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NicS
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RIP Tom Clancy by C & Nic. The New Silk Road by C.Nic

Permanent Linkby NicS on Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:29 am

So, first things first, Tom Clancy died today. This is a huge ######6 blow to me because I loved Splinter Cell with all my heart. When our mom bought my brother and us an original Xbox in 2004 (Might have been 2005, a pretty important detail for us, FYI), it came with two games: Forza Motorsports and Splinter Cell. And although I hated it at first, because I couldn't wrap my head around the story and it's serious, detailed and somewhat intense political drama world, I loved the action and played that game so much my mom and my dad began to worry that I was never going to have friends.

Splinter Cell helped shape my ideas with storytelling, writing and detailing every aspect of something that I could. I loved the games, and so I bought the first book in the 6th grade, which was filled with sex and violence and kidnapping and torture, I loved it. I still remember making my friends (See? Told ya, mom) cringe as I read the following line:

"They took turns lathering each others bodies, pausing every now and again to kiss. He became arounsed, and she gripped him with a slippery had. 'Oh no,' Eli said, exhausted, 'I'm raw."

Bam. Technically, that book was David Mitchell, but I have heard that DM was just a pen name used by Clancy so he could write books about other things he was interested in without the Clancy name weighing down early speculation, much in the same way J.K. Rowling released her mystery novel "The Cuccoo's Calling" under the name "Robert Galbraith". Clancy was a juggernaut, who made history with one of the first million dollar book deals (I believe it was $85 Million in 1998) with Penguin for exclusivity rights, as well as taking the risk of starting Red Storm Entertainment, which turned his books into now world famous games such as Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and, my favorite, Splinter Cell, under the French Publisher Ubisoft, and the "Tom Clancy" brand (Yet another famous, multimillion dollar deal). Clancy, being the amazing military writer he was, used his amazing sense for detail and tactic to formulate some of the best business deals of our era, in which we all profited. Do not mistake me when I say his loss is profound for me, as I will surely miss him and his work.

-NicS
-C.Nic
-------------------------------------
Silk Road got shut down today, prompting everyone to be depressed for about two hours then realize there's still Black Market Reloaded, Sheep Market and that Russian website where you can set up a trade in some abandoned building somewhere. However, Silk Road was, by far, the largest and most well known, so the take down is still depressing for many since it had become a home for many "Addicts" for 2 years.

Still, with the recent revelation that Dread Pirate Roberts is, unsurprisingly to anyone who frequented the forums or simply visited the website, a libertarian in his late 20's. I trust the FBI did a thorough investigation with the myriad of departments involved with this case (The IRS and Homeland Security were involved in this, for ###$ sake!), but if you want his name, look it up. All the details from the affidavit add up and truly describe DPR: a reasonable, seemingly sane 20-something who just took his ideology and built a company with it, that has now been destroyed because it's "Illegal". Thanks, Obama.

I think Silk Road is coming back, and soon, too. The affidavit says there was $1 billion in sales in its lifetime and $80 million in commissions straight to staff. That's Escobar level $#%^. So there's no way they don't let that fall. But also, Ellien Ormsby, allthingsvice.com and badass journalist who knows this $#%^ better than anyone else, suggests there have been 4 DPR's, based off the Pricess Bride character that one guy makes his money and passes the title when he's done. And all the evidence suggests they simply have the original creator, a genius still, but not the current DPR who has control. The current DPR could rise at any second with a reboot, especially since their forums have like 25 different backup .onion sites. They'll be back.

But assuming they don't, this isn't a massive blow for "organized crime". There are other markets out there, and many are flooding them with new business. Vendors and customers alike need a new Silk Road, and the likely targets right now (in the recent wake of the Atlantis shutdown last week, where the two owners Vlad and Lorea, seem to have run off with thousands of customer and vendor dollars) are Black Market Reloaded and some new place called SheepMarket. And it's going to keep going, no matter who they shut down. Because like "V for Vendetta", ideas are bulletproof, and you can't stop them.

Finally, there is the forums. They are still up. So either they are hosted on a separate server the FBI hasn't found yet, or the FBI just doesn't care because the forums are basically a libertarian think tank breeding ground, and not much else, and is protected under the first ammendment. Granted, they still sell guns on there since the offshoot website, the Armory, didn't do so hot with vendors and customers and they didn't want to sell guns on the main site for moral reasons. But, it's still up. As is the future of the now jailed first DPR, in San Fransisco. I hope he doesn't get shived, just so I can ask him one thing (no explanations past this point):

Why the ###$ did you try to get a guy whacked? And then lie about it?! Or were you scammed by that Chemist guy? Or was he the one blackmailing you? ###$, I don't even know right now! But you pay a guy to kill another guy because the second guy owes his supplier, guy one money? And guy two threatens to release Silk Road user info? Was he that infowars poster in the forums? ######6 prick.

But you run Silk Road. You have $80 million in commissions from $1 Billion in sales. You do not need to pretend your a badass and lie, and say "I've had a guy killed before in a clean hit", when the records show this clearly did not happen. You have the hearts and minds of the people, and now the stupider ones think you tried to get some guy whacked because you lied! That's not only a pr disaster, that's simply something only a morally bankrupt #####& does. And your not that! I've seen your writing from 2011, it's eloquent and beautiful! What the ###$ were you thinking?!

You do not need to pretend your some badass who has enemies whacked. Your the DPR. Your the idea man behind the biggest idea to hit the war on drugs since Meth in Appalachia. And ideas may be bulletproof, but they're not weatherproof. Winds can change in a second, and you trying to order a hit out of some Heisenberg complex may have just shifted the wind towards the general public hating your idea. It' bulletproof, not weatherproof. Big ######6 difference.

Basically, you nailed everything and kept everything and everyone safe, and there are many happy people who love you because of that. But this? If it's true, and so far it looks like it is, then you might have people turn on you. Because ###$ people who order hits on others. I get Silk Road is where wannabe's cut their teeth in business and economics 101, but having THAT on the site is a stain that might not be removable. And if you lied, you just look like a ######6 poser, which ruins the whole libertarian badass ideal.

You have time now. Think.

-C.Nic

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