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Greed scuttles illegal online ventures

Who remembers Napster?

It was one of the first blatant copyright-infringement websites and, to be honest, I was very surprised that it was allowed to continue operating for as long as it was -- before authorities stepped in and shut it down.

Now I see that Silk Road, the online trading site for illicit substances, services and goods has also been shut down and its suspected operator, Ross Ulbricht, arrested.

Given that Silk Road has been boldly and openly operating for quite some time as a place where you can buy almost anything you want in the way of drugs, I'm surprised it took authorities as long as it did to take action.

Yes, Silk Road did attempt to cover its tracks and stay out of harm's way by using Tor and avoiding mainstream financial services by using Bitcoin -- but, as we now know, these were mere inconveniences to US law-enforcement agencies.

It's claimed that Silk Road transacted more than US$1.2b in sales before it was shut down and given that the service clipped a healthy 8% to 15% of that figure, clearly lots of money was made.

If only Ulbricht hadn't been so greedy, he might have got away Scot-free and be enjoying the high life right now -- instead of languishing in a prison cell awaiting trial on trafficking and money-laundering charges.

An average of 10% commission on that US$1.2b would have netted Silk Road's operator a very cool $120m which is surely more than enough to retire in comfort for all eternity.

I wonder if other would-be online lawbreakers will learn from the experiences of those who have gone before them and wise-up to the fact that anonymity and the protection you get from running a "virtual" business is transient at best. If you want to make money by unlawfully selling copyrighted material, drugs or other contraband online then you need to get in and get out - quickly!

Even Kim Dotcom would likely be a whole lot better off if he'd simply retired with the millions he'd earned from his MegaUpload service. If he'd shut the site down (or sold it) as soon as he'd earned a few million then he'd not be facing extradition to the USA to face money-laundering and copyright charges.

How long before folk wise-up to the fact that greed is a real Achilles heel if you want to operate on the wrong side of the law?

Just as is the case with gambling -- the secret to success in online crime would appear to be "quit while you're ahead".

Do you think anyone's listening?

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