Silk Road Has Been Shut Down
Are you ready for some of the biggest news to hit the hosting sphere in decades? The F.B.I has officially captured Dread Pirate Roberts. Sound familiar? Robers was the mane behind the legendary drug trading route ‘The Silk Road' – something that we've covered on this site many times.
As it turns out, Dread Pirate Roberts' actual name is Ross William Ulbricht, and he was captured by F.B.I in a San Francisco public library. Roberts had millions of dollars worth of Bitcoins – something that the F.B.I plans to shut down too.
Silk Road Has Been Shut Down: Bitcoin Crackdown
A F.B.I spokeswoman told the Mashable blog today that the bureau is about to close in on Bitcoin. The F.B.I plans to completely shutter Bitcoin within the next few months, though capturing Ulbricht was the bureau's first priority. The Silk Road operated with help from multiple servers spread out all over the world, and the F.B.I is currently working with other countries in order to track down those servers as well.
The Silk Road was easily one of the biggest online drug trading marketplaces, and it is well-known in many different circles. Of course, the activities that went on using The Silk Road website were illegal, and this is how the F.B.I has managed to close down the site today. What about TOR?
Silk Road Has Been Shut Down: The TOR Take Down
Even though the same F.B.I. spokeswoman has stated that this wasn't an attempt to shut down TOR, the TOR browser was used by The Silk Road. The F.B.I. claims that Roberts (Ulbricht) had hired a killer to murder someone that had once threatened Ulbricht's sanity through TOR. That, the bureau claims, is one of the main reasons why The Silk Road has been compromised.
The F.B.I also claims that The Silk Road was used to traffic weapons, though this is something that Ulbricht had stated was not allowed on the site (he had a list of allowances). How the F.B.I tracked down Ulbricht or how the site was finally shut down remains to be seen, but The Silk Road is now, officially, a thing of the past. As for TOR, well, I would assume that this browser is safe from prying eyes now.
Silk Road Has Been Shut Down: What Will Happen To Ulbricht
Now that Ulbricht is in the hands of the F.B.I, it will likely be a while before we hear of him. This government branch tends to take time before prosecuting criminals, so it could be many months before the public hears what's going to happen to Ulbricht. Hopefully, some lawyer out there takes Bitcoins as a form of payment. Otherwise, Ulbricht is in trouble.
What do you think about this news? Are you shocked or surprised that The Silk Road has finally been taken down? We'd love to hear what you have to say about this matter! Leave us a note below.
