For those who don't know who he is, he created the website Silk Road on the Dark Web, which was basically eBay for drugs.
Currently serving a life sentence after the FBI caught him at his laptop while logged in to Silk Road.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht
If you are bored and want to be gripped by something give this a listen, parts two and three are in the related videos, use your initiative because I can't be arsed posted all three videos. Absolutely crazy story and everything that happened to catch him.
Donald Trump is sympathetic to his case apparently.
QuoteIn May 2024, candidate Donald Trump said that if re-elected President, he would commute Ulbricht's sentence on his first day in office.
Anyway, should he be freed?
Without watching that, I'd say it depends a) on what drugs he was selling (class A, B, C etc) and more importantly b) were they verified, which is to say, as we all know, any drug bought on the net without a prescription can contain all sorts of things. So was he peddling possible poison or adding to the problem of drug addiction? Or was it just "softer" drugs (cannabis, ecstasy etc)? I'd have to say, on general principles, if Trump is for it then I'm agin it. But I'd have to know more.
When you say "Ebay for drugs", do I take that to mean he was providing a platform where people could buy and sell drugs illicitly? If so, then personally I think he should stay where he is as he's a danger to people's health otherwise. Oh, was it called D-Bay? Guess if it was MDMA it might be E-Bay? All right, I'll stop now.
(https://y.yarn.co/ecdb7bb4-4906-4c3e-abe5-12aa80f412b6_text.gif)
It was for creating and running the site. He wasn't selling the drugs himself, although I think he did make the first sale. Anyone buying would have known the risks involved, the reason he got into it is because he was big on libertarianism and didn't think the state should be able to decide what you put into your own body. Silk Road also allowed substances used in suicides and also the sale of organs (livers etc, not musical instruments). At one point they allowed guns too but then stopped.
And ecstasy is a class A drug mate, not sure I'd call that 'softer' :laughing:
i am extremely familiar with this case/story....
i think it's wild to make his story political but sometimes that works out for the criminal too
i am voting no, should not be free
he may have had the razzlekhan option to work with the government since billions in crypto is involved but i dont know how that ended up
Quote from: Shhon on Aug 19, 2024, 02:33 PMi am extremely familiar with this case/story....
i think it's wild to make his story political but sometimes that works out for the criminal too
i am voting no, should not be free
he may have had the razzlekhan option to work with the government since billions in crypto is involved but i dont know how that ended up
The story itself is political, if it weren't for his political ideas there's a good chance none of this would have happened anyway.
Also why no?
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Aug 19, 2024, 08:14 PMThe story itself is political, if it weren't for his political ideas there's a good chance none of this would have happened anyway.
Also why no?
I wasnt taking a jab at you fren, i meant like the idea of it being political here in the US
i say no because of my what was all possible with silk road and the dark web as a whole
most people thought the place was for drugs only but it was way deeper into very bad stuff
Quote from: Shhon on Aug 19, 2024, 10:17 PMI wasnt taking a jab at you fren, i meant like the idea of it being political here in the US
i say no because of my what was all possible with silk road and the dark web as a whole
most people thought the place was for drugs only but it was way deeper into very bad stuff
Na I know, I just meant the question itself is political.
Silk Road as far as I know sold drugs and software. Firearms were removed and noncing was never allowed on there. I know nonces use the Dark Web for that sort of thing but Silk Road wasn't a part of it (correct me if I'm wrong).
The issue for me is when he paid too have two people killed. If it was just the running of Silk Road and the drugs then I would free him.
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Aug 19, 2024, 10:21 PMThe issue for me is when he paid too have two people killed.
Did he actually do that though? I thought that was never proven - it certainly wasn't proven in court and wasn't part of his charges, was it? I haven't dug into his case in a while.
Quote from: SGR on Aug 19, 2024, 10:36 PMDid he actually do that though? I thought that was never proven - it certainly wasn't proven in court and wasn't part of his charges, was it? I haven't dug into his case in a while.
It was covered in the Casefile podcast, pretty sure law enforcement received the money and faked the murders. Maybe they dropped the charges for some reason. If it's not a part of his charges feel free to ignore it.
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Aug 19, 2024, 10:56 PMIt was covered in the Casefile podcast, pretty sure law enforcement received the money and faked the murders. Maybe they dropped the charges for some reason. If it's not a part of his charges feel free to ignore it.
I'll look into it and get back to you. I haven't made up my mind on whether or not Ulbricht should be pardoned (or sentence commuted), and not to derail the topic too much, but I think I'd be much more sympathetic to pardoning Edward Snowden. I think what he did took a lot more personal courage than what Ulbricht did, and the cause seemed more selfless and more noble. But I'll dig into the Ulbricht case again and circle back with my thoughts.
(https://j.gifs.com/MQjWk3.gif)
Thread derailment ahoy! Mind the gap!
With you on Snowden. Watched the Stone movie a few days ago, and if it's mostly or all truth, Snowden did what he did because he thought people should know. He didn't sell his story (and he could have), he didn't make anything from his whistleblowing, in fact his entire life was upended because of it. I'm guessing this guy made a stack of money, so given that even if he didn't sell the drugs he knew what was happening, he's responsible and should not be released in my opinion.
Also, if ecstasy is not a soft drug why do they print happy faces on the tablets? :laughing:
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Aug 19, 2024, 10:21 PMI know nonces use the Dark Web for that sort of thing
It's very very important to point out that most nonces are actually doing business on the surface web rather than the dark web. Pedo shit on the dark web is comparatively rare. They were advertising CP on Twitter, they stalk the comment sections on YT videos with children, they infamously prey very heavily on TikTok & Discord is probably the worst.
Quote from: Trollheart on Aug 20, 2024, 01:47 AM(https://j.gifs.com/MQjWk3.gif)
Thread derailment ahoy! Mind the gap!
With you on Snowden. Watched the Stone movie a few days ago, and if it's mostly or all truth, Snowden did what he did because he thought people should know. He didn't sell his story (and he could have), he didn't make anything from his whistleblowing, in fact his entire life was upended because of it. I'm guessing this guy made a stack of money, so given that even if he didn't sell the drugs he knew what was happening, he's responsible and should not be released in my opinion.
Also, if ecstasy is not a soft drug why do they print happy faces on the tablets? :laughing:
I forget there was an Oliver Stone movie about him. :laughing: I'll have to watch that at some point.
I did however read his autobiography that came out in 2019. A really good insightful read, particularly about his background and thought processes about all the stuff that eventually led him to infamy.
(https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pasadenaweekly.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/bb/1bb6af31-e4ca-5f60-bf59-72512d22ddff/61aa3d007a2b9.image.jpg)
Ross is now a free man.
Been pardoned by Trump.
He must be on such a high. Fair play to Trump for keeping his word.
Yup, just came back to this thread to see if it had been updated.
Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht for online drug scheme (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ulbricht-online-drug-scheme-2025-01-22/)
Quote from: SGR on Jan 22, 2025, 04:41 PMYup, just came back to this thread to see if it had been updated.
Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht for online drug scheme (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ulbricht-online-drug-scheme-2025-01-22/)
Interested to see where he goes from here. Probably go home and have some cheeseburgers or something similar. Enjoy a night in a proper bed. Probably not gonna struggle for a shag so he'll get that sorted quick you'd imagine.
Guessing he'll tweet a lot, go on a podcast or ten and write a book.
I'm sure he'll never break the law again.
Good luck to him imo.
The vengeance tour at full throttle.
QuoteLast night, Trump issued a pardon of Ross Ulbricht, convicted of operating an online dark web marketplace used by massive numbers of drug dealers in Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York in 2015. Trump called the people who worked on this case "scum" in a social media post and accused them of being responsible for the "weaponization of government" against him during his time in office. He even explicitly said that the pardon was given, "in honor of [Ulbricht's mother] and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly.
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Jan 22, 2025, 06:25 PMInterested to see where he goes from here. Probably go home and have some cheeseburgers or something similar. Enjoy a night in a proper bed. Probably not gonna struggle for a shag so he'll get that sorted quick you'd imagine.
Guessing he'll tweet a lot, go on a podcast or ten and write a book.
I'm sure he'll never break the law again.
Good luck to him imo.
If he's still got access to some wallets of cryptocurrencies from when he was a free man, he'll probably be set for life.
But I would love some podcast appearances - that would be interesting. I'm sure Joe Rogan would love to talk to him - or maybe Lex Friedman. I'd love to get an inside look on what he was trying to achieve. Whether or not he has regrets or misgivings, etc.
He does look great for his age and how much time he spent in the pen. Guess there's not much other to do than exercise.
:laughing: funny you say podcast appearances.
I saw a meme that said he's getting sentenced to podcast appearance hell.
Quote from: DJChameleon on Jan 23, 2025, 06:35 AM:laughing: funny you say podcast appearances.
I saw a meme that said he's getting sentenced to podcast appearance hell.
His community service sentence should be to appear on the Talk Tuah podcast for the good of the nation. :laughing:
https://x.com/RealRossU/status/1882609887878029519
Quote from: jimmy jazz on Jan 24, 2025, 03:32 AMhttps://x.com/RealRossU/status/1882609887878029519
this guy, hearing him talk and seeing this video really changes my mind on the whole thing. plus hearing other opinions this week about everything.
i am glad trump freed him