How the mysterious dark net is going mainstream | Jamie Bartlett

譯者: Allen Kuo 審譯者: 易帆 余

If you want to buy high-quality, low-price cocaine,

如果你想買物美價廉的古柯鹼，

there really is only one place to go,

其實只有一個地方能去，

and that is the dark net anonymous markets.

就是黑暗網路上的匿名市場。

當然，你是無法透過一般的瀏覽器 瀏覽這些網站，

Now, you can't get to these sites

with a normal browser -- Chrome or Firefox --

--例如Chrome或Firefox --

because they're on this hidden part of the Internet,

因為這些網站， 隱身於網際網路中，

known as Tor hidden services,

被稱為Tor隱藏服務 (Tor hidden service)。

where URLs are a string of meaningless numbers and letters that end in .onion,

網址由一串無意義的數字和字母組成， 並以.onion (.洋蔥)作結尾，

and which you access with a special browser

你只能用特殊的瀏覽器 造訪這些網站，

called the Tor browser.

稱為Tor瀏覽器。

Now, the Tor browser was originally a U.S. Naval intelligence project.

Tor瀏覽器一開始來自 美國海軍的情報計劃，

It then became open source,

後來變成開放原始碼，

and it allows anybody to browse the net

任何人都可以在網路上任意瀏覽，

without giving away their location.

而不必透漏自己的IP位址。

And it does this by encrypting your IP address

它所用的方式是 將你的IP位址進行編碼，

and then routing it via several other computers around the world

再將它繞行於全世界各地

that use the same software.

裝有相同軟體的電腦。

You can use it on the normal Internet,

你也可以在一般網路上這麼做，

but it's also your key to the dark net.

但這也是你進入黑暗網路的鑰匙。

And because of this fiendishly clever encryption system,

也因為這種精妙的編碼系統，

the 20 or 30 -- we don't know exactly -- thousand sites that operate there

讓大約二萬或三萬個 － 詳細數字不清楚 － 正在運作的黑暗網站，

are incredibly difficult to shut down.

要將其關閉極其困難。

It is a censorship-free world visited by anonymous users.

這是個完全匿名造訪、 無須審查的世界。

Little wonder, then, that it's a natural place to go

所以它也毫無意外地成為有所隱藏的人

for anybody with something to hide,

自然會去的地方，

and that something, of course, need not be illegal.

而他們想隱藏的事， 當然也不見得不合法。

On the dark net, you will find

在黑暗網路上，你會發現

whistle-blower sites, The New Yorker.

揭发内幕的網站，《紐約客》雜誌。

You will find political activism blogs.

你會發現政治激進主義的部落格。

You will find libraries of pirated books.

你會發現盜版書的圖書館。

But you'll also find the drugs markets,

但你也會發現毒品市場、

illegal pornography, commercial hacking services,

非法的色情作品、商業化的駭客服務、

and much more besides.

還有很多其他東西。

Now, the dark net is one of the most interesting, exciting places

現在，黑暗網路是網路上 最有趣、最令人興奮的地方之一。

anywhere on the net.

And the reason is, because although innovation, of course,

原因在於，雖然創新當然會

takes place in big businesses,

出現在大企業裡、

takes place in world-class universities,

出現在世界級的大學裡，

it also takes place in the fringes,

但它也會出現在邊緣地帶，

because those on the fringes -- the pariahs, the outcasts --

因為這些邊緣地帶 － 被排斥者、社會邊緣人 －

they're often the most creative, because they have to be.

他們往往更有創意，因為他們不得不。

In this part of the Internet,

因為在這部分的網路，

you will not find a single lolcat,

你不會看到任何惡搞圖、

a single pop-up advert anywhere.

或是任何彈出式廣告。

And that's one of the reasons why I think

這也是為什麼我覺得

many of you here will be on the dark net fairly soon.

你們很快就會開始逛黑暗網路。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Not that I'm suggesting anyone in this audience would use it

我不是建議在座任何人透過它

to go and procure high-quality narcotics.

去弄到一些高品質的毒品。

But let's say for a moment that you were.

但就先假設你們會這樣做。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Bear with me.

請寬容我一下。

The first thing you will notice on signing up to one of these sites

登入註冊這些網站後，首先你會發現

is how familiar it looks.

它們看起來多麼熟悉。

Every single product --

每一個產品 －

thousands of products --

成千上萬的產品 －

has a glossy, high-res image,

都有光亮的、高解析度的圖片、

a detailed product description, a price.

詳細的產品說明、以及價格。

There's a "Proceed to checkout" icon.

上面有個「結帳」的按鈕。

There is even, most beautifully of all,

甚至還有一個設計得最漂亮的

a "Report this item" button.

「舉報這個物品」按鈕。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Incredible.

不可思議。

You browse through the site, you make your choice,

你在網站上任意瀏覽、選好商品、

you pay with the crypto-currency bitcoin,

用加密的比特幣付款、

you enter an address -- preferably not your home address --

輸入一個地址 － 最好別用你家住址 －

and you wait for your product to arrive in the post,

然後等著你的產品送到手上，

which it nearly always does.

而且幾乎一定會送到。

And the reason it does is not because of the clever encryption.

一定會送到的原因 不是這個聰明的加密系統。

That's important.

這很重要。

Something far simpler than that.

原因遠比這個簡單。

It's the user reviews.

就是賣家評價。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

You see, every single vendor on these sites

你們看，這些網站上的每個賣家

uses a pseudonym, naturally enough,

很自然地都使用假名，

but they keep the same pseudonym to build up a reputation.

但他們會一直使用這個假名以建立商譽。

And because it's easy for the buyer to change allegiance whenever they want,

因為買家很容易隨時改變忠誠度，

the only way of trusting a vendor

所以要信任賣家唯一的方法，

is if they have a good history of positive feedback

就是他們要擁有足夠的 其他網站使用者的歷史正面評價。

from other users of the site.

And this introduction of competition and choice

而這帶來的兢爭和選擇關係

does exactly what the economists would predict.

完全符合經濟學家的預測，

價格越來越低、產品品質越來越好，

Prices tend to go down, product quality tends to go up,

and the vendors are attentive,

賣家十分周到，

they're polite, they're consumer-centric,

他們很有禮貌、以顧客為中心，

offering you all manner of special deals, one-offs,

提供各種特別優惠、一次性大特價、

buy-one-get-one-frees, free delivery,

買一送一、免費運送等等

to keep you happy.

來維持你的滿意度。

I spoke to Drugsheaven.

我和《毒品天堂》交談過一次，

Drugsheaven was offering excellent and consistent marijuana

《毒品天堂》提供 品質良好且穩定的大麻，

at a reasonable price.

價格也很合理。

He had a very generous refund policy,

他們有非常慷慨的退貨政策、

detailed T's and C's,

詳細的交易條款、

and good shipping times.

令人滿意的運送時間。

"Dear Drugsheaven," I wrote,

「親愛的毒品天堂」我寫給他們，

via the internal emailing system that's also encrypted, of course.

透過內部郵件系統， 當然也經過加密。

"I'm new here. Do you mind if I buy just one gram of marijuana?"

「我是新來的。不知道是否能 只買 1克的大麻?」

幾小時候，我收到了回覆。

A couple of hours later, I get a reply.

They always reply.

他們總會回覆。

"Hi there, thanks for your email.

「您好，謝謝您的來信。

Starting small is a wise thing to do. I would, too, if I were you."

從少量開始購買是明智的做法。 如果我是您，我也會這麼做。」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

"So no problem if you'd like to start with just one gram.

「所以如果您想從 1克開始購買， 完全沒有問題。

I do hope we can do business together.

我真心希望我們可以做成生意。

Best wishes, Drugsheaven."

最誠摯的祝福，毒品天堂」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I don't know why he had a posh English accent, but I assume he did.

我不知道為何他要用 英國上流社會口音，但我假設他有。

這種以顧客為中心的態度，

Now, this kind of consumer-centric attitude

is the reason why, when I reviewed 120,000 pieces of feedback

就是為何當我瀏覽完大約12萬則

that had been left on one of these sites over a three-month period,

三個月內留在某個網站上 的用戶回饋後，

95 percent of them were five out of five.

發現有 95%的買家給了五星評等。

The customer, you see, is king.

你看，顧客至上。

But what does that mean?

但這代表什麼?

Well, on the one hand,

嗯，一方面

that means there are more drugs, more available, more easily,

這代表會有更多的毒品、 更好取得、更容易送到

to more people.

更多人手上。

And by my reckoning, that is not a good thing.

據我估算，這不會是件好事。

But, on the other hand, if you are going to take drugs,

但是，另一方面，如果你想吸毒，

you have a reasonably good way

你有一個合理的好通路

of guaranteeing a certain level of purity and quality,

來確保有一定水平的純度和品質，

which is incredibly important if you're taking drugs.

這對你吸毒而言是非常重要的。

And you can do so from the comfort of your own home,

而且你可以舒服地在家裡這樣操作，

without the risks associated with buying on the streets.

而不是冒著上街購買毒品的種種風險。

Now, as I said,

所以，如我所說，

you've got to be creative and innovative to survive in this marketplace.

你必須要有創意、要夠創新 才能在市場上生存。

And the 20 or so sites that are currently in operation --

而現在營運中的大約20個網站中 －

by the way, they don't always work, they're not always perfect;

順帶一提，他們不是一直 都順利運作，也非完美無缺；

the site that I showed you was shut down 18 months ago,

像剛剛展示的網站已經 在18個月前被關閉了，

but not before it had turned over a billion dollars' worth of trade.

但在那之前，它們早已完成了 數十億美元的交易。

但這些商場，

But these markets,

because of the difficult conditions in which they are operating,

因為必須在很嚴苛的情況下營運，

the inhospitable conditions,

而且是對他們不利的情況，

are always innovating, always thinking of ways of getting smarter,

所以他們必須一直創新、 一直想出更聰明的辦法、

more decentralized, harder to censor,

讓他們更加分散、更難察覺，

and more customer-friendly.

同時提供對顧客更便利的服務。

Let's take the payment system.

就拿付費系統來說，

You don't pay with your credit card,

你不會用信用卡付款，

of course -- that would lead directly back to you.

這是當然－因為這樣你會被追蹤到。

So you use the crypto-currency bitcoin,

所以你會用加密過的比特幣，

which is easily exchanged for real-world currencies

因為它很容易就可以換成真實貨幣，

and gives quite a high degree of anonymity to its users.

也讓使用者能保持高度的隱蔽性。

But at the beginning of these sites, people noticed a flaw.

但在這些網站營運初期， 大家發現一個瑕疵。

Some of the unscrupulous dealers were running away with peoples' bitcoin

某些不肖商家收了 買家的比特幣捲款潛逃，

before they'd mailed the drugs out.

而沒有寄出他們的商品。

The community came up with a solution, called multi-signature escrow payments.

所以這群人想出了一個辦法， 稱為「多重簽章第三方託管付費系統」

所以當我要買東西時，

So on purchasing my item,

I would send my bitcoin

我會將我的比特幣

to a neutral, secure third digital wallet.

付給一個中立的、安全的 第三方數位錢包，

The vendor, who would see that I'd sent it,

賣家看到我的付款後，

would be confident that they could then send the product to me,

就會知道可以放心地將產品寄給我，

and then when I received it,

然後我收到產品之後，

at least two of the three people engaged in the transaction --

在三個介入交易的人之中 －

vendor, buyer, site administrator --

也就是賣家、買家、網站管理人 －

would have to sign the transaction off

至少要有兩人簽核這筆交易，

with a unique digital signature,

用一種特別的數位簽章，

and then the money would be transferred.

然後錢才會被轉出去。

Brilliant!

聰明！

Elegant.

優雅。

It works.

相當有用。

But then they realized there was a problem with bitcoin,

但隨後他們發現比特幣有個問題，

because every bitcoin transaction

因為比特幣的每筆交易

is actually recorded publicly in a public ledger.

其實都會被公開地被記在總帳上，

So if you're clever, you can try and work out who's behind them.

如果你夠聰明，就能試著找出 這些交易背後的人是誰。

So they came up with a tumbling service.

所以他們想出了一個「翻攪」服務。

Hundreds of people send their bitcoin into one address,

幾百人將他們的比特幣寄到一個位址，

they're tumbled and jumbled up,

經過翻攪和混雜，

and then the right amount is sent on to the right recipients,

再將正確的金額寄回給正確的接收者，

but they're different bitcoins:

而它們已經變成不同的比特幣：

micro-laundering systems.

微型的洗錢系統。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

It's incredible.

不可思議。

Interested in what drugs are trending right now on the dark net markets?

想知道黑暗網路上 毒品的市場趨勢嗎?

Check Grams, the search engine.

上Grams看看，一個搜尋引擎。

You can even buy some advertising space.

你甚至可以在這裡買些廣告空間。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Are you an ethical consumer worried about what the drugs industry is doing?

你是個關懷毒品市場的、 有道義的消費者嗎?

Yeah.

是。

One vendor will offer you fair trade organic cocaine.

那麼有個賣家可以提供你 公平貿易的有機古柯鹼。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

That's not being sourced from Colombian druglords,

產品來源不是哥倫比亞的毒梟，

but Guatemalan farmers.

而是瓜地馬拉的農夫。

They even promised to reinvest 20 percent of any profits

他們甚至保證會將20%的利潤

into local education programs.

投資在當地的教育方案上。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

There's even a mystery shopper.

甚至還有神秘客。

Now, whatever you think about the morality of these sites --

現在，無論你對這些網站 的道德問題有何想法 －

and I submit that it's not actually an easy question --

而我承認這不是個簡單的問題 －

the creation of functioning, competitive, anonymous markets,

建置這種可運作、 有競爭力又匿名的市場，

where nobody knows who anybody else is,

而且沒有人知道任何其他人的身分，

constantly at risk of being shut down by the authorities,

還有隨時被關閉的風險，

is a staggering achievement,

都是種難以置信的成就，

a phenomenal achievement.

一種非凡的成就。

And it's that kind of innovation

而像這樣的創新

that's why those on the fringes

就是為什麼那些在邊緣的人

are often the harbingers of what is to come.

往往預告了接下來要發生的事。

It's easy to forget

由於它的出現時間不長， 我們很容易忘記

that because of its short life,

the Internet has actually changed many times

網際網路在過去30年左右 其實已經有過多次改變。

over the last 30 years or so.

It started in the '70s as a military project,

在70年代，它從一個軍方計劃開始，

morphed in the 1980s to an academic network,

80年代變成學術網路，

co-opted by commercial companies in the '90s,

90年代則是和商業公司合作經營，

and then invaded by all of us via social media in the noughties,

然後2000年後開始 被我們的社交網路入侵，

but I think it's going to change again.

但我認為它還會再次改變。

And I think things like the dark net markets --

而我認為像黑暗網路市場這樣的東西 －

creative, secure, difficult to censor --

有創意、保密性高、難以察覺 －

I think that's the future.

我認為這就是網路的未來。

And the reason it's the future

其中的原因是，

is because we're all worried about our privacy.

我們都很擔心隱私問題。

Surveys consistently show concerns about privacy.

許多調查不斷顯示出 我們對隱私的擔憂。

The more time we spend online, the more we worry about them,

我們花在線上的時間越多， 就越擔心這些問題，

and those surveys show our worries are growing.

而調查顯示這些擔憂正在增加。

We're worried about what happens to our data.

我們擔心個資會怎麼被利用。

We're worried about who might be watching us.

我們擔心不知道誰在監視我們。

Since the revelations from Edward Snowden,

因為愛德華．史諾登的爆料，

there's been a huge increase in the number of people

現在有遠比以前更多的人

using various privacy-enhancing tools.

正在使用各種加強隱私的工具。

There are now between two and three million daily users

現在大約有兩百到三百萬的日常用戶

of the Tor browser,

正在使用Tor瀏覽器，

the majority of which use is perfectly legitimate,

其中大部分是完全合法的用途，

sometimes even mundane.

有時甚至只是一般瀏覽。

And there are hundreds of activists around the world

而全世界現在有數以百計的團體

working on techniques and tools to keep you private online --

正致力於製作讓你保有 網路隱私的技術和工具 －

default encrypted messaging services.

預設加密訊息服務。

Ethereum, which is a project which tries to link up

Ethereum，一個試圖連接

the connected but unused hard drives of millions of computers around the world,

全世界數百萬台電腦裡 有聯網但未使用的硬碟的計劃，

to create a sort of distributed Internet that no one really controls.

用以創造一種分散式、 沒人能真正控制的網路。

Now, we've had distributed computing before, of course.

當然，我們過去也有分散式運算系統，

We use it for everything from Skype to the search for extraterrestrial life.

我們用它來做許多事情， 從Skype到探索外星生命。

But you add distributed computing and powerful encryption --

但如果你將分散式運算系統 和強大的加密系統結合 －

that's very, very hard to censor and control.

它會非常非常難以察覺和控制。

Another called MaidSafe works on similar principles.

另一個系統MaidSafe， 也用類似的原理在運作。

Another called Twister, and so on and so on.

另一個系統Twister亦同，諸如此類。

And here's the thing --

而事情是這樣的 －

the more of us join,

我們之中越多人加入，

the more interesting those sites become,

這些網站就變得越有趣，

and then the more of us join, and so on.

然後就會有更多人加入，以此類推。

And I think that's what's going to happen.

而我認為這就是會發生的事情。

In fact, it's already happening.

事實上，它已經在發生了。

The dark net is no longer a den for dealers

黑暗網路不再是毒販的密室

and a hideout for whistle-blowers.

或是需要揭發舉報的罪犯巢穴。

It's already going mainstream.

它已經漸漸成為主流。

Just recently, the musician Aphex Twin released his album as a dark net site.

就在最近，音樂家 艾費克斯雙胞胎(Aphex Twin)

就在黑暗網路的網站上發表新專輯。

Facebook has started a dark net site.

Facebook也開始 架設黑暗網路的網站。

A group of London architects have opened a dark net site

倫敦一群建築師 已經在黑暗網路上架設網站，

for people worried about regeneration projects.

吸引擔心再生空間計劃的人們。

Yes, the dark net is going mainstream,

是的，黑暗網路正在走向主流，

and I predict that fairly soon, every social media company,

而我預測不久後，每間社群網站公司，

every major news outlet,

每間主要新聞媒體，

and therefore most of you in this audience,

連帶影響大部分在座各位聽眾，

will be using the dark net, too.

也會開始使用黑暗網路。

So the Internet is about to get more interesting,

所以網路即將變得更有趣、

more exciting, more innovative,

更令人興奮、更加創新、

more terrible,

更加可怕、

more destructive.

也更具破壞力。

如果你在乎自主權，這是個好消息。

That's good news if you care about liberty.

It's good news if you care about freedom.

如果你在乎自由，這是個好消息。

It's good news if you care about democracy.

如果你在乎民主，這是個好消息。

It's also good news

同時，如果你想要瀏覽非法色情網站

if you want to browse for illegal pornography

and if you want to buy and sell drugs

或進行毒品買賣且全身而退 ，這也是個好消息。

with impunity.

Neither entirely dark, nor entirely light.

所以網路既不會完全黑暗， 也不會完全光明。

It's not one side or the other that's going to win out, but both.

不會有哪一方贏過另一方， 而是雙方共存。

Thank you very much, indeed.

非常感謝各位。

(Applause)

(掌聲)