You Can't Stop the Dark Net (Yet Everyone Keeps Trying)

BBC News has been trawling the dark net
and discovering that drug offerings on the semi-hidden web
network have more than doubled since last fall. That’s when the FBI

closed down Silk Road, the original crypto bizaar, from which
dark netizens could purchase drugs and other illicit items
exclusively using Bitcoin. 

In October 2013, the Digital Citizens Alliance counted 18,174
deep
web drug listings that spanned four main markets. The BBC
News team now uncovered some 43,175 listings across 23 markets.

It seems when the FBI closed down Silk Road, all it managed to
do was splinter the deep web’s drug market while advertising to
more people that it existed in the first place. 

BBC News quotes the requisite people saying this is a “big
problem”, and not only because DRUGS. One dude worries about the
collateral damage that comes from people quietly conducting
business on a network there’s literally no way to accidently
access.

“We still think the internet can be a wonderful tool for
consumers and businesses, but we do worry good people and companies
get caught up in the web spun by criminals and rogue operators,”
said Adam Benson, deputy executive director of Digital Citizens
Alliance. 

“That will slowly erode the trust and confidence we have in the
internet.”

A representative of Britain’s National Crime Agency said it was
using “all and every tool and technique” possible to go after dark
net drug sellers, because they are not just dealing drugs but
“dealing in misery.” But an anonymous dark-net drug seller offered
another perspective: 

“To us the dark net is all about anonymity and freedom,” he
said.

I put it to him that he was still selling dangerous substances
and supporting organised crime.

“A street dealer could sell you anything without you knowing
what it is exactly,” he replied. “Because of the strong community
on the dark net, this almost never happens. And when it happens,
the vendor in question will lose all of his clients.”

He added that the online drugs trade showed no signs of
reducing. “I’ve seen the dark net market grow almost
exponentially.”

It will continue to grow, because—like
Uber, and AirBnB,
and MyRedbook.com—it makes things both
more convenient and more transparent for consumers. And similar
to the way websites allow sex workers to go indie and avoid pimps
and brothels, the dark web lets small-scale drug purveyors thrive
without being part of some organized criminal network. That also
gives consumers less need to buy from seedier elements. So the dark
net could actually help reduce drug-related crime, in
addition to making drug use safer. But prohibition for its own sake
is a hell of a drug for lawmakers and enforcers in the U.S. and
U.K.