>>>>>http://www.wsj.com/articles/silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-1432929957
>>>>>
>>>>>Seems a bit excessive to me...
>>>>
>>>>If these transcripts are indeed true, I can't say I have much sympathy...
>>>>http://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/
>>>>
>>>>I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is one instance where I agree with the current DOJ.
>>>
>>>I don't see the sentence as excessive at all. This guy greased the wheels for the destruction of a lot of lives.
>>
>>I'm surprised that as computer programmers you guys feel this way. Do you two think that the gun manufactures should be getting life sentences? It seems sort of like the same logic doesn't it? What if one of us was to write some software for some of these new weed companies in WA or CO? We going to end up with a life sentence for doing that? How many lives did this guy SAVE because people could get their dope from a few clicks of the mouse instead of dealing with armed drug dealers? What about the 3 dirty cops in this case??? ya know they stole $80 million worth of bitcoins from him too. Yes it's sad when someone dies of drug overdose - but the blame for that belongs to the person taking the drugs. If you want to blame the guy selling them I suppose that is an easy-out for people, but this guy didn't sell them, someone ELSE sold them - he merely made a website where that could happen. What if a criminal is keeping track of his finances with Quicken?? You think the authors of it should get a life sentence too? Perhaps you guys could explain your position to me - I must be missing something.
>
>Well, Quicken isn't written specifically to thwart law enforcement or to stay hidden from prying eyes who aren't in on the secret. This was written to be used for illegal purposes. Can't really say the same about Quicken. I also doubt very much that armed drug dealers refrained from using the site to get their product to sell. Why would they?

But if the transaction is done online then there is no chance of violence happening like there is meeting someone in person - right?

>No. He aided and abetted those same armed drug dealers. This isn't some innocently written software that got out of hand when used by other people for illegal purposes completely without his knowledge. The comparison to Quicken really falls apart when you ask how many use Quicken for legal operations vs how many used the Silk Road that way. Silk road was simply not designed as legal use software.
>
>Sure, you can't always control how people use your software, but that certainly isn't this scenario. He had full control. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Good point - I guess common sense would prevail here. But by the same token, then why are all the lawmakers in CO and WA not all doing life sentences too? They all conspired to break federal law by coming up with the tax codes for the selling of pot..right? How much money has that generated?