Secret darknet markets. What is happening there?

Encrypted expanses darknet - dark web, in which clients of such sites as the Silk Road, left five-star reviews on their purchases.

You are an active user darknet? Probably not, but you might have heard about it.

For those who have no idea what was going on - it's encrypted part of the Internet, access to which can be obtained by called Tor web browser. Tor allows users to view content without revealing your IP address. It is also a secret door to the hidden network of about 60,000 sites, which are very difficult to censor or remove.

Recently darknet is constantly full of news. The first time it was due to a statement David Cameron. Once discovered huge amounts of illegal pornography on the expanses of the network, he once casually suggested banning all cryptographic software.

Then convicted Ross Ulbricht, the man who was behind the anonymous market called Silk Road, where tens of thousands of people are buying and selling drugs.

This week, the UK Department of Science and Technology has provided a report which says that despite the fact that attackers use Tor darknet and criminal purposes - all the same, these tools provide a weighty value to the freedom and privacy. Even if it is technically possible (although it's probably not the case) - the part of the UK Government would be very imprudent to ban Tor or other forms of encryption. It remains an open one of the most important issues of our time: how to use the internet privately while adhering to the letter of the law.
But what in fact is the vast darknet? Despite all the fuss, little is known. Of course, it is incredibly difficult to investigate. The only thing we know for sure - 2.5 million users daily using the Tor network. Tor can be used to view any online pages, and it is widely used among the fighters for civil liberties, journalists, and (surprise!) By the law enforcement agencies. Much of Tor uses to get into the darknet, where there are about 60,000 sites. It nepoddavaemaya censorship mixture of the good, the bad and just disgusting.

Probably the most popular sites darknet - notorious multiple anonymous online trading platform. Here you can buy and sell anything: strictly illegal drugs are bought in a single click, pay cryptocurrency bitcoin and delivered directly under the door. In order to write his book "darknet," I spent a lot of time on these sites, trying to understand how and why they work, and even have experienced the whole process of buying a small amount of cannabis on a certain site, known as the Silk Road 2.0.

As it turned out, a key factor in their success is not the smart encryption, not in Bitcoin or even Tor had nothing to do with it. It's all about good old customer service. Each visitor to your site after using the drug leaves its written response that he tried it and make an assessment on a 5-point scale. It sounds a bit implausible, but users are taking it quite seriously as it creates competition based on accurate information that allows you to keep afloat and to develop the market:
Anticipating your question - yes, it really looks like on Amazon or eBay.

Over the past three months on the Silk Road 2.0 left about 120,000 reviews. This can help you assess what the approximate number of people to use it. And while I was doing research for my book, I have been collecting feedback and analyzing data. It gave me a deeper understanding of how this shadow market.

First, not only marketed drugs. Of course, it is one of the most popular types of products, but there are many others. For two weeks in April, the most popular goods were counterfeit vouchers Tesco (UK retailer) in denominations of £ 20. hundreds have been sold. Pirate DVD, fake subscriptions to publications. It is also great demand for counterfeit money.
Second, the United Kingdom - a great player . Among the nearly 700 vendors on the site it occupies about a third of the United States . But the UK is not far behind : 24,000 products have been " delivered from the UK ." It seems that there are specialized in cannabis and medicines , which are given by prescription , such as Viagra .
Thirdly, the people who use Silk Road 2.0 - very satisfied customers. The average score of all the reviews posted on the site is impressive: 4.85 out of 5 stars.

And it is - the most important thing. Due to the fact that on the site there is competition and choice, then the power in the hands of buyers, not sellers. Drug dealers on these sites are very polite and attentive. They are desperately fighting for positive feedback - otherwise their business in jeopardy. In this tag cloud it becomes clear: "beautifully", "fast" and "excellent" - the most common words of written comments. There is really a lot of satisfied customers. Markets work well
Yes, the darknet is often shocking and frightening. You can find precious sites that help informants and journalists , and then you continue flipping through and run into illegal pornography or black markets . But no one - you can not get another . Online anonymity opens at people like the brightest and the darkest corners of the soul . In addition , it creates the conditions for incredible innovation, creativity and inventions .