Ross Ulbricht and the Silk Road | Lyn Ulbricht
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Location: Tucson
Date: Tuesday, November 26th 2019
Company: Free Ross Ulbricht
Role: CEO
As a passionate libertarian with a belief in the free market, voluntary association and trade, Ross Ulbricht created an environment for this. The Silk Road was an online marketplace which allowed for the free trade of items which did not cause harm to others, providing anonymity to both buyers and sellers.
Known as a darknet marketplace, the Silk Road was the first of its kind and proved hugely popular. Made possible using Tor to protect browsing and Bitcoin to allow for exchange, the Silk Road grew at a rate which any silicon valley VC would have been desperate to inject capital into. But as the Silk Road allowed for the trade of items which the states deem harmful, the site came under the scrutiny of the FBI.
Ross went to great lengths to remain anonymous, operating under the name Dread Pirate Roberts and became a main target for a number of law enforcement agencies. In October 2013 Ross was arrested at the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public Library, at which point the site had facilitated over 1 million transactions.
Ross was charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics and was eventually found guilty on all counts. For these crimes, he was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus forty years with no chance of parole.
Ross has appealed his sentence but each appeal has been rejected and now his only chance of freedom is a presidential pardon.
The case divides people. There are those who believe Ross facilitated crime and thus deserves to be in prison and others who see how Ross created something which led to harm reduction in against the backdrop of a failed war on drugs:
Reducing violent crime associated with drug gangs
Reducing the danger of street drug sales
The rating system that was developed to increase trust in the product
Forums which helped with addiction and safe consumption
Ross’ mother Lyn has campaigned tirelessly for his freedom which has taken her on a journey beyond the injustice of his punishment. Lyn also now campaigns for prison reform and the removal of non-violent criminals from the prison system.
In this interview with Lyn we discuss the #FreeRoss campaign, the Silk Road, Ross’ case and the broken US correctional system.
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02:09 - Lyn’s introduction
03:01 - Welcoming Lyn to the show
04:10 - An update on Ross
07:37 - The dramatisation of the reporting on the Silk Road
09:01 - The backstory
14:22 - The legalisation and medicinal use of drugs
16:46 - The war on drugs
17:57 - Ross’ trial
21:25 - The false accusation of murder-for-hire
24:26 - The need for reform in the judicial system
28:12 - The appeals
32:50 - Rogue agents
35:05 - What options remain for Ross
40:20 - Moving from prison to prison
46:39 - Ross’ mental state and remaining positive
49:30 - The toll on the family
51:27 - Dealing with people who are not empathetic to Ross's situation
Connect with Lyn & the Free Ross campaign:
Website: https://freeross.org/
On Facebook
On YouTube
On Instagram
Ross on Twitter
More on Ross Ulbricht & the Silk Road
Change.org: The Petition for Clemency
What Bitcoin Did: Railroaded: The Targeting and Caging of Ross Ulbricht
What Bitcoin Did: Losing Your Son to the Prison System - The Silk Road and Ross Ulbricht with Lyn Ulbricht
What Bitcoin Did: The Supreme Courts Denial of Ross Ulbricht's Petition with Lyn Ulbricht
Free Ross Ulbricht: Meet Ross Ulbricht
Free Ross Ulbricht: Case Overview
Free Ross Ulbricht: The Real, Untold Story
Free Ross Ulbricht: Case Timeline
Free Ross Ulbricht: Donate
Mentioned in the show:
Medium: 5 Keys to Inner Strength from 5 Years in Prison by Ross Ulbricht
Medium: Life in a Box by Ross Ulbricht
Wikipedia: Sentencing Reform Act which abolished federal parole
Wikipedia: Silk Road
VICE: Someone Accessed Silk Road Operator’s Account While Ross Ulbricht Was in Jail
New York Times: The Failed War on Drugs
Wikipedia: Legality of cannabis in the US
Quartz: Oregonian activists are laying the legal groundwork for therapeutic magic mushrooms
Business Insider: Drugs in prison
Washington Post: How many people are in prison on marijuana charges?
New York Times: Crime Is Down, Yet U.S. Incarceration Rates Are Still Among the Highest in the World
Wikipedia: Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute (Kingpin Statute)
NPR: Mexican Drug Kingpin 'El Chapo' Is Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years In U.S. Prison
Reason: Ross Ulbricht's Murder-for-Hire Charges Dropped by U.S. Attorney
Wikipedia: List of countries by incarceration rate
THANK YOU TO MY SPONSOR
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