Silk Road
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US authorities seize $1 billion worth of Silk Road Bitcoin
As the Wall Street Journal notes, they only managed to seize 175,000 Bitcoins from Ulbricht back then, which is less than half of the 600,000 Bitcoins they believe the website generated in commissions.
Silk Road 2 founder sentenced five years after the site was shut down
It's been nearly five years since the feds shut down Silk Road 2. But its founder is only now being sentenced to prison. According to Motherboard, Thomas White, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts 2 (DPR2) plead guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children. Now he faces five years and four months in prison.
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht sentenced to life in prison
Despite Ross Ulbricht's emotional plea for leniency in court today, Judge Katherine Forrest has sentenced him to life in prison. He was facing a minimum of 20 years up to the maximum life sentence after he was found guilty of money laundering, narcotics trafficking and computer hacking. Under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts," Ulbricht was the czar of Silk Road, an online drug marketplace that netted him an $18 million fortune. It was anonymized by the Tor network and used Bitcoins to hide transactions.
Silk Road Survival: In conversation with 'Deep Web' director Alex Winter
An unassuming, Mormon family man. A brilliant physics and engineering student with a goofy smile. Five years ago, neither of these men knew each other, let alone suspected that they'd be drawn into a web suffused with libertarian dogma, hard drugs and the sort of rhetorical dedication that allegedly drove that student -- Ross Ulbricht -- to order a hit on that family man. That's the weighty world that digital documentarian Alex Winter set out to explore in his new film, Deep Web. By his own admission, the documentary -- which first appeared at SXSW in March and hits Epix on May 31st -- can't tell the whole story of the Silk Road, an anonymous bazaar of hallucinogens, hitmen and, really, whatever you were looking for. Ulbricht is still behind bars after being found guilty of all seven charges leveled at him earlier this year, which included narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering. One even crowned him a "kingpin," and stuck him with the punishment attached to the title. While he and the rest of us wait to see what his sentencing holds, though, Deep Web acts as an important crash course in the events that led to all this. We spoke to director Winter to understand how and why he put the story together on film.
Digital disintegration, connected sex toys for every Valentine and other stories you might've missed this week!
In this Weekends with Engadget, we explain how photos can fade in the internet age, help you select the perfect connected sex toy for your Valentine and contemplate the best way to buy sneakers. All this and more -- just read on past the break.
US Marshals accidentally leak list of Silk Road Bitcoin bidders
Next week, the US Marshals will auction-off the $18 million or-so worth of Bitcoin that the FBI gained when it seized the online black market Silk Road. It turns out, however, that it's not just the usual coterie of geeks and libertarians who are interested in a piece of Russ Ulbricht's action. A list of "interested parties" was inadvertently leaked by a careless Marshal, revealing that major financial institutions could be battling Bitcoin exchanges like Coinbase and SecondMarket in the fight for a portion of the hoard.
US to begin selling off its Silk Road Bitcoin hoard
When the FBI seized Silk Road and the assets of its founder, it inadvertently became the owner of one of the world's largest Bitcoin hoards. Just six months later, the US has decided that it wants to sell the smaller, Silk Road-owned portion of the stash, made up of 30,000 BTC worth around $18 million. The public auction will take place between 6am and 6pm on June 27th, with the funds being broken down into blocks of 3,000 BTC to make it a little more manageable. If, however, you fancied getting in on the action, be advised that you'll have to front a deposit of $200,000 just to be allowed in. Still, if it'll take you a bit longer to scrounge up that level of cash, the US will also look to sell off Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht's personal Bitcoin fortune -- currently valued at around $87 million -- before his trial begins in November.
US Government now owns Silk Road's $25 million Bitcoin hoard
If we're honest, asset seizures are inherently hilarious. After all, for every sports car that's flogged to boost the public purse, there must be an unsaleable giant mechanical heron just gathering dust in a federal warehouse. After shutting down Silk Road, the US has now gained a slightly more useful treasure for its collection: 29,665 in Bitcoin, currently worth around $25 million. The celebrations won't begin just yet, however, since Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht, Silk Road's alleged founder, is claiming that a further 144,336 BTC (around $120 million) found on his personal computers are not the proceeds of crime, and therefore cannot be seized. What happens to the cash now? It'll go into the pockets of the US Marshals, with some of the cash probably going to pay off the storage costs for that giant mechanical heron.
Joymax launches Silkroad Online expansion and new events
There's a ton of new functionality on display in Joymax's free-to-play Silkroad Online MMORPG. The historical fantasy title, set along the renowned China to Constantinople trading route in the 7th century AD, has recently released its Rise of the Thief-Hunter expansion. Additionally, Joymax has added 24-hour GM support to the game and is hosting a series of events designed to draw awareness to the new services as well as solicit fan feedback (and offer prizes). Festivities include a share-your-knowledge event, a Fortress War video competition, and a Legendary Player tribute event. The expansion features a new emphasis on jobs, and players will be able to specialize in new skill sets dependent on their characters' jobs and levels. Job titles will also change as various advancement tasks are completed, and reputation gain is now tied in with rank bonuses (which in turn raises attributes). Rise of the Thief-Hunter also brings a newly designed crafting system granting players the ability to fabricate everything from siege items to alchemy staples. A new trade system allows for players to explore their smugglery sides and offers quests that reward unique job items. Players may also choose to protect trade caravans or raid them. Check out the official Silkroad Online website for more information on the expansion and associated events.
The Anvil of Crom: Traveling the Silk Road
Last week we spoke briefly with Funcom executive producer and game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison regarding Age of Conan's random encounter mechanic, which will invoke a series of one-off solo instances designed to add a bit of flavor to the journey to Hyboria's Far East. We also checked out five of the 11 available instances: four sea-faring adventures and one rare-spawn quest-giving encounter. This week, we'll step through the remaining five adventures, all of them land-locked, in addition to taking a quick look at the second rare spawn. Voyage past the cut for more.
The Anvil of Crom: Random encounters with Craig Morrison
So, what do random encounters and Age of Conan executive producer Craig "Silirrion" Morrison have in common? Truthfully, not much as far as The Anvil of Crom and its author is concerned, as I've never had the pleasure of meeting Funcom's game director in person. That said, he was kind enough to answer a few questions for this week's column via email, all of them pertaining to the random encounter mechanic implemented with last May's Rise of the Godslayer expansion. What's a random encounter, you may find yourself asking? Peek behind the curtain and find out.
Silkroad Online says no to botters
No botters! Bad botters! Down! Ban! You're banned!Well, that's not exactly how bannings go, but Silkroad Online is starting to crack down on their botting problem. The game has recently changed their anti-botting rules, converting over to a three strike policy. The first instance of your account being suspected, you get a 7 day ban. The next time your account gets flagged, it's a 14 day ban. And, if your account gets flagged a third and final time for the use of illegal programs, you can kiss your account goodbye.It's a pretty strict system, doubly so for a free-to-play game. Usually we see larger MMO developers, like Square-Enix and CCP, moving towards initiatives like these. However, it's clear that Joymax is interested in cleaning up their game, a move that many will undoubtedly enjoy.
Silkroad Online offers limited edition Arabian garb
Silkroad Online is an MMO based on the historical Silk Road between Asia and Europe, wherein players can adventure as merchants, thieves, or hunters. And now, as befitting the feel of the period, players have access to Arabian-themed outfits that provide a boost to your character's stats. These outfits are only available for a short time, so players ought to jump on this like it's a magic carpet!Expect to see more from Silkroad Online in the coming months.
Silkroad Online boasts 7.2 million registered users
World of Warcraft is huge by pay-to-play standards. We know that. But if you want to play the numbers game, some free-to-play MMORPGs can stand toe-to-toe with WoW when it comes to registered users. Silkroad Online does, according to Korean publisher Joymax. The company just announced that it has reached a new milestone -- 100,000 concurrent users. That's out of 7.2 million registered users. And that's just on its own servers; Joymax boasts that 18 million people are registered for the game across all providers and regions.18 million users in a free-to-play MMO is not necessarily as good for business as 10 million paying subscribers, since F2P users are only potential sources of income. Joymax didn't share any information about revenues, and it didn't explain what percentage of registered users regularly purchase virtual items with real world currency.Silkroad Online spans the globe in both a virtual and a real sense. Users are registered in countries from Asia to North America, and the game's fantasy setting is based on the historic Silk Road trade route, which has connected Western and Eastern countries for centuries.
