RE: My Thoughts on Ross
My opinion comes from the facts presented at the trial and my readings in the media. Ross chose to work in a field that is dangerous, invites harmful characters and requires extralegal enforcement of agreements. Whether you like Ross or not, you have to concede that running criminal enterprises doesn't exactly reward being nice.
For example, if someone steals from you, then who do you call? How do you address blackmail or threats? You can't call the police, there are no contracts or courts to fall back on. You have to embrace violence or threats. This is why black markets are so harmful to society. When the government creates them, they are forcing that sector to embrace violence and antisocial behavior.
Ross's contribution was organizing a marketplace to reduce the harmful side effects of black markets. He was harshly punished by the state for it. The purpose of this article is to point out the hypocrisy of this act.
Are you going to donate the profits of this post to his appeal (you know, since you think he was so harshly punished)? You are misinformed on this trial, and Ross was NEVER able to present a proper defense. We DO NOT know his involvement, and it seems you are only presenting the government's position on this. IF you actually followed the case closely, as you should have since you make this a public post in sympathy and solidarity with Lyn, Ross, and the rest of the victims of the drug war, you would know that your statements are based on only the government's accusations (that you supposedly condemn). I think the right thing to do in the interest of justice would be to donate this post's profits to the Ulbricht family.
I think you are allowing your personal feelings for Ross to cloud your objectivity. In his plea for lenancy, he admitted his involvement in running the silk road.
Yes I have deep concerns about the case from the corruption of the agents to the parallel construction of evidence from the FBI/NSA. It's simply put a miscarrage of justice at the highest level.
This said, I take umbrage to your assertation that this article is an act of profiteering off of Ross's misfortune. It's a commentary of the hypocrisy of the state.
As for the free Ross fund, I have a great deal of empathy for Lyn and the movement, but I think it's ultimately going to be unsuccessful. Ross's case was too political and is too damaging to the state for them to reverse course. You need a presidential pardon.
You are uninformed in your assessment of his "involvement", and I again maintain that your ignorance is negligent at best. He has never said he was in charge of the silk road during it's entire time, he said he created it and that's it. This wasn't explored at any point during the trial. Your excuse that you shouldn't donate because he needs a presidential pardon from the very state that you supposedly rally against is disingenuous and very convenient for you to keep the money. You can always put it in his commissary, or to help fund Lyn's efforts to free him. You know, it's not cheap to fly around the world trying to raise awareness (for that presidential pardon you recommend to happen, people need to know about it) so even if your donation doesn't go to the appeal, surely you must agree that her expenses could use some help being covered?
Tatiana, I am not going to be bullied into giving my money to other people. Only the IRS gets to do that.