Welcome
Silk Load

Sometimes when I'm watching the Internet news unfolding, I feel like I'm in one of those weird dreams where everything looks the same, but all reason is inverted in some way that only the people in the dream understand. The Internet brings down barriers, including those comforting barriers that provide a cozy space for our moral certainty to flourish. We lapse into approaching problems from the circle of our own experience, sometimes not noticing that we have traveled into very different places. And we mistake our viewpoint for our values, aligning ourselves with others who share a common attitude or rhetorical framework.
Dear Linux Pro Reader,
Sometimes when I'm watching the Internet news unfolding, I feel like I'm in one of those weird dreams where everything looks the same, but all reason is inverted in some way that only the people in the dream understand. The Internet brings down barriers, including those comforting barriers that provide a cozy space for our moral certainty to flourish. We lapse into approaching problems from the circle of our own experience, sometimes not noticing that we have traveled into very different places. And we mistake our viewpoint for our values, aligning ourselves with others who share a common attitude or rhetorical framework.
So rare it is for people in the news to take responsibility for their actions and own up to their mistakes. I was struck by the candor, humility, and accountability of a community-minded admin who recently announced to his users that the network had been hacked. When describing the scenario that led to the attack, this conscientious soul was quite concerned and self-reflective, stating, "In retrospect, this was incredibly foolish, and I take full responsibility for this decision." He even added, "I have failed you as a leader and am completely devastated by today's discoveries."
No passing the buck for this principled leader, who really seemed committed to getting it right and putting the house in order. What house did he live in? Actually, the earnest admin who unleashed this boy-scout-like apologia was none other than Defcon, administrator of the reconstituted market-for-everything Silk Road. His purpose for making this announcement was to reach out to his "community," in this case, an anonymous collection of drug dealers, drug users, pornographers, and other patrons of secret transactions. The problem he faced was that someone had cleaned the entire Silk Road escrow system out of bitcoins – a haul estimated at approximately US$ 2.8 million, depending on whatever value you assign to the highly volatile bitcoin digital currency.
In the spirit of solidarity and empathy for the commonweal, Defcon invited readers to review the attacker's "dishonest actions and use whatever means you deem necessary to bring this person to justice." In this case, since most Silk Road transactions are illegal, that justice would not be a matter of calling the local constable but would presumably include whatever means drug dealers use to settle things among themselves. If his version of justice incorporates some of the techniques allegedly attempted by his predecessor "Dread Pirate Roberts" at the Silk Road 1.0 site, it would allegedly include murder.
Call me old fashioned, but I think candor and accountability are really good things, but drug dealing, money laundering, and murder are not such good things. Defcon's community spirit and moral beacon shining across the murky ocean of the clandestine economy is an interesting metaphor for the anonymity tools that underpin the Silk Road phenomenon, Tor and Bitcoin, which were developed with all the best intentions but were unleashed into a world that is much more morally diverse than the design space for which these tools were originally intended.
Just as we are instinctively attracted to Defcon's (real or feigned?) community spirit, so we are brought along with the goals of Tor and Bitcoin, falling in line with a tendency to cheer for their users wherever they might appear. We gotta get over that. Anonymity networks are to protect free speech and freedom from surveillance – not drug deals. It might be difficult to imagine what we can do about that, but at least we need to be able to say it: Standing up for anonymity does not automatically make you into an anarchist who has no right to an opinion on what people do beneath this cloak of secrecy. Anyone who tells you differently is selling you a load of silk.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
Kubuntu Focus Announces XE Gen 2 Linux Laptop
Another Kubuntu-based laptop has arrived to be your next ultra-portable powerhouse with a Linux heart.
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.
-
openSUSE Leap 15.5 Beta Now Available
The final version of the Leap 15 series of openSUSE is available for beta testing and offers only new software versions.
-
Linux Kernel 6.2 Released with New Hardware Support
Find out what's new in the most recent release from Linus Torvalds and the Linux kernel team.