Deep Web

Fascinating document on the dark side of the Internet and how the legal system is trailing behind in this digital age. Entrepreneur Ross William Ulbricht is suspected of being the mastermind behind ‘Silk Road’, an online drugs market. He claims he did not act alone, but this did not keep the American authorities from sentencing him to life in prison after a dubious trial.

Deep Web tells the remarkable story behind the digital safe haven known as Silk Road: an online market used for anonymous trading, particularly in drugs. Payments are done in bitcoins (an exclusive online currency) and the visitors to the site have a secure identity. The guiding principle of the site’s founders is to exchange online information and conduct trade without government supervision.

Regarding legal implications and legislation, governments are hopelessly far behind digital reality: the justice system still does not provide ways to deal with online crime. The big brain behind the online black market is supposedly so-called ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’. When thirty-year-old Ross William Ulbricht is arrested, the US believe they have caught the big fish. Ulbricht, although admittedly involved in founding Silk Road, however claims that the entity known as Dread Pirate Roberts consists of more people. The Americans convict him without a proper trial, sentencing him to life in prison.

A unique insight into the dark nooks and crannies of the web and the justice system in the digital age, against the backdrop of the self-sustaining war on drugs.