Hi r/DarkNetMarkets The mods have graciously allowed us to do an AMA, and we hope you will find it interesting. We're members of a team of researchers who have studied DNMs since Silk Road and we're excited to be here today and answer your questions. Want to know what role we think DNMs have in the opioid crisis? Where we think OpenBazaar is headed? Want advice on how to end up studying DNMs like us? Learn how we keep interviewees safe? How we reconcile our positions on harm reduction and personal opinions about the war on drugs with LE wanting us to consult? Or do you just want to get a bunch of book recommendations? Shoot!
We'll be here from 6:00 PM EST until 10:00 PM EST January 31st. You'll find verification selfies of us posted on our Twitter profiles. You can also check out donations we have made to charities on behalf of vendors we interviewed.
We are currently working on a research project where we interview DNM vendors. So far we've interviewed more than 10 vendors, and have learned a bunch about who they are, and what goes on behind the scenes. We got the idea to do the AMA because a lot of vendors were interested in hearing more about our research. You can read more about the study here*, find links to all the articles and work we've done, and an endorsement from Eileen Ormsby.
Behind the usernames you will find:
u/JamoCrim: Dr James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University. James has been doing DNM research since the early SR1 days, and his book Drugs on the Darknet was cited by Ross Ulbricht's defence team during his trial. He's working on a few different relevant projects, including studying the health and harm reduction potential of the expanding darknet drugs trade. Verification.
u/modestwitness: Rasmus Munksgaard, PhD student @ Université de Montréal, École de Criminologie. Rasmus has researched DNMs since late 2013 and have researched the politics of Silk Road, where drugs are shipped, and the types of fraud and predation present on DNMs. Currently his PhD research centers on why and how buyers put trust in vendors. Verification.
We want to stress that the mods of r/DarkNetMarkets do not endorse researchers. If you contact us through the ad, please take all precautions as you would normally do. Do *NOT** contact us through our reddit profiles.
Perfect, welcome to the murder clan.
20 minutes to show time. Please follow the rules on the sidebar & use this as an opportunity to explore what academia thinks about the DNMs.
The AMA is over. Hope you all had as much fun as I did.