Quinn Wilson
In Motion Staff Writer
Put a group of children into a room full of angry bees or watch Dread Pirate Roberts’ part of the web—the Silk Road—crumble and then rebirth itself in a matter of weeks. While the two options are dissimilar, the outcome is going to be the same—someone’s going to be in trouble—bees or no bees.
The Deep Web, accessible by a modified web browser like TOR, holds a variety of sites that are inaccessible via ‘normal’ means. Dread Pirate Roberts, formally known as Ross Ulbricht, is the alleged New Age pirate. “He’s a poster child for bail,” Joshua Dratel, Ulbricht’s attorney said. He even claimed that Ulbricht would be willing to consider electronic monitoring.
“Ross Ulbricht maintains his innocence of all the charges against him. The government’s —and to a considerable extent — the media’s portrayal of him thus far is not accurate,” Dratel wrote. “We will address all of that in the most important forum for Ross, which for the time being is in the courts, where evidence and not merely accusation is what counts.”
While chaos ensued in the courtroom for the alleged Dread Pirate Roberts, the FBI seized and shutdown the Silk Road. Then, a few weeks later, the Silk Road 2.0 struck out anew. Silk Road 2.0s slogan, openly mocking the FBI, says “the hidden site has risen again.” It may not be fully functioning, but the new Website is only open to users of Silk Road 1.0. Now, ‘new’ members receive a Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption key. This will, potentially, keep Silk Road 2.0 from facing seizure like its ancestor. As of November 6, Silk Road 2.0 isn’t fully functioning, but there are already over 500 drug listings present.
The “new” Dread Pirate Roberts—owner and operator of Silk Road 2.0—has presented these changes on a variety of venues, one of the most well known sites being Twitter. Grandmas and Grandpas more than likely never imagined a day in which contacting a person like the Dread Pirate would become so easy. It’s not just stereotypical dealers and consumers on the Deep Web anymore. With the New York Times, Huffington Post and even Time magazine providing in depth coverage on the Silk Road, the Deep Web is no longer a place that sounds like legend.
Accessing the Deep Web only takes a few clicks of a mouse— and don’t worry—being on the Deep Web is legal and safe so long as care is taken to not, say, “accidentally” order some methamphetamines. Tor’s Website provides massive amounts of information regarding anonymity and confidentiality. Although the Deep Web is used by drug dealers and connoisseurs, that’s a very small portion of Deep Web users as a whole. Activists in danger zones and politically radical areas of the world use Tor to ensure their own safety. Journalists, whistleblowers, businessmen and even the military use it. For more information about Tor and anonymity on the Web visit Torproject.org.