[ExI] the Ross Ulbricht (aaka: Dread Pirate Roberts) defense fund

[Kelly Anderson]

On Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 12:56 PM, Tomasz Rola <rtomek at ceti.pl> wrote:

> On Wed, 20 Nov 2013, Kelly Anderson wrote:
>
> > https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/legal-defense-fund-for-ross-ulbricht
> >
> > I think it is hilarious that they don't take Bitcoin.
> >
> > -Kelly
>
> Ross Ulbricht - isn't he the guy who wanted to pay money for assasination
> service? If this was so, then I find it hilarious that some people ask for
> public support of him.
>

Allegedly, yes. His friends believe he has been set up. They can not
reconcile the man they know with the man described in the court records.
Apparently, in his personal life, he lived to an exemplary standard.
Perhaps he is a bit like Ted Bundy, carrying on a perfectly normal surface
life, but having a secret life that none of his friends knew about. Not one
of his friends were aware of his work as the Dread Pirate Roberts. He was
Batman and Bruce Wayne, according to the feds. There is the possibility
that he was framed by the real DPR, but that seems a little far fetched
without some evidence in that direction.


> I mean, there may be pioneers, misunderstood innovators, anti-gov personas
> and the like, no problem. But once certain border is crossed they become
> as good as any other bandit out there.
>

I agree with you. While I'm a borderline anarchist, I don't support Leon
Czolgosz types. I think a site like the Silk Road should be legal, but
specific illegal activities that occur there should be investigated by the
authorities. (It is probably not economical to chase down individual sales
of narcotics on Silk Road, but things like hit men should be chased down,
IMHO.) Bitcoin leaves enough of a trail that serious criminals can be
tracked down through their financial activities. You can at least say,
"Whoever is associated with this account number is doing bad things."
Associating someone with an account number, however, is somewhat more
tricky if the person using Bitcoin is not exceptionally aware and cautious
of their activities. It's hard for the authorities to track you down, but
if you are bad enough, they can do it.

-Kelly
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