This was a presentation made at the Second international Conference on Novel Psychoactive Substances in Swansea

1. „SURFING THE SILK ROAD :
A STUDY OF USERS‟ EXPERIENCES
Second international Conference on Novel Psychoactive
Substances
13th September 2013
Dr Marie Claire Van Hout
Tim Bingham

2. Retailing drugs online
• The online promotion of „drug shopping‟ and user information
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networks is of increasing drug policy, public health and law
enforcement concern.
The shift toward widespread global availability of all drugs is evident
in the recent online presence of drug marketplaces such as „Silk
Road‟; „Black Market Reloaded‟, „The Armory‟ , „Atlantis‟ and the
„General Store.‟
The development of usable interfaces, electronic currencies and
anonymous networks has facilitated ease of access of these drug
markets located on the „Deep Web.‟
The „Deep Web‟ has secure and confidential communication lines by
encryption of computer IP addresses using Tor anonymising software
or web proxy to the Tor network (http://tor2web.org ).
Most users use „PGP4Win Gpg4win‟ a system which enables the
secure transmission of emails and files with the help of encryption
and digital signatures.

3. Transactions on the Deep Web
• Buyers and vendors use „Bitcoins‟ (BTC) to conduct all
transactions, which is a non-government-controlled anonymous and
untraceable crypto-currency, used as peer-to-peer currency and
indexed to the US dollar to prevent excessive inflation or deflation.
• For users transacting on „Deep Web‟ sites, „Electrum‟ is an
anonymous Tor server used to access a virtual wallet containing
BTCs and ensures payment anonymity via online verifiable
transactions occurring without a central third party.
• BTC can be bought at many online exchanges such as the „Tokyo
Mt.Gox‟ and „Bitstamp‟ and is indexed to the USD (27/08/2013 valued
at USD100).

4. Silk Road: An online Candy Store?
• Silk Road‟ provides cyber buyers and vendors with the
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infrastructure to conduct online transactions, with over 24,400
drug related products for sale.
220 distinct categories of drug and related products are listed
for sale including
cannabis, ecstasy, psychedelics, opioids, stimulants, benzodiaz
epines and dissociatives.
It operates similarly to „Ebay‟, by way of vendor and buyer
ratings, and feedback on quality of transactions, speed of
dispatch and profile of products.
It has a professional dispute resolution mechanism and has a
forum dedicated to drug safety and harm reduction practices.
It has wisely maximised on its trust mechanisms by
demonstrating it is not a typical counterfeit drug website scam.

5. Silk Road Front Page

6. Silk Road Forum Page

7. Silk Road: Vending
• Vendor authenticity and member opportunity to commence vending
on the site are controlled through the payment of a refundable bond
(at the present time USD500), and by the auctioning of new vendor
accounts to the highest bidders.
• Commission fees range between 3 and 8.5% of the sales price.
• Comprehensive measurement analysis and site monitoring for a
period of eight months during late 2011 and 2012 estimated total
vendor revenue from public listings, as slightly over USD1.2 million
per month; with approximately USD92,000 per month in commissions
for the „Silk Road‟ operators
• Transaction anonymity is optimised by use of “tumbler” services of
dummy and single use intermediaries between buyer and vendor.
• The „Escrow‟ system is used that releases payment to vendors on
customer receipt of orders.

8. Silk Road: Vendor Roundtable

9. Silk Road: Vending
• The dynamic site turnover of vendors is visible, with Christin (2012)
reporting that a majority of vendors disappear within three months of
market entry, with most items available for less than three weeks.
• „Stealth listing‟ and „custom listings‟ exist whereby vendors may exit
the visible online listings, and custom is directed at certain buyers by
providing the URL or via private messaging.
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• Vendors active for over one month and with more than 35 successful
transactions are allowed to request buyers to „finalize early‟ (release
of payment before receipt of the product).
• This presents some concern for buyers, with potential for being
„ripped off‟ where vendors build an excellent reputation and
relationship with its customer base and then exit, leaving a large
number of paid but un-dispatched orders and offering little recourse
for dissatisfied customers.

10. Silk Road: Vending
• „Silk Road‟s‟ traffic and reputation had increased drastically with
expectations that it had doubled its transactions to somewhere
between USD 30-45 million over the past 12 months.
• A June 2013 crawl of the site by „StExo‟ (a „Silk Road‟ member)
revealed 1,239 active vendors selling at any given moment. This
represents double the number Christin reported on in August 2012.
• At the time of writing this ppt in August 2013, we were able to view
13426 listings originating from EU countries, the US, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Ghana, Japan, Vietnam, South Africa and the
Philippines, along with 17066 undeclared listings.
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• There is a clear bias toward English speaking countries. It is
important to note that countries may have several active vendors who
may list or advertise more than once, and who dispatch to a variety of
destinations.

11. Methods
• The Project aimed to describe user motives and realities of
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accessing, navigating, purchasing and vending on the „Silk Road‟
marketplace.
Ethical approval for the Project was granted by Waterford Institute
of Technology, Ireland.
Tim Bingham was familiar with the use of Tor and private
messaging on „Silk Road‟, and acted as „Privileged Access
Interviewer‟ .
Following a period of two months site navigation on „Silk Road‟
and active participation in the Silk Road‟ forums, we requested
permission from the website administrator to undertake research
on its member experiences and to upload information and
recruitment threads in the forums.
The total project timeframe was 18 months in order to establish
rapport and garner trust with vendors.
Recruitment of site users was hampered by negative and
suspicious reactions by forum participants.

12. Methods
• Study 1: A single case study approach explored a „Silk Road‟
user‟s motives for online drug purchasing, experiences of
accessing and using the website, drug information
sourcing, decision making and purchasing, outcomes and
settings for use, and perspectives around security. The
participant was recruited following a lengthy relationship
building phase on the „Silk Road‟ chat forum.
• Study 2: Systematic online observations, monitoring of
discussion threads during six months of fieldwork and analysis
of anonymous online interviews (n=20) with a purposeful
sample of adult „Silk Road‟ users was employed.
• Study 3: A single and holistic case study with embedded
vendor sub units (n=10) situated within the larger „Silk Road‟
marketplace explored vendor accounts of account of their
experiences on the „Silk Road‟ retail infrastructure.

13. Study 1: Single Case Study of a Silk Road
member
• Interview topics and targets set for the single case study were
developed following the review of existing „Silk Road‟ literature
and media reporting, and in consultation with our experiences
navigating the site itself.
• We focused on the following areas of interest; participant drug
use history, motives for Internet drug sourcing and sites
used, experiences accessing and using „Silk Road‟, drug
information sourcing and decision making on Silk Road‟, „Silk
Road‟ drugs of choice, experiences of these drugs and settings
for use, interaction with Silk Road‟ chat forums and the online
Silk Road‟ community and future intentions for using Silk
Road‟.
• Complete anonymity was ensured as the case and Tim used
online pseudonyms, with the interview conducted via visually
deactivated „Skype‟.

14. Single Case Study: Results
• The single case study plot was presented in the form of a „hero‟s journey‟ within a sequence of
events leading to accessing „Silk Road‟, subsequent interaction with the site, and experiences
of drugs purchased.
• Accessing „Silk Road‟ was described as a joyful „child in a sweet shop‟ type experience by
virtue of its host of quality products and vendors, and its capacity to offer an
anonymous, safe, and speedy transitioning without any of the risks associated with street drug
sourcing.
• The male participant described consumer experiences on „Silk Road‟ as „euphoric‟ and
relatively easy once navigating the Tor Browser (encryption software) and using „Bitcoins‟ for
transactions, and perceived as safer than negotiating illicit drug markets.
• Online researching of drug outcomes, particularly for new psychoactive substances was
reported.
• Relationships between vendors and consumers were described as based on cyber levels of
trust and professionalism, and supported by „stealth modes‟, user feedback and resolution
modes.
• The reality of his drug use was described as covert and solitary with psychonautic
characteristics, which contrasted with his membership, participation and feelings of safety
within the „Silk Road‟ community. (parallel life).
• His „expert‟ account of experiences of „Silk Road‟ and associated drug taking, was
subsequently used to develop the interview guide for Study 2.

15. Study 2: Integrated Site Monitoring and
User Interviews
• The research team requested permission from the website
administrator DPR to undertake the fieldwork in the form of
systematic observation of the site, the posting of discussion
threads, and invitation to partake in anonymous online interviewing.
• Message board recruitment of „Silk Road‟ site members was utilized.
Requests to partake in the research were posted by the research
team, along with information around the research objectives, informed
text based consent, guidelines for acceptable behaviour in the
discussion threads, and online referral options.
• The study involved online observation, discussions with members and
online interviews with a convenience sample of participants agreeing
to complete a series of open ended questions via a private messaging
system supported by „Silk Road‟.

16. Study 2: Integrated Site Monitoring and
User Interviews
• Systematic online observations of the site involved monitoring
the site and forums, using screen shots, and postings relating
to the discussion thread.
• Discussion threads were uploaded in the form of „taster
questions‟ so as to interact with members, and stimulate
participant interest and resultant discourse. Tim interacted with
participants in order to answer any queries and for uploading of
follow up threads. Text arising from postings and screen shots
was included in the analysis.
• The data logged from the anonymous online interviews via the
private messaging system formed the final integrated data set.

17. Study 2: Integrated Site Monitoring
and User Interviews
• The anonymous online interview questions were developed in
consultation with extant literature, researcher experiences of
navigating the site itself and the single case study account.
• Interview topics were concerned with participant
demographics, drug repertoires, settings and patterns of drugs
used, motives for web sourcing of drugs, popular sites for drug
related information and communication with other cyber
users, „Silk Road ‟user appeal, Tor software sourcing, Bit Coin
purchasing, navigation of the site and its forums, interaction
within the „Silk Road‟ community, consumer informed decision
making and purchasing experiences, risk management and
future intentions to use the site.

18. Study 2: Integrated Site Monitoring and
User Interviews
• Analysis was conducted on the final anonymised integrated
data set of online observations, discussion threads, postings
and interviews.
• In total, 168 screenshots, 4 threads, 1249 posts and 20
completed interviews were transposed, transcribed and
managed using the software program QSR NVivo 8.0.
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• This integrated data set was analysed using a narrative-based
analytical method which grouped the data into macro
groupings, subsequent themes and appropriate categories.
The identified groups, paragraphs and sentences were then
broken down into several codes of key incidents, concepts and
relationships between same.

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Integrated Site Monitoring and User
Interviews: Results employment or in third level
Majority of participants were male, in professional
education. Members were described as educated and professional, and for the most
part confined their drug consumption to recreational and psychonautic purposes.
• The conscious decision for users to access Silk Road necessitated computer access
and technical expertise, and was observed to contribute to „responsible‟ drug
consumerism -time needed to wait for product delivery appears to exclude more
vulnerable groupings of drug users (i.e. homeless, opiate dependents).
• The majority of participants reported commencing internet drug sourcing and
purchasing on „Silk Road‟, with little prior experience of cyber drug retailing prior to
2011.
• Reasons for utilizing „Silk Road‟ included curiosity, concerns for street drug quality and
personal safety, variety of products, anonymous transactioning, and ease of product
delivery.
• Forums on the site provided user advice, trip reports, product and transaction reviews.

20. Integrated Site Monitoring and User
Interviews: Results
• By virtue of its 24 hour and insular nature, the „Silk Road‟ entrenched community with it‟s user
forums providing advice, product and vendor reviews was viewed as „addictive‟.
• Some users reported solitary drug use for psychonautic and introspective purposes.
• The site was described as a „great community with lots of information‟.
• Vendor selection appeared based on trust, speed of transaction, stealth modes and quality of
product.
• Popular drugs bought included; cannabis, mephedrone, codeine, cocaine, nitrous
oxide, MDMA, 2CB, ketamine, heroin, LSD, amphetamine, NBOME, methylone, benzodiazepines, methamphetam
ine, morphine, PCP, 2C-I, and psilocybin.
• A general cautiousness toward untested „novel psychoactive substances‟ was described.
• Comments were made around user concerns for fears for personal safety when buying drugs on
the street. Ease of product delivery in the post was described.
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• Minority reported customs seizures, and in general a displacement away from traditional drug
sourcing (street and closed markets) was described.
• Several reported intentions to commence vending on the site.

21. Study 3: Vendor Interviews
• Threads requesting participation in the Vendor study were posted on forums, along with
threads presenting information on research objectives, ethics and informed text based
consent.
• Vendors willing to complete the online interview (n=10) via the „direct message‟ facility
through the „Silk Road Forum‟, and via „Tor‟ mail were provided with a series of open
ended questions, and advised to complete at their convenience. All communication was
encrypted using PGP encryption software
• Interview propositions included vendor demographics, prior experience of selling
drugs, introductions to the site, year of commencement of vending, reasons for
vending, type of drugs sold, the „Silk Road‟ customer base, „Silk Road‟ retail
processes, market development, vendor competition, supply channels, quality assurance
and harm reduction, interaction on forums BTC, and law enforcement interference.
• We analysed data within, between and across subunits of each vendor, so as to
illuminate the unique vending experience within „Silk Road‟ setting as bounded context.
• Pattern matching, linking back to propositions and building explanations was assisted by
the software program QSR NVivo 8.0 which grouped the data into macro
groupings, subsequent themes and appropriate categories.

22. Interviews with Vendors: Results
• Vendors described themselves as „intelligent and responsible‟ consumers of drugs.
• All participants described a personal interest in the „intelligent and responsible‟ use of
drugs, particularly ethno-botanicals, psychedelics and psycho stimulants with all
reporting intense use of the internet to research drugs outcomes (i.e. sites such as
„Erowid‟, „Bluelight‟ and „Topix‟) and interact in user chat-rooms.
• They reported becoming aware of „Silk Road‟ and its location on the „Deep Web‟ in late
2011 via chat-room activity.
• No participants had purchased drugs online prior to accessing „Silk Road‟ because of
concerns around site credibility, scamming and counterfeit products.
• The site‟s harm reduction ethos appeared centred on informed consumerism and
responsible vending by availability of high quality products with low risk for
contamination, vendor tested products, trip reporting, and feedback on the vending
infrastructure.
• Decisions to commence vending operations on the site centred on simplicity in setting
up vendor accounts, and opportunity to operate within a low risk, high traffic, high markup, secure and anonymous „Deep Web‟ infrastructure.
• When questioned around personal purchasing histories on „Silk Road‟, several
participants had never purchased on the site, despite operating as vendors
themselves.

23. Interviews with Vendors: Results
• Operating on the Deep Web appeared to present vendors and consumers with a
novel way to circumvent drug market violence and create distance between
vendor and buyer. They declined to describe the process of how dispatch of
products occurs.
• The professional approach to running their „Silk Road‟ businesses and dedication
to providing a quality service was characterised by professional advertising of
quality products, professional communication and visibility on forum
pages, speedy dispatch of slightly overweight products, competitive pricing, good
stealth techniques and efforts to avoid customer disputes.
• Vendors appeared content with a fairly constant buyer demand and described a
relatively competitive market between small and big time market players.
Concerns were evident with regard to BTC instability.
• Operating on the Deep Web appeared to present vendors and consumers with a
novel way to circumvent drug market violence and create distance between
vendor and buyer.
• Some wariness around the evolving of cyber security and the potential for
coordinated attacks on the site itself were voiced.

24. Cyber dealing: Recent developments
• The greatest threat to „Silk Road‟ and other sites operating on the „Deep Web‟ is not
law enforcement or market dynamics, it is cyber-technology itself.
• In late April 2013 and coinciding with the launch of the rival site „Atlantis‟, „Silk Road‟
experienced a sophisticated cyber-attack which overwhelmed its servers, taking
advantage of previously unknown vulnerability in the Tor system.
• „Freedom Hosting‟ the largest hosting service for sites operating on the Tor network
was shut down in late August 2013, with subsequent disappearance of many sites
relying on the Tor anonymisation service.
• BTC is increasingly under global regulatory focus. In May 2013, „Tokyos Mt.Gov‟ the
largest BTC currency exchange announced the requirement for identification for any
individual intending to trade for real world currencies.
• Recent developments also include the emergence of a newer crypto-currency called
„Litecoin‟.
• Law enforcement efforts are also increasingly tightening the net, with dealers using
„Silk Road‟ in the US and Australia arrested in mid- 2013.
• We are aware that „Silk Road‟ has recently created a new public site
(www.SilkRoadLink.com ) located on the mainstream web and presenting an online
guide to accessing „Silk Road‟.

25. Conclusions
• The studies provide an insight into „Silk Road‟ purchasing processes, interplay
between street and „Silk Road‟ drug markets, the „Silk Road‟ online community
and its communication networks.
• „Silk Road‟ as online drug marketplace presents an interesting displacement away
from „traditional‟ online and street sources of drug supply.
• The conscious decision for users to access Silk Road necessitated computer
access and technical expertise, potentially excludes more vulnerable drug users
and contributes to „responsible‟ drug consumerism.
• Member support and harm reduction ethos within this virtual community
maximises consumer decision-making and positive drug experiences, and
minimises potential harms and consumer perceived risks.
• Its member subcultures offers a viable means of enmeshing safer drug use and
encouraging harm reduction amongst a very hard to reach and informed drug
using population.
• The greatest threat to „Silk Road‟ and other sites operating on the „Deep Web‟ is
not law enforcement or market dynamics, it is technology itself.

26. Acknowledgement
• We are grateful to the „Silk Road‟ administrator “Dread Pirate
Roberts” for agreeing to facilitate the research and the participating
members and vendors who have provided a unique and illustrative
account of their experiences on the „Silk Road‟ retail infrastructure. In
2012 DPR wrote‟
• “We are like a little seed in a big jungle that has just broken the
surface of the forest floor. It‟s a big scary jungle with lots of dangerous
creatures, each honed by evolution to survive in the hostile
environment known as human society. But the environment is rapidly
changing, and the jungle has never seen a species quite like the „Silk
Road‟.
• Questions?