There has been a topic arousing a lot of attention lately: The Silk Road. The Silk Road was a site that allowed users to buy and sell anything, from art and apparel, to illegal drugs and weapons. The site, started by Ross William Ulbricht, was founded in January 2011 and operated until earlier this month when Ulbricht was arrested. The Silk Road was able to operate for so long because it relied on a program which allows users to visit the page anonymously, and a new form a currency known as bitcoin. Therefore, a person could access the site and purchase an item (legal or illegal) with their identity completely protected.
The L.A. Time published an article about The Silk Road on the day of Ulbricht's arrest:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/02/business/la-fi-silk-road-bitcoin-20131003
The fall of this site brings up an interesting topic: Should the internet be more controlled?
Currently, there is a program known as The Onion Router (TOR), which The Silk Road relied on. TOR's site announces the programs purpose openly on the main page:
"Tor is free software and an open
network that helps you defend against traffic analysis,
a form of network surveillance that
threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business
activities and relationships, and state security."
This program allowed The Silk Road users to anonymously buy a large number of illegal items, even going as far as having drugs delivered through the mail.
Should programs like this be allowed for free download? I think not. While in theory this program is a good thing, to help law-abiding citizens protect their identities, it has ended up in the hands of criminals. This program, combined with the online currency of Bitcoins, allowed The Silk Road to develop into a site with sales totaling $1.2 billion over 3 years. Clearly there needs to be a certain level of restriction on the internet; there is something wrong when anyone can go online to purchase narcotics and illegal weapons. Personally, I do not think internet-censorship is bad. Unfortunately it has been given a bad name by countries such as China, where the internet is restricted extensively. The government should be able to better control what is posted to the internet so criminals cannot act freely behind a wall of anonymity.
What is your opinion on internet censorship? Should anyone be able to post anything? Or should the government be able to restrict what is online?
First of all, thank you for elaborating on such a trending topic. I now have a better understanding of the Silk Road.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am in favor of a certain level of govermental control over the net. "If you 're not doing anything wrong, there's nothing to worry," I think. Programs like TOR only help facilitate illegal transactions like those on the Silk Road.
However, as far as posting information is concerned, there is no need for censorship. Everyone has the right to say his opinion, and just like when you read info on WikiLeaks, it is up to you to decide whether or not to believe it.
Triet Pham
I agree with you. I also think that these kind of programs should not be allowed since they could easily be misused by criminals. However, it is a controversial issue since this is one type of internet censorship, but there are other examples out there as well. For instance, the one you mentioned with information and how countries control it.
ReplyDeleteThis topic was very interesting. Thanks!