Bitcoin, the first system of digital currency, was

anonymously introduced by an elusive online figure utilizing the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

The concept had originally been proposed a year earlier in a paper he had drafted outlining the

need for such a currency 3. Bitcoin, unlike credit card transactions where one’s name, bank

account and address were linked to the transaction, functioned as an anonymous method of

real world payment which, when performed correctly, was essentially untraceable. Bitcoin has

been equated to digital gold. One participated in a Bitcoin transaction in much the same way

that one sent an email. Yet, the implications of a Bitcoin e-mail are that the contents of the

message are an individual, encrypted piece of code akin to the serial number of a dollar bill.

Through a sophisticated peer-to-peer confirmation system, these individual serial numbers are

immune to replication and therefore retain their individuality and thus, given that Bitcoins are

finite in nature, are embodied with value. Bitcoins in and of themselves are worthless;

however, they are traded much like any other money on currency exchanges. What

differentiated Bitcoin from traditional currencies currently available was the fact that their

3 Satoshi Nakamoto, “Bitcoin:A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” 2008 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/opb1qikawi0g95w/lQ96ZG-Hga/Bitcoin/Bitcoin-Satoshi%20%28the%20original%20whitepaper%29.pdf

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values are decided on open, unregulated markets. Unlike the fiat currencies currently in

circulation, Bitcoin owes none of its value to a central, regulated banking institution, instead its’

value establishes itself through those wishing to possess and those wishing to sell over open,

international exchanges. The lack of regulation and laissez-faire essence of the Bitcoin

garnered immense support among the deep web and showed immense potential for real world

transactions of monies. For instance, a Bitcoin exists outside of regulated currencies and

therefore was not bound by international exchange restrictions such as taxes and tariffs. Just

as one can send a free email from one corner of the world to any other, one can send a Bitcoin

in a similar fashion. Concurrently, the fluidity, lack of oversight and emphasis on anonymity

made Bitcoin a perfect candidate for an international trade in illicit good and services.

Given the presence of these anonymizing technologies, the stage had been set for the

inception of a site which exercised the untapped potential such an environment possessed

hence the invocation of Silk Road: Anonymous Marketplace. The beginning of 2011 marked the

beginning of the Dread Pirate Robert’s grand experiment4. Extending the application of above

mentioned technologies toward a real world functioning market place which embodied and

stressed certain economic and philosophical elements was the Dread Pirate Roberts’ objective5.

The Silk Road represented a community of like-minded individuals with similar, libertarian

tendencies and understandings with respect to mind altering substances and the internet.

Between the marketplace and the associated forums, users were encouraged to express their

4 Christopher Tarbell, “United States of America v. Ross William Ulbricht,” New York, September 27, 2013 https://www.rossulbricht.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20130927-Ross-Ulbricht-Silk-Road-New-York-Criminal-Complaint.pdf5 Andy Greenberg, “An Interview With A Digital Drug Lord: The Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts (Q&A)” Forbes, August 14, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/an-interview-with-a-digital-drug-lord-the-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-qa/

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opinions about everything from philosophy, drug culture, experiences, legality and safety. The

users unified behind the site and their leader. The Dread Pirate Roberts reveled in his position

and very vocally spoke on a number of different topics. Occasionally he allowed certain news

outlets an interview which was the case with Forbes in August 2014. This extensive interview

gave the world a glimpse into the motivations and management of the market. When asked

regarding the future of his site DPR firstly replied with his definition Silk Road and stated, “At

it’s core, Silk Road is a way to get around regulation from the state. If they say we can’t buy

and sell certain things, we’ll do it anyway and suffer no abuse from them. But the state tries to

control nearly every aspect of our lives, not just drug use. Anywhere they do that, there is an

opportunity to live life as you see fit despite their efforts”6. DPR made no attempt to hide his

intentions with this site. The creation of the Road itself appears indicative of a blatant attempt

to subvert authoritative aspects of government. Just the same, Roberts described the purpose

of his site in respect to personal liberties and oppressive governmental policies, a intentions

which are closely related in all above mentioned technologies. Silk Road existed as the largest

semi-organized movement of libertarian counter culture we have ever seen. The fact that in a

very short time over 1 million people rallied behind an idea that’s sole purpose was to exist

apart from governmental interference remains astounding. More so, 43% of shipping origins

were listed as being within the United States while 35% listed the US as an acceptable

destination, therefore it can be assumed with a general degree of certainty that in upwards of

50% of “Silk Roadies” were in fact American7. Over 500,000 americans participated in DPR’s

6 Andy Greenberg, “An Interview With A Digital Drug Lord: The Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts (Q&A)” Forbes, August 14, 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/08/14/an-interview-with-a-digital-drug-lord-the-silk-roads-dread-pirate-roberts-qa/7 Christin, Nicolas. 2012. “Traveling the Silk Road: A measurement analysis of a large anonymous online marketplace.” (July 30, 2012): arXiv, EBSCOhost (accessed January 16, 2014).

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experiment and this willingness to evade governmental influence on such a large scale hearkens

to an ever growing trend of government mistrust.

Whether it be through the utilization of Tor, Bitcoins, or anonymous markets people are

moving into a digital realm which safeguards privacy. These technologies’ focal points revolve

around the concept of privacy from an overly intrusive and socially stagnant governmental

institution and the invocation of such technologies hearkens to an utter dissatisfaction with the

current political, socio-economic landscape. From Edward Snowden’s recent revelations

regarding government surveillance to the United States’ removal from the Wall Street Journal’s

Top Ten index of economic freedom, the presence of big government has been suffocating the

American people and in turn, their movement to the digital front represents their most hopeful

gasping breath to escape their oppressions. More so, given history’s repetitive nature this

freedom repressed populace, alienated by wars and economic insufficiency will inevitably

regress to addiction in much the same way as they did in the late 60’s and early 70’s8. Where

does this leave us? Essentially, the tools listed above allow one a reclamation of both the right

to privacy and pursuits of happiness. Through technology, people have begun to implement

their own, non-violent re-organization of the status quo. Ultimately, these recent developments

in US history represent the beginning of a digital arms race between the government and the

governed of which only time will tell as to its success and the outcome of which will prove to

dictate our lives in the coming years.

8 Pull from William’s paper

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function as the beginning of any organized influence and or mitigation of power from the

current empowered institutions.

The fact that people are devoting their lives to creating technologies which

Tor, Bitcoin and Silk Road were formed or are being utilized as a means of mitigating the stranglehold big government imposes on its constituents.

The shear numbers of

He then takes his disdain one step further by a

enlightenment

could only see that traffic had passed from the US into Syria and from Syria to then one can assume with a degree of certainty that

Privacy

De-centralization

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Technological arm race between people and their government

“Bitcoin and tor coming together to spark the revoltion that is Silk Road”

Protection of privacy