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===Silk Road and arrest===
===Silk Road and arrest===
Ross began working for Good Wagon Books, a book selling company, after failed attempts at day trading and video game firms. Ulbricht discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and afterwards stated on [[LinkedIn]] that he wished to "use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion and aggression amongst mankind."<ref name=Wired1/> Shortly afterwards he began working on the Silk Road.<ref name=Wired1/> He moved to San Francisco prior to his arrest.<ref name=DeweyWaPoProf/>
Ross began working for Good Wagon Books, a book selling company, after failed attempts at day trading and video game firms. Ulbricht discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and afterwards stated on [[LinkedIn]] that he wished to "use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion and aggression amongst mankind."<ref name=Wired1/> Shortly afterwards he began working on the Silk Road.<ref name=Wired1/>

Ross launched the Silk Road on February 2011. A few days after the launch, the made its first sale. It didn't take long until the market sold all of his homemade 10 pounds mushroom. Then merchants started to join. The popularity of Silk Road grew tremendously that it didn't take long until it has enough merchants to keep it functioning, like a real growing marketplace.<ref name="Eyerys">{{cite web | url=http://www.eyerys.com/articles/people/silk-road-and-ross-ulbricht | title=The Silk Road, the Online Manhunt and Ross Ulbricht | work=Eyerys| date=8 August 2015 | accessdate=8 August 2015}}</ref>

He moved to San Francisco prior to his arrest.<ref name=DeweyWaPoProf/>


In October 2013, he was arrested and accused of being the manager of the site, though he denies it.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24842410 | title=Dark net marketplace Silk Road 'back online' | work=BBC | date=6 November 2013 | accessdate=20 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Forbes2">{{cite web | url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/10/02/who-is-ross-ulbricht-piecing-together-the-life-of-the-alleged-libertarian-mastermind-behind-silk-road/2/ | title=Who Is Ross Ulbricht? Piecing Together The Life Of The Alleged Libertarian Mastermind Behind Silk Road [Page 2] | work=Forbes | date=2 October 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013 | author=Mac, Ryan}}</ref> Ulbricht faced charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics,<ref name="Forbes2" /><ref name="IBT">{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sillk-road-operator-ross-ulbricht-denies-dread-512799 | title=Alleged Silk Road Operator Ross Ulbricht Denies he is Dread Pirate Roberts | work=International Business Times | date=10 October 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013 | author=Gilbert, David}}</ref> and procuring murder;<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/21/silk-road-founder-held-without-bail | title=Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht denied bail | work=The Guardian | date=21 November 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013}}</ref> though the murder charges were later dropped.
In October 2013, he was arrested and accused of being the manager of the site, though he denies it.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24842410 | title=Dark net marketplace Silk Road 'back online' | work=BBC | date=6 November 2013 | accessdate=20 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Forbes2">{{cite web | url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/10/02/who-is-ross-ulbricht-piecing-together-the-life-of-the-alleged-libertarian-mastermind-behind-silk-road/2/ | title=Who Is Ross Ulbricht? Piecing Together The Life Of The Alleged Libertarian Mastermind Behind Silk Road [Page 2] | work=Forbes | date=2 October 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013 | author=Mac, Ryan}}</ref> Ulbricht faced charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics,<ref name="Forbes2" /><ref name="IBT">{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sillk-road-operator-ross-ulbricht-denies-dread-512799 | title=Alleged Silk Road Operator Ross Ulbricht Denies he is Dread Pirate Roberts | work=International Business Times | date=10 October 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013 | author=Gilbert, David}}</ref> and procuring murder;<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/21/silk-road-founder-held-without-bail | title=Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht denied bail | work=The Guardian | date=21 November 2013 | accessdate=19 December 2013}}</ref> though the murder charges were later dropped.

Revision as of 03:15, 4 August 2015

Dread Pirate Roberts is the shared pseudonym of the owners and operators of Silk Road, a defunct darknet market. It was used by at least two individuals: Ross William Ulbricht, who created Silk Road and ran it until his 2013 arrest,[1] and an unknown individual who relaunched the site shortly afterwards.[2] The pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts is taken from the novel The Princess Bride, in which the famous name is passed down between generations of pirates.

Ross Ulbricht

Early life and education

Ross William Ulbricht was born on March 27, 1984.[3] Ulbricht, who grew up in the Austin metropolitan area, served as a Boy Scout,[4] attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.[5] He attended West Ridge Middle School,[6] and Westlake High School, both near Austin, Texas. He graduated from high school in 2002.[7]

He attended the University of Texas at Dallas on a full academic scholarship,[5] and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in physics.[7] He then attended Pennsylvania State University, where he was in a master's degree program in materials science and engineering and studied crystallography. While attending Penn State he became interested in Ludwig von Mises's libertarian economic theories, entered into a long-term relationship with a female undergraduate student,[6] engaged in political debates while arguing for libertarianism, and participated in an African drumming group.[8] He often played the djembe, a West African drum.[6] In 2008 he expressed support for Ron Paul.[8] In 2009 he graduated and returned to Austin.[6]

Silk Road and arrest

Ross began working for Good Wagon Books, a book selling company, after failed attempts at day trading and video game firms. Ulbricht discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and afterwards stated on LinkedIn that he wished to "use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion and aggression amongst mankind."[6] Shortly afterwards he began working on the Silk Road.[6]

Ross launched the Silk Road on February 2011. A few days after the launch, the made its first sale. It didn't take long until the market sold all of his homemade 10 pounds mushroom. Then merchants started to join. The popularity of Silk Road grew tremendously that it didn't take long until it has enough merchants to keep it functioning, like a real growing marketplace.[9]

He moved to San Francisco prior to his arrest.[8]

In October 2013, he was arrested and accused of being the manager of the site, though he denies it.[10][11] Ulbricht faced charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics,[11][12] and procuring murder;[13] though the murder charges were later dropped.

Ulbricht is accused by the FBI of being the "mastermind" behind the original Silk Road.[10] i.e. the Dread Pirate Roberts.[14] Ulbricht was arrested on either 1[13] or 2[11] October 2013 in Glen Park library, part of the San Francisco Public Library.[11] Ulbricht was arrested at 3:15 Pacific time, by the FBI.[11] Agent Chris Tarbell presented Ulbricht the warrant for his arrest.[15]

Trial

He faced charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics,[11][12] and attempting to kill 6 people.[13] However, the prosecutor believes that none of the 6 planned murders occurred, despite $730,000 being paid in the attempts.[13] The murder charges were later removed from the indictment[16] and Ulbricht was convicted on all of the remaining charges following a jury trial that concluded in February 2015.[17] Ulbricht was sentenced to life imprisonment on 29 May 2015[18] and resides in the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn as of June 2015.[19][20]

Defense based on shared name

In his trial, Ulbricht's defense was that Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès and his right hand man Ashley Barr[21] jointly was actually Dread Pirate Roberts, and that Ulbricht was set up by Karpelès.[22] Mark Karpelès denied the accusation.[23]

In 2013, two Israeli mathematicians, Dorit Ron and Adi Shamir, published a paper claiming a link between Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and Dread Pirate Roberts. The two based their suspicion on an analysis of the network of Bitcoin transactions,[24] but later retracted their claim.[25]

Publications

Other persons

Blake Benthall, aka 'Defcon' aka 'Dread Pirate Roberts' was the alleged administrator of the Silk Road 2.0 that was launched shortly after the closure of the original.[26] He was arrested shortly after Operation Onymous targeted a number of darknet sites. Hours after the closure of Silk Road 2.0 in November 2014, Diabolus Market renamed itself to "Silk Road 3 Reloaded" and automated messages from the site started using the name Dread Pirate Roberts.[27]

References

  1. ^ Raymond, Nate (2015-02-04). "Accused Silk Road operator convicted on U.S. drug charges". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  2. ^ Leger, Donna Leinwand (2014-11-06). "Feds shut down Silk Road 2.0, arrest San Francisco man". USA Today. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  3. ^ Burleigh, Nina (2015-02-19). "Key Moments in the Life of Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht". Newsweek. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  4. ^ "Silk Road's Ross Ulbricht: Drug 'kingpin' or 'idealistic' Boy Scout?" CNN/Money. May 28, 201. Retrieved on June 15, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Segal, David. "Eagle Scout. Idealist. Drug Trafficker?" The New York Times. January 18, 2014. Retrieved on June 16, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The Untold Story of Silk Road, Part 1". Wired. April 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  7. ^ a b "Man with Austin ties charged with running vast underground drugs website" (Archive). Austin American-Statesman. October 2, 2013. Retrieved on June 14, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Dewey, Caitlin. "Everything we know about Ross Ulbricht, the outdoorsy libertarian behind Silk Road." Washington Post. October 3, 2013. Retrieved on June 15, 2015.
  9. ^ "The Silk Road, the Online Manhunt and Ross Ulbricht". Eyerys. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Dark net marketplace Silk Road 'back online'". BBC. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Mac, Ryan (2 October 2013). "Who Is Ross Ulbricht? Piecing Together The Life Of The Alleged Libertarian Mastermind Behind Silk Road [Page 2]". Forbes. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  12. ^ a b Gilbert, David (10 October 2013). "Alleged Silk Road Operator Ross Ulbricht Denies he is Dread Pirate Roberts". International Business Times. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d "Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht denied bail". The Guardian. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  14. ^ Edwards, Jim (2 October 2013). "This Is The Physics Student And Used Book Seller Who Allegedly Ran The 'Silk Road' Market For Drugs And Assassins". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  15. ^ "The Untold Story of Silk Road, Part 2". Wired. April 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  16. ^ O'Neill, Patrick Howell. "The mystery of the disappearing Silk Road murder charges" (Archive). Daily Dot. October 22, 2014. Retrieved on June 14, 2015.
  17. ^ "Accused Silk Road Operator Ross Ulbricht Convicted on All Counts". NBC News. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Silk Road Mastermind Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison". NBC News. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Inmate Locator." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on June 15, 2015. Enter the BOP number 18870-111 or the name Ross Ulbricht.
  20. ^ Greenberg, Andy. "After Ross Ulbricht's First NY Court Appearance, His Lawyer Says He's Not The FBI's Dread Pirate Roberts." Forbes. November 7, 2013. Retrieved on June 15, 2015. "Dratel said Ulbricht is now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn[...]"
  21. ^ Jeong, Sarah (16 January 2015). "Was Mt. Gox CEO The Dread Pirate Roberts? The DHS Once Believed It". Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  22. ^ Mullin, Joe (15 January 2015). "Defense bombshell in Silk Road trial: Mt. Gox founder "set up" Ulbricht". Ars Technica. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  23. ^ Byford, Sam (15 January 2015). "Mt. Gox CEO says he isn't Silk Road's Dread Pirate Roberts". Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  24. ^ Markoff, John (23 November 2013). "Study Suggests Link Between Dread Pirate Roberts and Satoshi Nakamoto". New York Times.
  25. ^ Wile, Rob. "Researchers Retract Claim Of Link Between Alleged Silk Road Mastermind And Founder Of Bitcoin". Business Week. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  26. ^ Price, Rob (11 November 2014). "The inside story of Blake Benthall, alleged Silk Road 2.0 kingpin". Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  27. ^ Price, Rob (7 November 2014). "We spoke to the shady opportunist behind Silk Road 3.0". Retrieved 14 June 2015.

Further reading

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