There are lots of online services and sites that quickly become notorious; the Pirate Bay and Napster to name but two. But Silk Road was something in a completely differently league. Found on the dark web, the site acted as a portal to drugs and other illegal goods. It started life back in 2011 and today its founder, Ross Ulbricht is sentenced to life in prison, a year and a half after his arrest.
Ulbricht was found guilty at a jury trial three months ago and today Judge Katherine Forrest said that Silk Road demonstrated he believed he "was better than the laws of this country". She said "this is deeply troubling, terribly misguided, and very dangerous" before handing down the harshest sentence available.
Ulbricht's pleas for leniency fell on deaf ears as he was sentenced for his role in money laundering, conspiracies to traffic narcotics and other charges. Accessed through the Tor browser, Silk Road was seized by the FBI in 2013 having grown into one of the largest online black markets ever known. While famed for the availability of drugs, Silk Road also opened up access to illegal services such as hitmen, prostitutes and more, all paid for with Bitcoin.
The "anonymous market place" was administered by Ulbricht who used the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. Part of the evidence linking him to the site was the fact that he own the PGP signature used to send emails from the Silk Road.
Ulbricht's lawyer said that the sentence is "unfair, unjust, and unreasonable", and promised that there would be an appeal. There have been allegations of FBI corruption throughout the case, including suggestions that agents involved in the site takedown were blackmailers who stole millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoins.
One of Ulbricht's previous defences had been that although helping with the supply of illegal drugs, Silk Road actually helped to protect drug users by ensuring the purity of narcotics. This held no water with prosecutors or the judge, hence the sentence and the order to forfeit $183 million.
Silk Road has already spawned numerous imitators, and it is a site that will go down in history for the impression it has made.
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