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The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld
SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLITICAL BOOK AWARDS AND LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE
Beyond the familiar online world that most of us inhabit – a world of Google, Hotmail, Facebook and Amazon – lies a vast and often hidden network of sites, communities and cultures where freedom is pushed to its limits, and where people can be anyone, or do anything, they want. A world that is as creative and complex as it is dangerous and disturbing. A world that is much closer than you think.
The dark net is an underworld that stretches from popular social media sites to the most secretive corners of the encrypted web. It is a world that frequently appears in newspaper headlines, but one that is little understood, and rarely explored. The Dark Net is a revelatory examination of the internet today, and of its most innovative and dangerous subcultures: trolls and pornographers, drug dealers and hackers, political extremists and computer scientists, Bitcoin programmers and self-harmers, libertarians and vigilantes.
Based on extensive first-hand experience, exclusive interviews and shocking documentary evidence, The Dark Net offers a startling glimpse of human nature under the conditions of freedom and anonymity, and shines a light on an enigmatic and ever-changing world.
Beyond the familiar online world that most of us inhabit – a world of Google, Hotmail, Facebook and Amazon – lies a vast and often hidden network of sites, communities and cultures where freedom is pushed to its limits, and where people can be anyone, or do anything, they want. A world that is as creative and complex as it is dangerous and disturbing. A world that is much closer than you think.
The dark net is an underworld that stretches from popular social media sites to the most secretive corners of the encrypted web. It is a world that frequently appears in newspaper headlines, but one that is little understood, and rarely explored. The Dark Net is a revelatory examination of the internet today, and of its most innovative and dangerous subcultures: trolls and pornographers, drug dealers and hackers, political extremists and computer scientists, Bitcoin programmers and self-harmers, libertarians and vigilantes.
Based on extensive first-hand experience, exclusive interviews and shocking documentary evidence, The Dark Net offers a startling glimpse of human nature under the conditions of freedom and anonymity, and shines a light on an enigmatic and ever-changing world.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 17, 2014
533 people are currently reading
6045 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Bartlett
10 books149 followersJamie Bartlett is a journalist and tech blogger for The Telegraph and Director of The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media for Demos in conjunction with The University of Sussex.
In 2013, he covered the rise of Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement in Italy for Demos, chronicling the new political force's emergence and use of social media.
In 2014, he released The Dark Net, discussing the darknet and dark web in broad terms, describing a range of underground and emergent subcultures, including social media racists, cam girls, self-harm communities, darknet drug markets, cryptoanarchists and transhumanists.
He regularly writes about online extremism and free speech, as well as social media trends on Wikipedia, Twitter and Facebook.
In 2013, he covered the rise of Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement in Italy for Demos, chronicling the new political force's emergence and use of social media.
In 2014, he released The Dark Net, discussing the darknet and dark web in broad terms, describing a range of underground and emergent subcultures, including social media racists, cam girls, self-harm communities, darknet drug markets, cryptoanarchists and transhumanists.
He regularly writes about online extremism and free speech, as well as social media trends on Wikipedia, Twitter and Facebook.
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November 11, 2014
Have you ever found yourself lost in the deep web? Checked out the merchandise on the Silk Road, and paid for it in Bitcoins? Or maybe you occasionally frequent 4chan, particularly /b/? If none of these things sound particularly familiar, then The Dark Net might be a good book to introduce you to all of them.
Jamie Bartlett writes the tech column for The Telegraph which I occasionally read, and I approached his book with interest - I expected it to be an approachable and readable introduction to the internet's dark side,with a short history of how it developed. However, despite being titled "The Dark Net", the book is not entirely (or even mostly) focused on various aspects of the dark/deep web, or even on how the internet can and is used for illegal activities - the bulk of the book is rather an analysis of how the internet influences and changes human behavior.
But let's focus on the good things first. Bartlett begins the book with a short introduction to the concept internet trolling, and history of how it developed - dating all the way back to the ARPANET. He examines how trolls operated on the Bulletin Board Systems (the BBS), and the Usenet - with steady decline and eventual death of both technologies, trolls have moved onto the newly developed ones: internet message boards. Bartlett chronicles several instances of trolling on 4chan and it's infamous board /b/. /b/ stands for "random", and is a troll haven for "/b/tards", trolls who troll indiscriminately and have no barriers. While /b/ is easy to stereotype as a haven for trolls which ruin lives of their victims (such as by taking nude selfies of girls who posted them there, finding their personal information and exposing them), these same trolls act in what's best described as vigilante justice - users of /b/ have successfully tracked down people who engaged in animal abuse on video and made sure that they were persecuted for their cruelty by the authorities.
Bartlett also writes about the Silk Road - the world's largest online drug market, which has been recently closed in a large international operation. Silk Road was founded to be as a truly anonymous marketplace, not restricted by government regulation, where users could purchase what they wanted from the comfort of their own homes, without being monitored and potentially persecuted by the authorities. Certain things were off-limit - such as child pornography, weapons, personal information - but Silk Road was mostly known for being the place to go for illegal drugs. Bartlett even purchases a small amount of cannabis as a test of the market, and finds the whole procedure efficient and pleasant. He explains how markets such as Silk Road are protected by TOR - a system meant to ensure net anonymity by multiple encrypted rerouting, making it very hard to trace activities and location of its users. To be even more anonymous, users of such markets pay for their purchase in Bitcoins - a decentralized virtual currency, and Barteltt offers a very readable explanation of how it works, including a short history of its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, and relation from a trip to anarchist commune in Spain where activists are working at improving it further.
While Bartlett is very readable and engaging, my main grip with his book comes with the fact that the title is very misleading: aside from the mentioned illegal black markets, most of hid book is not about deep or hidden web at all, as most of the sites he describes (such as 4chan) are publicly available. Bartlett spends the bulk of the book analyzing the impact and development of the internet on human life: individuals creating online personalities and gaining a large following (such as on unemployed 30 year old who found a voice as a far-right activist on Facebook),the disturbing rise of suicide clubs and pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites; the decline of "professional" porn industry and the great rise of "regular" porn actors and actresses, known as "camgirls" (or less affectionately as "camwhores"). There's an entire chapter devoted to the spread and ease of availability of child pornography on the internet, and a presentation of ideas and personalities behind transhumanism and anarcho-primitivism (total embrace of technology to augment and further human life/abandonment of dependence on said technology and deinudstrialization). Still, most of this is not inaccessible and easily found on the web, and for most part isn't even illegal.
Bartlett also omits some important aspects of the internet. He skips internet memes almost entirely - only a small reference to a cat meme is made in a single footnote. Memes are ideal material for such a book - their origin, quick spread and influence on other media is fascinating. Luckily we have Know Your Meme, a comprehensive web site which documents memes, viral videos and other internet fads, researching their origin and influence on the internet and popular culture.
While he focuses on online marketplaces and entrepreneurship, Bartlett completely omits any discussion on file sharing and culture that arose around it. There isn't a mention of BitTorrent and how it revolutionized file-sharing by decentralizing file distribution; a discussion on BitTorrent could have been prefaced by a history of file sharing, from networks such as Napster, Kazaa and Gnutella to contemporary BitTorrent trackers - public ones such as The Pirate Bay, and private, invite-only digital communities, focused on high quality content, such as the now-defunct Oink! and What.CD. I felt that in the chapters on trolling, BBS and the Usenet Bartlett completely missed out on an opportunity to write about Warez Groups - organized groups which cracked computer software and distributed it on the internet. Warez Groups were and are hierarchical, with individuals occupying specific positions: suppliers provide the software, crackers remove copy protection, couriers upload it to file servers and distribute eventual releases. Warez groups also released tech demos and usually included their own release information, often with accompanying music - and some, such as Razor 1911, were targets of large-scale international crackdowns. Nonetheless, they still continue to operate, and when on is closed down, another appears - just like most entities on the internet.
While Bartlett remains objective and never judges anything he sees, I can't help but think that his book could have been much better - while it's very readable and engaging it contained virtually no information that I wasn't already familiar with. But it will obviously won't be the case for other readers, who are new and curious to elements of the internet beside Facebook and Twitter will find it to b a good and compelling introduction to the subject.
Jamie Bartlett writes the tech column for The Telegraph which I occasionally read, and I approached his book with interest - I expected it to be an approachable and readable introduction to the internet's dark side,with a short history of how it developed. However, despite being titled "The Dark Net", the book is not entirely (or even mostly) focused on various aspects of the dark/deep web, or even on how the internet can and is used for illegal activities - the bulk of the book is rather an analysis of how the internet influences and changes human behavior.
But let's focus on the good things first. Bartlett begins the book with a short introduction to the concept internet trolling, and history of how it developed - dating all the way back to the ARPANET. He examines how trolls operated on the Bulletin Board Systems (the BBS), and the Usenet - with steady decline and eventual death of both technologies, trolls have moved onto the newly developed ones: internet message boards. Bartlett chronicles several instances of trolling on 4chan and it's infamous board /b/. /b/ stands for "random", and is a troll haven for "/b/tards", trolls who troll indiscriminately and have no barriers. While /b/ is easy to stereotype as a haven for trolls which ruin lives of their victims (such as by taking nude selfies of girls who posted them there, finding their personal information and exposing them), these same trolls act in what's best described as vigilante justice - users of /b/ have successfully tracked down people who engaged in animal abuse on video and made sure that they were persecuted for their cruelty by the authorities.
Bartlett also writes about the Silk Road - the world's largest online drug market, which has been recently closed in a large international operation. Silk Road was founded to be as a truly anonymous marketplace, not restricted by government regulation, where users could purchase what they wanted from the comfort of their own homes, without being monitored and potentially persecuted by the authorities. Certain things were off-limit - such as child pornography, weapons, personal information - but Silk Road was mostly known for being the place to go for illegal drugs. Bartlett even purchases a small amount of cannabis as a test of the market, and finds the whole procedure efficient and pleasant. He explains how markets such as Silk Road are protected by TOR - a system meant to ensure net anonymity by multiple encrypted rerouting, making it very hard to trace activities and location of its users. To be even more anonymous, users of such markets pay for their purchase in Bitcoins - a decentralized virtual currency, and Barteltt offers a very readable explanation of how it works, including a short history of its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, and relation from a trip to anarchist commune in Spain where activists are working at improving it further.
While Bartlett is very readable and engaging, my main grip with his book comes with the fact that the title is very misleading: aside from the mentioned illegal black markets, most of hid book is not about deep or hidden web at all, as most of the sites he describes (such as 4chan) are publicly available. Bartlett spends the bulk of the book analyzing the impact and development of the internet on human life: individuals creating online personalities and gaining a large following (such as on unemployed 30 year old who found a voice as a far-right activist on Facebook),the disturbing rise of suicide clubs and pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites; the decline of "professional" porn industry and the great rise of "regular" porn actors and actresses, known as "camgirls" (or less affectionately as "camwhores"). There's an entire chapter devoted to the spread and ease of availability of child pornography on the internet, and a presentation of ideas and personalities behind transhumanism and anarcho-primitivism (total embrace of technology to augment and further human life/abandonment of dependence on said technology and deinudstrialization). Still, most of this is not inaccessible and easily found on the web, and for most part isn't even illegal.
Bartlett also omits some important aspects of the internet. He skips internet memes almost entirely - only a small reference to a cat meme is made in a single footnote. Memes are ideal material for such a book - their origin, quick spread and influence on other media is fascinating. Luckily we have Know Your Meme, a comprehensive web site which documents memes, viral videos and other internet fads, researching their origin and influence on the internet and popular culture.
While he focuses on online marketplaces and entrepreneurship, Bartlett completely omits any discussion on file sharing and culture that arose around it. There isn't a mention of BitTorrent and how it revolutionized file-sharing by decentralizing file distribution; a discussion on BitTorrent could have been prefaced by a history of file sharing, from networks such as Napster, Kazaa and Gnutella to contemporary BitTorrent trackers - public ones such as The Pirate Bay, and private, invite-only digital communities, focused on high quality content, such as the now-defunct Oink! and What.CD. I felt that in the chapters on trolling, BBS and the Usenet Bartlett completely missed out on an opportunity to write about Warez Groups - organized groups which cracked computer software and distributed it on the internet. Warez Groups were and are hierarchical, with individuals occupying specific positions: suppliers provide the software, crackers remove copy protection, couriers upload it to file servers and distribute eventual releases. Warez groups also released tech demos and usually included their own release information, often with accompanying music - and some, such as Razor 1911, were targets of large-scale international crackdowns. Nonetheless, they still continue to operate, and when on is closed down, another appears - just like most entities on the internet.
While Bartlett remains objective and never judges anything he sees, I can't help but think that his book could have been much better - while it's very readable and engaging it contained virtually no information that I wasn't already familiar with. But it will obviously won't be the case for other readers, who are new and curious to elements of the internet beside Facebook and Twitter will find it to b a good and compelling introduction to the subject.
October 18, 2021
If you want to read a book that reveals all the hidden, mysterious secrets of the 'Dark Net', this isn't it. Jamie Bartlett does talk about the 'underground network' - and provides details about the 'Silk Road' website that sells illegal drugs - but most of the sites discussed aren't especially cryptic.
Nevertheless, the author provides an interesting overview of non-mainstream goings on in the cyberworld. In Bartlett's view, the dark net is a place where "users say and do what they like, often uncensored, unregulated, and outside of society's norms."
Bartlett begins by describing the evolution of the internet, starting with the Arpanet in the 1960s, a system of linked computers that helped academics communicate with each other.
This led to Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) in the late 1970s, which added computer enthusiasts to the mix.
Finally, in the 1990s, the World Wide Web made the internet easily accessible to the general public....and there was no stopping it after that.
From the beginning, some Usenet and BBS subscribers used the internet for trolling, which can be described as bizarre, creative, offensive, and illegal behavior (or - as the urban dictionary defines it - 'being a prick on the internet.') Trolling spans a wide gamut of activity, including: bullying, hacking, pornography, threats, and so on. It started when large numbers of computers were linked, and has increased exponentially since then.
Bartlett provides a disturbing example of recent trolling: a naïve young teen posted sexually explicit photos on a 'random board' designated /b/ on the image-sharing website 4chan. Goaded by subscribers, the girl posed with a bottle of prescription medication. Some viewers used the information they gleaned to trace the teen's identity and 'dox' her: they found the victim's Facebook and Twitter accounts, and sent the nude photos to all her friends and relatives - essentially devastating her young life. The entire procedure took under an hour.....and then the trolls carelessly moved on.
Some people use the internet to spread propaganda and hate. White power groups use their websites to bash minorities, terrorist organizations use it to attack infidels, and so on. All these ideologues use their forums to attract like-minded supporters.....and perhaps plan nefarious activities.
White Power website
Terrorist website
At the heart of dark net activity is the desire for privacy and security: users want to be able to operate without regulations or interference, especially from the government. Thus technically adept individuals called 'cypherpunks' developed powerful cryptography and other technologies that make internet activity essentially untraceable.
Cypherpunks
Web secrecy requires software called 'Tor' - which is available for free - that helps users navigate the Dark Net. 'Tor' hides a user's identity and activity by 'onion routing' - a technique that incorporates messages in many layers of encryption: essentially, the message is routed from one relay to another to another (and so on) until it reaches its destination.....by which time the original sender can't be identified. Bartlett describes onion-routing in some detail, if you're interested. Or you can look it up on Wikipedia.
Online secrecy is also assisted by the use of internet money, called bitcoins, which were developed in 2009. Bitcoin transactions are secure, fast, free, and unidentifiable - making this currency convenient for online drug buys and porn purchases. The book describes bitcoins in detail, if you want to know more. Or again, you can look it up on Wikipedia.
Cypherpunks believe that internet confidentiality guards civil liberties. To these libertarians, the fact that criminals and terrorists also use these 'anonymizing' techniques is unfortunate, but 'a cost worth paying for the freedom it provides.' Many law enforcement organizations (naturally) disagree.
One of the more unsavory aspects of the underground net is child pornography, which is widely available with a few clicks of the mouse. Most people who look at child porn purposely seek it out, but others get drawn in - step by step - from legal porn sites. Bartlett relates the story of Michael, who claims: "I moved from viewing photographs and videos of teenagers, to images that...were clearly of children...in tiny increments. I made excuses in my head as to why it was okay. For a while I told myself [that it] wasn't even illegal." Law enforcement officials have shut down many child porn sites, but new ones spring up immediately.....making the child porn industry impossible to annihilate.
"A joint Forbes and Point Report investigation has uncovered evidence of a vast number of child exploitation cases involving the use of Kik, where some of the most appalling material is being shared and young girls and boys are being targeted for grooming."
As I mentioned before, Bartlett talks about buying drugs on the internet, and - in an informative chapter - explains exactly how he went about obtaining marijuana from an online drug supermarket (it was easy as pie).
In another section, the author addresses 'do-it-yourself' porn stars, who often garner big tips (in bitcoins). The range of performers include young women; middle age couples; threesomes; and more. Bartlett was a guest at one of the 'shows' and became quite friendly with the participants.
Some extroverts use a board called /soc/ on the 4chan website, which is "ground zero for exhibitionism." It's a space for cam-models (people who 'perform' on the internet); special interest meet-up groups; and 'rate-me threads' such as "Rate my dick, please" (which strikes me as hilarious). One fellow's pecker garnered comments like: thick, long - 8/10; very slightly weird color - 5/10; fucking huge - 10/10; and "I'm not even gay and I'd suck it." (Ha ha ha)
Exhibitionists are common on the internet
One positive aspect of the internet is the plethora of support groups for people who are troubled or having difficulties. Sites dedicated to subjects like anorexia, bulimia, self-cutting, suicide, etc. can illustrate the dangers of these behaviors, help people recover, or advise them to seek help. Unfortunately, some forums - called 'alternative' (alt) sites are 'pro self-harm.' There are websites, for instance, that tout anorexia and bulimia as lifestyle choices, and others that actually encourage cutting and suicide. These forums can do a great deal of harm.
The last thing Bartlett discusses are transhumanists - people who want to live forever. These individuals, who would push technology to the limit, want to upload their brains to a computer server or chip. Then - at some future time - their brain could be inserted into an android or robot, and they would essentially become immortal.
At the other end of the spectrum are anarcho-primitivists (like the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski), who want to do away with all technology. These folks dream of returning to a primitive way of life, similar to that of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. To me, neither of these scenarios seems very likely - or particularly desirable.
During Bartlett's research for this book he interviewed many people who run or use (what many would consider) dubious websites. In almost every case, the individual's real life persona was much more congenial than his/her online presence, including white supremacists and political extremists. It appears that the dark net's anonymity gives these people license to be contentious or outrageous online. Bartlett himself maintains a neutral attitude about controversial websites. As a journalist, he 'just presents the facts'- which (I suppose) is appropriate for his profession.
All in all the book provides a wide, but shallow, overview of non-traditional internet activity. I was hoping to learn about some really weird, underground websites - maybe involving outer-space aliens - but either they don't exist or Bartlett didn't find them. LOL
This is an interesting book that I'd recommend to non-experts who want to know more about the dark net.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
April 12, 2015
I can't remember when and how I first became aware of this book, but I had always assumed - mainly, I suppose, because of the title, and the subjects covered within the book - that it would primarily be about the deep web. In fact, only one chapter is really about that, and the rest of the book is actually about broader categories of online activity and behaviour encapsulated by the subtitle - 'inside the digital underworld'. Topics covered include trolling, political extremism, camsex, online currencies, buying drugs on the internet, child porn, pro-ana sites, and various ideologies and movements arising from either deification of the internet or rejection of it.
In the introduction, Bartlett talks about the 'Assassination Market' service (or rather, experiment) available on the deep web, but then emphasises that this is an extreme example of the 'dark net', a term he expands to include hidden content, pages not indexed by Google, members-only forums and the like. The introduction also positions The Dark Net not as a comprehensive account, but as the product of personal research - although it is also very neutral, to the point of not attempting to condemn any of the many deviant behaviours it describes (harrassment, racism, consumption of child abuse images and so on). Instead it acts as an impartial report of the facts.
Chapter one: Trolling - the history of flaming and trolling from the Arpanet to bulletin boards to Usenet, through to student websites of the late 1990s and Anonymous, 4chan and /b/ today.
Chapter two: Extremism and the 'lone wolf', exploring the spread of (almost exclusively right-wing) politics online. Referencing the EDL and Anders Behring Breivik, Bartlett goes on to explore the idea that a) the internet is giving groups like the EDL much more of a platform, but b) it is also creating a large number of isolated individuals who are 'leaders' of this movement online but 'nobody' irl - his recurring subject in this chapter is a 'handsome, polite, attentive' British guy who runs a blog about 'White Pride' and has a following of thousands, but in reality is unemployed and largely friendless.
Chapter three: Bitcoin, a short history of internet cryptography and the cypherpunk movement; guest appearance by Julian Assange. Unlike the rest of the book, some of this is quite technical (no, I'm not going to pretend I really understand the 'blockchain'), but it also mentions some of the political beliefs behind cypherpunk and crypto, and culminates with Bartlett visiting a hackers' commune in Spain. Altogether, very interesting (and probably the only subject I hadn't really read anything about prior to reading this book).
Chapter four: Child pornography. Touches on the ways in which the internet has facilitated the spread of child porn, compared to its scarcity in the early 1990s (some quite shocking statistics here), and the distinction between real and virtual sex offenders. Bartlett examines child porn using the idea that it's always 'only three clicks away' from legal porn available on the surface web.
Chapter five: Buying and selling drugs online. As I previously mentioned, there is only one chapter that really deals with the deep web, and this is it. It looks at the drugs market Silk Road 2.0 (which has just been taken down by the FBI) and similar services.
Chapter six: Mainly focused on camgirl websites, but Bartlett's observations on camming also form the basis for a short discussion of online identities and the rise of the 'personal brand' on social media, the linked increase in 'presentation anxiety', various perspectives on online privacy, and the phenomenon of revenge porn. Overall, though, this is probably the least interesting chapter: much of it is focused on the financial side of camming and the hierarchy of 'tipping' from viewers - which doesn't seem like the most interesting angle to take on this subject - and descriptions of the sex itself are so bloodless they actually make it boring. Understandable that the author wouldn't have wanted this chapter to seem salacious, but it ends up being rather dull.
Chapter seven: Pro-anorexia websites and those that encourage self-harm and suicide. Discusses the idea of 'behavioural contagion' - the idea of such sites leading to a rise in this behaviour as it's seen as a way to get attention and be part of a community - but also recognises that some sufferers have drawn strength from these communities, and used them as a form of therapy.
In the conclusion, Bartlett contrasts the beliefs of prominent members of two movements - transhumanism (those who predict and aspire towards the merging of human biology and technology - cryogenics, 'uploading' your brain, artificial intelligence overtaking human intelligence, and so on), and anarcho-primitivism (who oppose technology altogether and advocate a return to a type of pre-civilisation collectivism).
I'm surprised The Dark Net isn't more widely read - there's only a handful of reviews on Goodreads - and not just because of the subject matter, but because it's an extremely accessible and compulsively readable book. I've been struggling through another non-fiction book (which is no less accessible) for over a month now, and had been worrying that I was so accustomed to reading non-fiction in bite-sized internet chunks that my mind couldn't cope with a full book of it. The Dark Net dispelled that notion immediately - I read it with the same urgency I apply to compelling novels. That isn't to say it is especially brilliant as an in-depth study of the subjects it covers. There isn't really anything covered here that I haven't already been aware of through various articles and stuff on forums etc, but I still found it incredibly interesting (particularly anything about the history of the internet/its existence prior to my own introduction to it in the late 90s), and it's useful to have all these topics covered in one volume. Really, it's a primer rather than an in-depth academic text: the 'endnotes', containing extended quotes and numerous links and suggestions, take up more than a quarter of the entire book. There's plenty to explore here should you want to look into any one of these topics in greater depth.
I could happily have read a longer version of this book, or one that covered more subjects related to the 'dark side' of the internet - the weirder corners of fandom are conspicuous by their absence. But I think the best way to read The Dark Net is as a series of short essays, with the endnotes to each chapter as a goldmine of references, links, and further reading. If you're looking for a comprehensive, detailed study of these subjects, this is probably not the book for you, but it's fantastic as an introduction, and it also manages to be brilliantly easy to read while not being patronising towards the reader. Recommended.
In the introduction, Bartlett talks about the 'Assassination Market' service (or rather, experiment) available on the deep web, but then emphasises that this is an extreme example of the 'dark net', a term he expands to include hidden content, pages not indexed by Google, members-only forums and the like. The introduction also positions The Dark Net not as a comprehensive account, but as the product of personal research - although it is also very neutral, to the point of not attempting to condemn any of the many deviant behaviours it describes (harrassment, racism, consumption of child abuse images and so on). Instead it acts as an impartial report of the facts.
Chapter one: Trolling - the history of flaming and trolling from the Arpanet to bulletin boards to Usenet, through to student websites of the late 1990s and Anonymous, 4chan and /b/ today.
Chapter two: Extremism and the 'lone wolf', exploring the spread of (almost exclusively right-wing) politics online. Referencing the EDL and Anders Behring Breivik, Bartlett goes on to explore the idea that a) the internet is giving groups like the EDL much more of a platform, but b) it is also creating a large number of isolated individuals who are 'leaders' of this movement online but 'nobody' irl - his recurring subject in this chapter is a 'handsome, polite, attentive' British guy who runs a blog about 'White Pride' and has a following of thousands, but in reality is unemployed and largely friendless.
Chapter three: Bitcoin, a short history of internet cryptography and the cypherpunk movement; guest appearance by Julian Assange. Unlike the rest of the book, some of this is quite technical (no, I'm not going to pretend I really understand the 'blockchain'), but it also mentions some of the political beliefs behind cypherpunk and crypto, and culminates with Bartlett visiting a hackers' commune in Spain. Altogether, very interesting (and probably the only subject I hadn't really read anything about prior to reading this book).
Chapter four: Child pornography. Touches on the ways in which the internet has facilitated the spread of child porn, compared to its scarcity in the early 1990s (some quite shocking statistics here), and the distinction between real and virtual sex offenders. Bartlett examines child porn using the idea that it's always 'only three clicks away' from legal porn available on the surface web.
Chapter five: Buying and selling drugs online. As I previously mentioned, there is only one chapter that really deals with the deep web, and this is it. It looks at the drugs market Silk Road 2.0 (which has just been taken down by the FBI) and similar services.
Chapter six: Mainly focused on camgirl websites, but Bartlett's observations on camming also form the basis for a short discussion of online identities and the rise of the 'personal brand' on social media, the linked increase in 'presentation anxiety', various perspectives on online privacy, and the phenomenon of revenge porn. Overall, though, this is probably the least interesting chapter: much of it is focused on the financial side of camming and the hierarchy of 'tipping' from viewers - which doesn't seem like the most interesting angle to take on this subject - and descriptions of the sex itself are so bloodless they actually make it boring. Understandable that the author wouldn't have wanted this chapter to seem salacious, but it ends up being rather dull.
Chapter seven: Pro-anorexia websites and those that encourage self-harm and suicide. Discusses the idea of 'behavioural contagion' - the idea of such sites leading to a rise in this behaviour as it's seen as a way to get attention and be part of a community - but also recognises that some sufferers have drawn strength from these communities, and used them as a form of therapy.
In the conclusion, Bartlett contrasts the beliefs of prominent members of two movements - transhumanism (those who predict and aspire towards the merging of human biology and technology - cryogenics, 'uploading' your brain, artificial intelligence overtaking human intelligence, and so on), and anarcho-primitivism (who oppose technology altogether and advocate a return to a type of pre-civilisation collectivism).
I'm surprised The Dark Net isn't more widely read - there's only a handful of reviews on Goodreads - and not just because of the subject matter, but because it's an extremely accessible and compulsively readable book. I've been struggling through another non-fiction book (which is no less accessible) for over a month now, and had been worrying that I was so accustomed to reading non-fiction in bite-sized internet chunks that my mind couldn't cope with a full book of it. The Dark Net dispelled that notion immediately - I read it with the same urgency I apply to compelling novels. That isn't to say it is especially brilliant as an in-depth study of the subjects it covers. There isn't really anything covered here that I haven't already been aware of through various articles and stuff on forums etc, but I still found it incredibly interesting (particularly anything about the history of the internet/its existence prior to my own introduction to it in the late 90s), and it's useful to have all these topics covered in one volume. Really, it's a primer rather than an in-depth academic text: the 'endnotes', containing extended quotes and numerous links and suggestions, take up more than a quarter of the entire book. There's plenty to explore here should you want to look into any one of these topics in greater depth.
I could happily have read a longer version of this book, or one that covered more subjects related to the 'dark side' of the internet - the weirder corners of fandom are conspicuous by their absence. But I think the best way to read The Dark Net is as a series of short essays, with the endnotes to each chapter as a goldmine of references, links, and further reading. If you're looking for a comprehensive, detailed study of these subjects, this is probably not the book for you, but it's fantastic as an introduction, and it also manages to be brilliantly easy to read while not being patronising towards the reader. Recommended.
March 22, 2017
Can you imagine a world without the internet today? It's brought us so much, become such a staple in our lives. There is little doubt that the net is one of the most important and influential creations in our human history. But in a lot of ways we've also created a monster, a Frankenstein sewn together from so many parts of our own collective psyche, both good and bad. Author Jamie Bartlett (who is also the Director of the Center for the Analysis of Social Media) does us a great service by dissecting this dark half, peeling back the skin and sinew so we can see what's gone rotten inside.
'The Dark Net' is not a long book, yet it covers a lot of ground. Bartlett embeds himself with cypherpunks, online neo-nazis, cam-girls, trolls, and the technologically savvy. He examines the underground trade of drugs, contract-killing, and child pornography on the internet, while also looking at the web's relationship to terrorism, stability (or lack thereof), transhumanism, and self-harm. Each chapter could likely be a book in itself, but Bartlett is our knowledgeable tour guide to the internet's bloated seedy underbelly, taking us on a whistle-stop tour of each dark corner, giving us enough time to get acquainted and often unsettled.
Bartlett does the right, and difficult, thing on his journey: He withholds judgement. What he learns (as we inevitably do too) is that both the real world and the digital world are composed of shades of gray. There is no black and white on any topic, no matter how desperately we wish it were true. If facts matter to you, Bartlett has got some you might not be prepared for. The information age can be a bitch, and it comes with many disturbing studies and realities, enough to give your faith in humanity a good shake... and possibly your stomach a turn.
Inevitably, the sheltered types will complain that Bartlett unearths horrible realities that offend their delicate sensibilities. On the flip side, tech-head types will gripe that he didn't go far or deep enough into the subcultures they're already familiar with. This book is not for those groups. It's for the vast majority of us that use the internet every day of our lives, consider it part and parcel of our existence, but are largely unaware of some of the seediness or radicalism simmering just below the surface.
Bartlett's writing has great flow, is well researched, and doesn't lose you when some of the more complex technological aspects rear their ugly head. The book moves at great pace, and its topics are structured in ways that allow you to put it down and walk away, but not for too long. It is rare that I find a non-fiction book as engaging and tightly written as the pared-down fast-paced fiction I hold dear. Jamie Bartlett is a writer for our times and we would all be wise to listen to him now, as well as see what he has to say next.
'The Dark Net' is not a long book, yet it covers a lot of ground. Bartlett embeds himself with cypherpunks, online neo-nazis, cam-girls, trolls, and the technologically savvy. He examines the underground trade of drugs, contract-killing, and child pornography on the internet, while also looking at the web's relationship to terrorism, stability (or lack thereof), transhumanism, and self-harm. Each chapter could likely be a book in itself, but Bartlett is our knowledgeable tour guide to the internet's bloated seedy underbelly, taking us on a whistle-stop tour of each dark corner, giving us enough time to get acquainted and often unsettled.
Bartlett does the right, and difficult, thing on his journey: He withholds judgement. What he learns (as we inevitably do too) is that both the real world and the digital world are composed of shades of gray. There is no black and white on any topic, no matter how desperately we wish it were true. If facts matter to you, Bartlett has got some you might not be prepared for. The information age can be a bitch, and it comes with many disturbing studies and realities, enough to give your faith in humanity a good shake... and possibly your stomach a turn.
Inevitably, the sheltered types will complain that Bartlett unearths horrible realities that offend their delicate sensibilities. On the flip side, tech-head types will gripe that he didn't go far or deep enough into the subcultures they're already familiar with. This book is not for those groups. It's for the vast majority of us that use the internet every day of our lives, consider it part and parcel of our existence, but are largely unaware of some of the seediness or radicalism simmering just below the surface.
Bartlett's writing has great flow, is well researched, and doesn't lose you when some of the more complex technological aspects rear their ugly head. The book moves at great pace, and its topics are structured in ways that allow you to put it down and walk away, but not for too long. It is rare that I find a non-fiction book as engaging and tightly written as the pared-down fast-paced fiction I hold dear. Jamie Bartlett is a writer for our times and we would all be wise to listen to him now, as well as see what he has to say next.
February 20, 2015
The Deep Web is a significant part of the internet that doesn’t show up on regular search engines and can only be accessed via TOR encrypted browsers. Probably the most famous part of the Deep Web is Silk Road which became famous for successfully selling drugs in vast quantities over the internet. The “dark internet” is dead data that can no longer be reached via computers and Darknet is a file-sharing network that’s part of the Deep Web.
I mention these distinctions because it seems that many readers have picked up this book believing that it’s about the Deep Web but really only one chapter directly addresses it. Jamie Bartlett’s The Dark Net is instead about the shadier parts of the internet – literally the dark parts of the internet - most of which is part of the surface internet, that is, sites that can be accessed via Google, etc. Goodreads is part of the surface net, for example.
Topics in this book include trolls who set out to destroy peoples’ lives, the nuances of the Assassination Market, and extreme right-wingers who develop and hone their manifestos online and sometimes go even further, like Anders Behring Breivik who, in 2011, killed a total of 77 people during a calculated bomb/gun attack in Norway. Breivik believed non-whites were taking over Europe and set out to reduce the numbers himself. Bartlett also looks at Bitcoin, the rise of child porn, pro-anorexia forums, camgirl sites, and the belief of transhumanism, where some people are trying to upload their brains onto the internet and live forever in digital form (a lot like the Johnny Depp film, Transcendence).
Bartlett’s approach is more focused on the human side of things – how the internet is affecting us, changing our behaviour, and the pros and cons of these developments – as opposed to the technical side and/or focus on the programming itself. And though many of the subjects are reprehensible – child porn, extreme racism – Bartlett’s tone is neutral throughout, which you would want from a professional journalist looking at a serious subject. It’s also the best approach to inform the reader and the book is a fine introduction to anyone unfamiliar with these topics.
I can’t say I was as engaged with all of the subjects covered here with the camgirl chapter feeling especially drawn-out, while the child porn chapter was very difficult to get through simply because of the subject. There’s also a discussion between a transhumanist (who essentially wants to live in the internet as a digital file copy of his brain) and an anarcho-primitivist (who wants to return to the days of extremely low-technology based societies of old) that closes out the book. The anarcho-primitivist’s arguments are so unconvincing, it was a very weak argument. I don’t share either view but going back to the living standards of ancient civilisation is pure fantasy – and that’s contrasted with a man who wants to live forever on the internet!
I did learn a lot though as Bartlett goes back to the creation of the internet back in the 1970s when it was known as the Arpanet and used mainly by academics, and it’s interesting that right from the get go people were bickering amongst themselves on forums, much like they do today, as well as talking about porn, drugs, and suicide. The history of cryptography and the roots of the cypherpunk movement – which included Wikileaks’ Julian Assange – is delved into as well. It’s also interesting that the term “troll” refers to a fishing term where you troll a line for fish, as opposed to the idea that an internet troll is like the mythical creature living under bridges!
The chapter on Bitcoins is very clear and enlightening, and it’s eye-opening that pro-anorexia forums exist – literally places where groups (usually made up entirely of women) would support each other in not eating and becoming dangerously thin! It’s also disturbing to find out that, using a TOR browser, child porn is so accessible - just three clicks away! – and how easily people (usually made up entirely of men) become addicted to it, and then ruin their lives with it after being caught and convicted by police.
Bartlett tries to present a balanced argument which does have some positives to it. The pro-anorexia forums allow for a kind of therapy for people who don’t have any other outlet to talk, and the camgirls trend allows some women to make a decent living off of some harmless adult entertainment, as opposed to being unemployed and/or struggling to make a living with low-paying jobs. Bitcoin is an intriguing idea too.
Mostly though, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. Bullying and harassment on sites like 4chan from trolls lead to devastated lives and sometimes suicide; there is no upside to child porn or extremist politics; Silk Road, while being a dynamic, well designed and user friendly site, pushed harmful drugs that doubtless caused, and continued, all kinds of problems; and the downside to pro-anorexia forums is obvious: hospitalisation and early death. And while talking about problems on forums can be therapeutic, they can push people who’re looking for support in, say, killing themselves, to actually do it (and many do).
The Dark Net is a well-written and thoroughly researched book that’s very revealing of some of the internet’s various sub-cultures. It doesn’t cover them all – file-sharing sites like BitTorrent and Pirate Bay are bypassed entirely – and it certainly lives up to its title but it’s no less a frequently fascinating and very accessible read.
I mention these distinctions because it seems that many readers have picked up this book believing that it’s about the Deep Web but really only one chapter directly addresses it. Jamie Bartlett’s The Dark Net is instead about the shadier parts of the internet – literally the dark parts of the internet - most of which is part of the surface internet, that is, sites that can be accessed via Google, etc. Goodreads is part of the surface net, for example.
Topics in this book include trolls who set out to destroy peoples’ lives, the nuances of the Assassination Market, and extreme right-wingers who develop and hone their manifestos online and sometimes go even further, like Anders Behring Breivik who, in 2011, killed a total of 77 people during a calculated bomb/gun attack in Norway. Breivik believed non-whites were taking over Europe and set out to reduce the numbers himself. Bartlett also looks at Bitcoin, the rise of child porn, pro-anorexia forums, camgirl sites, and the belief of transhumanism, where some people are trying to upload their brains onto the internet and live forever in digital form (a lot like the Johnny Depp film, Transcendence).
Bartlett’s approach is more focused on the human side of things – how the internet is affecting us, changing our behaviour, and the pros and cons of these developments – as opposed to the technical side and/or focus on the programming itself. And though many of the subjects are reprehensible – child porn, extreme racism – Bartlett’s tone is neutral throughout, which you would want from a professional journalist looking at a serious subject. It’s also the best approach to inform the reader and the book is a fine introduction to anyone unfamiliar with these topics.
I can’t say I was as engaged with all of the subjects covered here with the camgirl chapter feeling especially drawn-out, while the child porn chapter was very difficult to get through simply because of the subject. There’s also a discussion between a transhumanist (who essentially wants to live in the internet as a digital file copy of his brain) and an anarcho-primitivist (who wants to return to the days of extremely low-technology based societies of old) that closes out the book. The anarcho-primitivist’s arguments are so unconvincing, it was a very weak argument. I don’t share either view but going back to the living standards of ancient civilisation is pure fantasy – and that’s contrasted with a man who wants to live forever on the internet!
I did learn a lot though as Bartlett goes back to the creation of the internet back in the 1970s when it was known as the Arpanet and used mainly by academics, and it’s interesting that right from the get go people were bickering amongst themselves on forums, much like they do today, as well as talking about porn, drugs, and suicide. The history of cryptography and the roots of the cypherpunk movement – which included Wikileaks’ Julian Assange – is delved into as well. It’s also interesting that the term “troll” refers to a fishing term where you troll a line for fish, as opposed to the idea that an internet troll is like the mythical creature living under bridges!
The chapter on Bitcoins is very clear and enlightening, and it’s eye-opening that pro-anorexia forums exist – literally places where groups (usually made up entirely of women) would support each other in not eating and becoming dangerously thin! It’s also disturbing to find out that, using a TOR browser, child porn is so accessible - just three clicks away! – and how easily people (usually made up entirely of men) become addicted to it, and then ruin their lives with it after being caught and convicted by police.
Bartlett tries to present a balanced argument which does have some positives to it. The pro-anorexia forums allow for a kind of therapy for people who don’t have any other outlet to talk, and the camgirls trend allows some women to make a decent living off of some harmless adult entertainment, as opposed to being unemployed and/or struggling to make a living with low-paying jobs. Bitcoin is an intriguing idea too.
Mostly though, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives. Bullying and harassment on sites like 4chan from trolls lead to devastated lives and sometimes suicide; there is no upside to child porn or extremist politics; Silk Road, while being a dynamic, well designed and user friendly site, pushed harmful drugs that doubtless caused, and continued, all kinds of problems; and the downside to pro-anorexia forums is obvious: hospitalisation and early death. And while talking about problems on forums can be therapeutic, they can push people who’re looking for support in, say, killing themselves, to actually do it (and many do).
The Dark Net is a well-written and thoroughly researched book that’s very revealing of some of the internet’s various sub-cultures. It doesn’t cover them all – file-sharing sites like BitTorrent and Pirate Bay are bypassed entirely – and it certainly lives up to its title but it’s no less a frequently fascinating and very accessible read.
September 26, 2016
I heard a bunch of negative press for this book because it didn't delve too deeply into any one of its very interesting topics. Still, I was intrigued by the subject matter, so I gave The Dark Net a spin.
Boy, am I glad I took that chance. The Dark Net is not mindblowing, but for someone like me who didn't know 90% of what was in the book this was riveting material. His explorations of the different political factions, internet history, internet terrorist propaganda, child pornography, drug markets, futurists, and support groups existing online were eye opening.
I found Mr. Bartlett's writing style to be refreshingly modest and minimal. Writers always seem to be quite taken with themselves, but he writes himself out of the text as much as possible. Instead, he just shines a light on everything lurking on the internet that the average guy would not know of.
He also does an excellent job of remaining impartial and leaving his opinions out of the interviews. This is a monumental feat given some of the abhorrent people he interviews. Sometimes you want him to hit the interviewees a little harder, but you have to respect his professionalism. It is a rare treat these days in journalism.
While not the deepest examination of any one subject this is an excellent primer for the average person. Highly recommended.
Boy, am I glad I took that chance. The Dark Net is not mindblowing, but for someone like me who didn't know 90% of what was in the book this was riveting material. His explorations of the different political factions, internet history, internet terrorist propaganda, child pornography, drug markets, futurists, and support groups existing online were eye opening.
I found Mr. Bartlett's writing style to be refreshingly modest and minimal. Writers always seem to be quite taken with themselves, but he writes himself out of the text as much as possible. Instead, he just shines a light on everything lurking on the internet that the average guy would not know of.
He also does an excellent job of remaining impartial and leaving his opinions out of the interviews. This is a monumental feat given some of the abhorrent people he interviews. Sometimes you want him to hit the interviewees a little harder, but you have to respect his professionalism. It is a rare treat these days in journalism.
While not the deepest examination of any one subject this is an excellent primer for the average person. Highly recommended.
September 11, 2015
Wonderful, well researched book. I am busy researching a novel and wanted some info on the dark web without having to get involved in it. Well written.
February 13, 2017
اینترنت از بدو پیدایش یک فرصت برای افراد فراهم کرده تا به صورت ناشناس با بقیه افراد رابطه برقرار کنن و حرف ها و کارهایی که در دنیای واقعی و زندگی روزمره نامتعارف محسوب می شه و خیلی ها از انجامش خودداری می کنن رو انجام بدن. افراد می تونن انتقادها، فحاشی ها، دزدی ها، خرابکاری ها، معاملات کالاهای غیر قانونی، اشتراک فیلم ها و عکس های رابطه جنسی با بچه ها، تروریسم، و خیلی کارهای دیگه رو انجام بدن. چون توی این فضا هویت افراد می تونه ناشناس بمونه و فرد می تونه مسئولیت کارهایی که انجام می شه رو نپذیره.. در کنار اینها دولت ها هم برای کنترل رفتار جامعه و جلوگیری از وقوع جرائمی مثل فروش مواد مخدر، قاچاق انسان، تروریسم و چیزهای دیگه تمایل به کنترل این فضا دارن. و خوب در برابر این موضوع هم فعالان آزادی خواه و آنارشیست هستن که دوست ندارن دولت آزادی های فردی رو از بین ببره و حریم خصوصی افراد رو تضییع کنه. در نتیجه اونها هم تلاش می کنن تا با استفاده از کد گذاری ها، استفاده از سرورهای مخفی تور، بیت کوین و موارد مشابه از سیطره دولت ها خارج بشن. منتها باز این مسئله هم باعث سوء استفاده اون گروه های اولی می شه.
نویسنده این کتاب تلاش می کنه تا با وارد شدن به جمع افراد مختلف که از این فرصت ناشناخته بودن توی فضای مجازی استفاده می کنن، نیم نگاهی به این فضا بندازه و خواننده رو با قسمتی از فضای وب که به طور معمول در معرض دید کاربرهای عادی قرار نداره آشنا کنه. گروه های ملی گرای افراطی مختلف، ترول ها، آزادی خواه ها، مدافعان حریم خصوصی، بعضی فعالان سیاسی، آنارشیست ها، مواد فروش ها، پورن، شبکه های خاص مرتبط با خودکشی، خودزنی، فعالان حوزه لاغری! و یکی دو جای دیگه جزء این دسته از فضاها بودند.
و البته در نهایت هم آینده تکنولوژی مطرح شده. اینکه اگه به یک تکنولوژی ای دست پیدا کنیم که یاد بگیره و فکر کنه و مستقل بشه و بتونه خودش رو ارتقا بده و ما عقب بمونیم. و شاید ما هم بتونیم هشیاری خودمون رو جایی بارگذاری کنیم و از بند تن رها بشیم و نامیرایی رو تجربه کنیم. همین الان هوش مصنوعی، واقعیت مجازی، اینترنت چیزها، بیولوژی مصنوعی، نانوتکنولوژی، ساخت اعضای مصنوعی برای افراد دارای نقص عضو و خیلی چیزهای دیگه وجود داره. بعضی ها شدیدا موافق هستن و می گن مرحله بعدی تکامل برای آدمیزاد همینه: نیم انسان نیم تکنولوژی. بعضی ها شدیدا مخالف هستن و می گن باید تکنولوژی رو نابود کنیم برگردیم به دوران شکار! سوال های زیادی مطرح می شه: آیا اگه هشیاری مون رو بتونیم بیرون از بدن بارگذاری کنیم، هنوز انسانیم؟ آیا حقوق این موجود با یک فرد عادی یکیه؟ اگه جرمی مرتکب بشه باید چطور مجازات بشه؟ اولویت استفاده از این تکنولوژی ها رو چه طور تعیین می کنیم؟ اگه تکنولوژی به حدی برسه که نه تنها مستقل بشه بلکه به این نتیجه برسه که ما اضافه ایم چطور؟ یا نه اضافه نیستیم اما یک جایی به دردش می خوریم و می تونه مثل رفتار ما با گوسفندها رو با ما اجرا کنه؟
با روشی که الان پیش می ریم، این موضوع گریزناپذیره.
ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ
نمی خواستم این کتاب رو بخونم اما وقتی فایل رو باز کردم ببینم چطوره ادامه دادم تا تموم شد. جالب و جذاب بود.
حالا به معصومیت خودم پی می برم
:)
نویسنده این کتاب تلاش می کنه تا با وارد شدن به جمع افراد مختلف که از این فرصت ناشناخته بودن توی فضای مجازی استفاده می کنن، نیم نگاهی به این فضا بندازه و خواننده رو با قسمتی از فضای وب که به طور معمول در معرض دید کاربرهای عادی قرار نداره آشنا کنه. گروه های ملی گرای افراطی مختلف، ترول ها، آزادی خواه ها، مدافعان حریم خصوصی، بعضی فعالان سیاسی، آنارشیست ها، مواد فروش ها، پورن، شبکه های خاص مرتبط با خودکشی، خودزنی، فعالان حوزه لاغری! و یکی دو جای دیگه جزء این دسته از فضاها بودند.
و البته در نهایت هم آینده تکنولوژی مطرح شده. اینکه اگه به یک تکنولوژی ای دست پیدا کنیم که یاد بگیره و فکر کنه و مستقل بشه و بتونه خودش رو ارتقا بده و ما عقب بمونیم. و شاید ما هم بتونیم هشیاری خودمون رو جایی بارگذاری کنیم و از بند تن رها بشیم و نامیرایی رو تجربه کنیم. همین الان هوش مصنوعی، واقعیت مجازی، اینترنت چیزها، بیولوژی مصنوعی، نانوتکنولوژی، ساخت اعضای مصنوعی برای افراد دارای نقص عضو و خیلی چیزهای دیگه وجود داره. بعضی ها شدیدا موافق هستن و می گن مرحله بعدی تکامل برای آدمیزاد همینه: نیم انسان نیم تکنولوژی. بعضی ها شدیدا مخالف هستن و می گن باید تکنولوژی رو نابود کنیم برگردیم به دوران شکار! سوال های زیادی مطرح می شه: آیا اگه هشیاری مون رو بتونیم بیرون از بدن بارگذاری کنیم، هنوز انسانیم؟ آیا حقوق این موجود با یک فرد عادی یکیه؟ اگه جرمی مرتکب بشه باید چطور مجازات بشه؟ اولویت استفاده از این تکنولوژی ها رو چه طور تعیین می کنیم؟ اگه تکنولوژی به حدی برسه که نه تنها مستقل بشه بلکه به این نتیجه برسه که ما اضافه ایم چطور؟ یا نه اضافه نیستیم اما یک جایی به دردش می خوریم و می تونه مثل رفتار ما با گوسفندها رو با ما اجرا کنه؟
با روشی که الان پیش می ریم، این موضوع گریزناپذیره.
ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ
نمی خواستم این کتاب رو بخونم اما وقتی فایل رو باز کردم ببینم چطوره ادامه دادم تا تموم شد. جالب و جذاب بود.
حالا به معصومیت خودم پی می برم
:)
April 4, 2020
This one's more of dark side of the internet than the deep web, except silkroad most of the mentioned websites are available on surface web and doesn't add much to existing knowledge, but nevertheless an engaging read.
September 21, 2015
Like that Cake song goes, we are “fastening our safety belts and stepping towards the ledge.” In this case the Dark Net is what we’re peering at. Depending on your disposition the Dark Net is defined as (A) that portion of the Internet only reachable via TOR, (B) that portion of the the Internet unreachable by Google’s crawlers, (C) A + B + 4chan, or (D) A + B + anything on the Internet that you feel morally superior to. Personally, I’m going with C.
Normally I avoid books by journalists writing about tech, but I also find books about trolling and naughty Internet stuff irresistible. So the latter won out against the former, and in this case I’m glad it did.
Like you’d expect from a journo-book, it has the familiar wedge opening structure and starts with some good shocker stories (about Assassination Market and some poor, dumb cam girl getting doxxed) to set the hook and then it opens up into some nice Arpa/Use/Inter-net background to show that there’s really nothing new under the sun.
There is a chapter each covering:
* the gentle art of trolling
* extreme political organizing on-line
* the cypherpunk movement
* illegal pornography (take a wild guess what kind)
* dark net markets, Silk Road being the most famous example
* cam-modeling
* anorexia and suicide “support” groups
Then true to journo-form Mr. Bartlett wraps it all up with a “what does it all mean?” chapter. In this case we are given a false dichotomy in the form of a profile of a nutty transhumanist and a nutty anarchs-primitivist.
Mr. Bartlett does make the salient point that many of these dark corners of the Internet exist partially because authorities have abandoned their duties, leaving people to their own devices.
Like the radical politics on-line, which are being fanned even by mainstream politicians in this election. And dark-net markets are a perfectly rational (and not to mention the safest and most consumer-friendly) response to the failed War on Drugs.
He even makes the point that — despite what you think of the power dynamics — camming is a way to make money for a demographic that is currently facing very high unemployment. That said, I’m encouraging my daughter to study math and science.
And if our mental health system weren’t so completely screwed up, maybe people wouldn’t find their way on to these truly terrifying pro-ana forums or feel that the only place they can safely confide their disturbing thoughts is on alt.suicide.holiday.
But I suppose we'll just have to chalk other nasty corners of the Internet to the more unseemly aspects of human nature, like trolling fellow humans and itchy interests in taboos.
The chapter with the overview of the cypherpunk movement is excellent, and I feel like I get the gist of Bitcoin for the first time. As an introduction to a topic, this is a first rate book, though there were times that I put down this book and picked up my iPad to search the web for more information about a topic or incident that was referred to.
One jarring thing: On page 108 Tim May, one of the founders of the cypherpunk movements, says to the author, “We are about to see the burn-off of useless eaters.” ‘Useless eaters’ is a term that Nazis used for the disabled in their Euthanasia Program, which resulted in about 100,000 deaths. I don’t want to make too much of this, but it’s not comforting to hear a self-proclaimed libertarian and Ayn Rand fan casually throwing around Nazi terms when describing his crypto-anarchist fantasies.
Highly recommended. I watched the Internet grow up from a little baby, and I didn’t know half this stuff.
Normally I avoid books by journalists writing about tech, but I also find books about trolling and naughty Internet stuff irresistible. So the latter won out against the former, and in this case I’m glad it did.
Like you’d expect from a journo-book, it has the familiar wedge opening structure and starts with some good shocker stories (about Assassination Market and some poor, dumb cam girl getting doxxed) to set the hook and then it opens up into some nice Arpa/Use/Inter-net background to show that there’s really nothing new under the sun.
There is a chapter each covering:
* the gentle art of trolling
* extreme political organizing on-line
* the cypherpunk movement
* illegal pornography (take a wild guess what kind)
* dark net markets, Silk Road being the most famous example
* cam-modeling
* anorexia and suicide “support” groups
Then true to journo-form Mr. Bartlett wraps it all up with a “what does it all mean?” chapter. In this case we are given a false dichotomy in the form of a profile of a nutty transhumanist and a nutty anarchs-primitivist.
Mr. Bartlett does make the salient point that many of these dark corners of the Internet exist partially because authorities have abandoned their duties, leaving people to their own devices.
Like the radical politics on-line, which are being fanned even by mainstream politicians in this election. And dark-net markets are a perfectly rational (and not to mention the safest and most consumer-friendly) response to the failed War on Drugs.
He even makes the point that — despite what you think of the power dynamics — camming is a way to make money for a demographic that is currently facing very high unemployment. That said, I’m encouraging my daughter to study math and science.
And if our mental health system weren’t so completely screwed up, maybe people wouldn’t find their way on to these truly terrifying pro-ana forums or feel that the only place they can safely confide their disturbing thoughts is on alt.suicide.holiday.
But I suppose we'll just have to chalk other nasty corners of the Internet to the more unseemly aspects of human nature, like trolling fellow humans and itchy interests in taboos.
The chapter with the overview of the cypherpunk movement is excellent, and I feel like I get the gist of Bitcoin for the first time. As an introduction to a topic, this is a first rate book, though there were times that I put down this book and picked up my iPad to search the web for more information about a topic or incident that was referred to.
One jarring thing: On page 108 Tim May, one of the founders of the cypherpunk movements, says to the author, “We are about to see the burn-off of useless eaters.” ‘Useless eaters’ is a term that Nazis used for the disabled in their Euthanasia Program, which resulted in about 100,000 deaths. I don’t want to make too much of this, but it’s not comforting to hear a self-proclaimed libertarian and Ayn Rand fan casually throwing around Nazi terms when describing his crypto-anarchist fantasies.
Highly recommended. I watched the Internet grow up from a little baby, and I didn’t know half this stuff.
May 16, 2017
Have you ever spent a hard day trolling online, stopped to wonder why you spend your life pointlessly attacking people, and then felt the need to purchase some illicit drugs on the dark net to dull the pain of living in your parents’ basement? If so, this book is not for you. But for the rest of us, curious as to why internet trolls are so nasty, and how the dark net is used for all sorts of illegal activities Jamie Bartlett’s The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld is an entertaining read.
The Dark Net is no dissertation, no complex academic exploration of its subject. This book is more like a bus tour of the seedier, less known areas of the dark net than a deep journey into the underworld, but it’s an interesting read nonetheless. If you’re unfamiliar with the dark web, Silk Road, 4chan, /b/ cryptocurrencies and TOR this is a nice primer, and an interesting look at how people can behave so differently online.
There are a lot of rabid libertarians involved in some of this stuff, and Bartlett meets a few of them, and explains how they were behind various types of cryptography (to keep governments from snooping on emails) and continue to fight a war against governmental intrusion into our online lives. (I don’t usually have much time for libertarians, but hey, thanks for the encryption, guys!)
He also meets political extremists (other than libertarians), trolls and a convicted possessor of illegal pornography, exploring the ways these people use and are influenced by the internet and the dark net. The section on trolls is particularly interesting, and Bartlett outlines how flaming, trolling etc. have been part of the internet since its earliest beginnings as an academic web, where researchers and professors would argue with each other more aggressively and less politely than in real life. Now of course doxing, death threats and the sharing of compromising pictures are commonplace (Oh, humanity, how far we’ve come!) and Bartlett investigates both the way this happens and some of the reasoning behind the actions of those who engage in it.
I was aware of much of what Bartlett discusses, but he still occasionally surprised me. I had no idea that there was such a thriving marketplace for illegal items on the dark web (other than Silk Road, of course, which is internationally famous) and that it could be so easy to access. While obviously there are some negatives to this thriving trade, Bartlett also puts up an interesting counterpoint - that illegal marketplaces like Silk Road are taking the power in illegal transactions from dealers, cartels, the mafia etc. and giving it to consumers, who are able to rate illegal vendors and products openly and effectively punish unethical or shonky sellers. Effectively, markets like Silk Road force drug dealers and criminals to treat their customers well, something they don't have a stellar history of doing.
Of course on the flip side, the dark net provides avenues for sharing and selling child pornography, weapons, and tips on how to top yourself. The libertarians Bartlett meets would seem to think that the presence of these troublesome aspects is the price of freedom, but I’m not sure I agree.
The Dark Web is an interesting read, but I feel it’s a little shallow at points, and it doesn't go as deep into the darkness as I would have liked. Still, Bartlett writes well, and tells a good story, so the pages flew by.
P.S. We all know how much the internet is obsessed with cats, but Bartlett reveals that there is a site dedicated in its entirety to ‘disinterested cats in amateur porn’. It’s pretty funny, but should you risk a visit it is totally, absolutely NSFW.
The Dark Net is no dissertation, no complex academic exploration of its subject. This book is more like a bus tour of the seedier, less known areas of the dark net than a deep journey into the underworld, but it’s an interesting read nonetheless. If you’re unfamiliar with the dark web, Silk Road, 4chan, /b/ cryptocurrencies and TOR this is a nice primer, and an interesting look at how people can behave so differently online.
There are a lot of rabid libertarians involved in some of this stuff, and Bartlett meets a few of them, and explains how they were behind various types of cryptography (to keep governments from snooping on emails) and continue to fight a war against governmental intrusion into our online lives. (I don’t usually have much time for libertarians, but hey, thanks for the encryption, guys!)
He also meets political extremists (other than libertarians), trolls and a convicted possessor of illegal pornography, exploring the ways these people use and are influenced by the internet and the dark net. The section on trolls is particularly interesting, and Bartlett outlines how flaming, trolling etc. have been part of the internet since its earliest beginnings as an academic web, where researchers and professors would argue with each other more aggressively and less politely than in real life. Now of course doxing, death threats and the sharing of compromising pictures are commonplace (Oh, humanity, how far we’ve come!) and Bartlett investigates both the way this happens and some of the reasoning behind the actions of those who engage in it.
I was aware of much of what Bartlett discusses, but he still occasionally surprised me. I had no idea that there was such a thriving marketplace for illegal items on the dark web (other than Silk Road, of course, which is internationally famous) and that it could be so easy to access. While obviously there are some negatives to this thriving trade, Bartlett also puts up an interesting counterpoint - that illegal marketplaces like Silk Road are taking the power in illegal transactions from dealers, cartels, the mafia etc. and giving it to consumers, who are able to rate illegal vendors and products openly and effectively punish unethical or shonky sellers. Effectively, markets like Silk Road force drug dealers and criminals to treat their customers well, something they don't have a stellar history of doing.
Of course on the flip side, the dark net provides avenues for sharing and selling child pornography, weapons, and tips on how to top yourself. The libertarians Bartlett meets would seem to think that the presence of these troublesome aspects is the price of freedom, but I’m not sure I agree.
The Dark Web is an interesting read, but I feel it’s a little shallow at points, and it doesn't go as deep into the darkness as I would have liked. Still, Bartlett writes well, and tells a good story, so the pages flew by.
P.S. We all know how much the internet is obsessed with cats, but Bartlett reveals that there is a site dedicated in its entirety to ‘disinterested cats in amateur porn’. It’s pretty funny, but should you risk a visit it is totally, absolutely NSFW.
October 16, 2016
Não esperava um livro tão descritivo e imparcial e fui bem surpreendido. Um pouco da história do Tor, Onion, Bitcoin e a mistura disso tudo, falando sobre quem estava por trás. De maneira imparcial, passando os pontos positivos e negativos do que desenvolveram. Com direito a um resumos sobre trolls mais rápido e historicamente mais completo do que o This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture.
May 1, 2015
The internet can be a wonderful thing, Full of facts, fun and cats. But all that glitters is not necessarily gold, and this is so very true with the internet. Bartlett has decided to scratch the surface of the mirror ball and see what lurks beneath.
And it isn't nice.
As he wades through the nastiest parts of the internet, he writes about trolls, the availability of illegal drugs from Silk Road, legal and illegal pornography and the use of TOR for anonymity. He meets extremists, attends a cam show and speaks to those that use sites to advance their eating disorders and that encourage suicide.
Grim stuff indeed. With the revelations on just how much the security service monitor or internet us, as revealed by Snowden he also looks at the ways that people are using PGP to ensure privacy from the modern Big Brother. It does have som implications, but the point he makes is that they should be tracking the genuine threats to our society, not just hoovering up every single thing.
Fairly well written, and could be read by someone who isn't that technical, it is a fascinating peek behind the gloss and glam of most peoples experience of the internet.
And it isn't nice.
As he wades through the nastiest parts of the internet, he writes about trolls, the availability of illegal drugs from Silk Road, legal and illegal pornography and the use of TOR for anonymity. He meets extremists, attends a cam show and speaks to those that use sites to advance their eating disorders and that encourage suicide.
Grim stuff indeed. With the revelations on just how much the security service monitor or internet us, as revealed by Snowden he also looks at the ways that people are using PGP to ensure privacy from the modern Big Brother. It does have som implications, but the point he makes is that they should be tracking the genuine threats to our society, not just hoovering up every single thing.
Fairly well written, and could be read by someone who isn't that technical, it is a fascinating peek behind the gloss and glam of most peoples experience of the internet.
February 15, 2018
3.5 stars -- Most proficient users of the Internet are aware that there are hidden, lesser-known areas of the web beyond the surface web content the vast majority of us stick to. This book is an explanation of the so-called deep or dark net for those who are mostly unfamiliar with it.
Many of the sites and communities Bartlett describes aren't actually on the dark web--that is, intentionally hidden sites that require a special browser to access. Rather, they are sites that most people (hopefully) would never visit--the lairs of professional trolls and hate groups; sites that advocate anorexia, bulimia, and other extreme self-harm.
My reason for not wanting to use the deep web is what I suspect most people's reason for not using it--the deep web and its hidden wikis have become most infamous as the place where child molesters ply their trade, and no one in their right mind wants any kind of association with that. Even though there are some good things about the deep web--it is where journalists cultivate their sources and whistleblowers leak crucial information--the it is the scourge of illegal pornography that has made anyone who uses these anonymous browsers suspect.
Bartlett's thought-provoking book covers numerous categories and aspects of the hidden internet economy, but not everything. Concerning aspects of the dark web not discussed much in this book include illegal arms dealing, leaked credit card/social security info, hitmen for hire, or the possibly fictional livestream murder videos.
Many of the sites and communities Bartlett describes aren't actually on the dark web--that is, intentionally hidden sites that require a special browser to access. Rather, they are sites that most people (hopefully) would never visit--the lairs of professional trolls and hate groups; sites that advocate anorexia, bulimia, and other extreme self-harm.
My reason for not wanting to use the deep web is what I suspect most people's reason for not using it--the deep web and its hidden wikis have become most infamous as the place where child molesters ply their trade, and no one in their right mind wants any kind of association with that. Even though there are some good things about the deep web--it is where journalists cultivate their sources and whistleblowers leak crucial information--the it is the scourge of illegal pornography that has made anyone who uses these anonymous browsers suspect.
Bartlett's thought-provoking book covers numerous categories and aspects of the hidden internet economy, but not everything. Concerning aspects of the dark web not discussed much in this book include illegal arms dealing, leaked credit card/social security info, hitmen for hire, or the possibly fictional livestream murder videos.
January 25, 2018
The title is a bit of a misnomer, as it's not all about the actual dark net. It's about the (figurative) dark side of the internet, which definitely includes, but is not limited to, the actual dark net where you can buy drugs and hire assassins. There are chapters on trolls, webcam models, hate groups on social media, Bitcoin, child pornography, etc. The author actually bought some pot on Silk Road 2.0 to see how it works. (He found the user experience pleasant and easy.)
Basically, what you learn is that there is a lot of sick stuff on the internet. The main question that the book raises is the privacy dilemma. In theory I believe that we should all be able to surf the internet anonymously. But when I see all the terrible stuff that the internet can be used for and what people tend to do when they have anonymity, it makes me think again.
Basically, what you learn is that there is a lot of sick stuff on the internet. The main question that the book raises is the privacy dilemma. In theory I believe that we should all be able to surf the internet anonymously. But when I see all the terrible stuff that the internet can be used for and what people tend to do when they have anonymity, it makes me think again.
August 17, 2014
I've been using computers for many years now and had roles in IT in various forms. It took me a while to take to the Internet - dial-up modems were not exactly conducive to making any real use of what was out there and I am not a patient soul. However by the start of this century I was making extensive use of the Internet both personally and for work and have continued to do so ever since. I often heard things about "the other internet" and was aware of TOR for concealing your presence (in a sense) while browsing. However it is only in the past few years that I've become aware of the implication of the Dark Net and so the opportunity to read this book was very appealing.
The introduction sets out quite clearly the author's experience of the Dark Net as well as his intention not to judge but to shine a light on places unknown to the majority of the online community. I can really only say that I think he succeeds in this very well allowing the fact that even the known Internet is vast and a lot of that is unknown so the light is being shone into very small spaces in a sense. The author comes over very quickly as knowledgeable and I found it well written and easy to read; the style to me is upper end journalism rather than dryly academic. I feel it should be pointed out that this is not a book for the faint hearted - what is written about is quite graphic and unpleasant at times.
The book ranges widely by chapter covering aspects such as the history of the Internet from the early days of BBS and Usenet through to sites such as 4chan, fark and the use of facebook in ways I'd not come across. Extremists, trolls and trolling, Bitcoin, cryptography, drugs, porn and abuse sites are all looked at as well as some other aspects coming up to date with information from the late Spring of this year (2014). The book also looks at the sociology & psychology of Dark Net and Internet in general. As someone who was a fairly early user of Usenet, I found the author seemed to set a good balance between information and information overload.
Whilst about Internet use, "light" and "dark", this book does concern itself with a number of the main and troubling issues of our times. I could argue that this is not really about the Dark Net but more about looking at modern society, its psychology, sociology and consumerism, through the lens of the Internet and its less well known areas. There are parts of the book which are definitely about the Dark Net however there are substantial amounts that are about the Internet more generally. Moving to its conclusion the book takes on a philosophical slant and is maybe less about thinking outside the box and more about simply thinking - challenging our views on what we consider normal. The book's conclusions seemed well thought through to me and there are extensive references and further reading. I can honestly say I have rarely read such a good and relevant non fiction work and I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended not simply to those with an interest in the Internet but to those who are interested in modern society more widely.
Disclosure - I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
The introduction sets out quite clearly the author's experience of the Dark Net as well as his intention not to judge but to shine a light on places unknown to the majority of the online community. I can really only say that I think he succeeds in this very well allowing the fact that even the known Internet is vast and a lot of that is unknown so the light is being shone into very small spaces in a sense. The author comes over very quickly as knowledgeable and I found it well written and easy to read; the style to me is upper end journalism rather than dryly academic. I feel it should be pointed out that this is not a book for the faint hearted - what is written about is quite graphic and unpleasant at times.
The book ranges widely by chapter covering aspects such as the history of the Internet from the early days of BBS and Usenet through to sites such as 4chan, fark and the use of facebook in ways I'd not come across. Extremists, trolls and trolling, Bitcoin, cryptography, drugs, porn and abuse sites are all looked at as well as some other aspects coming up to date with information from the late Spring of this year (2014). The book also looks at the sociology & psychology of Dark Net and Internet in general. As someone who was a fairly early user of Usenet, I found the author seemed to set a good balance between information and information overload.
Whilst about Internet use, "light" and "dark", this book does concern itself with a number of the main and troubling issues of our times. I could argue that this is not really about the Dark Net but more about looking at modern society, its psychology, sociology and consumerism, through the lens of the Internet and its less well known areas. There are parts of the book which are definitely about the Dark Net however there are substantial amounts that are about the Internet more generally. Moving to its conclusion the book takes on a philosophical slant and is maybe less about thinking outside the box and more about simply thinking - challenging our views on what we consider normal. The book's conclusions seemed well thought through to me and there are extensive references and further reading. I can honestly say I have rarely read such a good and relevant non fiction work and I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended not simply to those with an interest in the Internet but to those who are interested in modern society more widely.
Disclosure - I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
December 3, 2015
As an Arts and Law student (Majoring in Politics and History) I was fascinated and shocked by the concept of The Deep Dark Web. How can someone who has dedicated the last five years of his life to understanding the workings of society, regulation and governance have only a vague, if any, idea of what the dark net was before reading this book? And that points to a pervasive truth - the digital world is now a world of its own, out of sight and out of reach from governments.
The book argues quite brilliantly two seemingly irreconcilable truths. First, that the internet, and the deep dark web, is nothing more than a mere reflection of society itself. A mirror where users can pour themselves and explore the darkest and quirkiest corners of their imagination and desires. However, it also shows how being anonymous creates new social patterns that are not normal, dehumanizing us, and leading to potentially dangerous and destructive behavior. As Jamie puts it "By losing authentic, face to face communication, Zerzan thinks the Internet encourages thoughtlessness, cruelty, lack of reflection, cognitive overload and time famine..." (p. 232-3). "The Dark Net is a world of power and freedom of information, expression, creativity, information, of ideas. However, because this freedom is unnatural, it is inevitable that it will be misused" (p.236-7).
Jamie presents an extremely interesting summary of the origins and development of the Internet. The forces that played out over recent history - their interests, ambitions, fears, and actions. We are presented to a wide range of characters, governments trying to censor and regulate to hackers and cryptographers trying to preserve and enhance their newly found domain for freedom. Followed by a series of chapters, of studying different areas of the Dark Net - extremist political communication, child pornography, drugs marketplaces, sex cam culture, self-harm and suicide forums.
Towards the end, we are left with the main contentions of two heavily opposed groups - those who think the internet will save us - Transhumanists - and those who think it is destroying us and needs to be ditched - Anarcho-primitives. A thought-provoking analysis of modern society that leaves you wondering where you stand, where you want to go and what you should be doing.
The book is thoroughly researched - the least sixty pages are all endnotes with references to articles, books and further reading - yet in a simple language accessible to the non-tech crowds. Highly recommended to everyone and anyone alive in this day and age.
The book argues quite brilliantly two seemingly irreconcilable truths. First, that the internet, and the deep dark web, is nothing more than a mere reflection of society itself. A mirror where users can pour themselves and explore the darkest and quirkiest corners of their imagination and desires. However, it also shows how being anonymous creates new social patterns that are not normal, dehumanizing us, and leading to potentially dangerous and destructive behavior. As Jamie puts it "By losing authentic, face to face communication, Zerzan thinks the Internet encourages thoughtlessness, cruelty, lack of reflection, cognitive overload and time famine..." (p. 232-3). "The Dark Net is a world of power and freedom of information, expression, creativity, information, of ideas. However, because this freedom is unnatural, it is inevitable that it will be misused" (p.236-7).
Jamie presents an extremely interesting summary of the origins and development of the Internet. The forces that played out over recent history - their interests, ambitions, fears, and actions. We are presented to a wide range of characters, governments trying to censor and regulate to hackers and cryptographers trying to preserve and enhance their newly found domain for freedom. Followed by a series of chapters, of studying different areas of the Dark Net - extremist political communication, child pornography, drugs marketplaces, sex cam culture, self-harm and suicide forums.
Towards the end, we are left with the main contentions of two heavily opposed groups - those who think the internet will save us - Transhumanists - and those who think it is destroying us and needs to be ditched - Anarcho-primitives. A thought-provoking analysis of modern society that leaves you wondering where you stand, where you want to go and what you should be doing.
The book is thoroughly researched - the least sixty pages are all endnotes with references to articles, books and further reading - yet in a simple language accessible to the non-tech crowds. Highly recommended to everyone and anyone alive in this day and age.
August 1, 2025
Па океј, мислим занимљива је ово књига, има дроге, обнажених цура, наручених убистава, трансхуманизма и још разних других грдних ствари, али доста тога је везано за обични нет а не за ДАРК нет, а понешто чак није уопште директно везано за интернет. Аутор се овде бави разноразним опасностима које вребају на интернету, нпр. како се преко тих неких тајних канала омогућује лакше организовање екстремистичких група са циљем извршавања екстремистичког насиља, па онда како у случају да сте поетска душа а желите да се убијете није велики проблем да пронађете партнера за неку врсту заједничког самоубиства, или кад оставите своје голишаве слике к��ко је лако да вас доксују и то дотуре члановима ваше најуже фамилије и вашој баба тетки и да не набрајам даље. Међутим, само поглавље о Силк Роуду одговара у најужем смислу оном што сам очекивао кад сам видио наслов књиге. Друго међутим, ово је свакако вриједно читања јер ћете сазнати много интересантних информација, нпр. о почецима Џулијана Асанжа и Викиликса, о настанку Биткоина, итд. итд. итд. Теме се, истина, веома разликују од поглавља до поглавља, тако да је свако поглавље скоро као да читате другу књигу, па је што се тога тиче flow онако мало фаличан, али то је ситна замјерка. Све у свему, мени се ово прилично свидјело. Аутор је оставио гомилу линкова и литературе за свако поглавље за оне који желе да уроне дубље.
September 13, 2020
We humans have always fantasized about invisibility. From being defined as one of the eight great powers attained through spiritual practices, to being depicted as the superpower of noble heroes or evil villains in movies, the power of invisibility has always ruled human imagination. Ask anybody as to what they would do if they can be invisible for a day and the answers will range from plain, simple pranking to wicked acts of violence and voyeurism. You will soon realize that it is best for the power of invisibility to remain invisible (pun intended) from us humans for a very long time to come.
But modern technology has given us very many ways to remain anonymous, if not invisible, and we humans are making do with the same to the best of our abilities. From being restricted to sending anonymous parcels or making bogus calls, we humans have gained enhanced abilities through technology. It is nowhere more clearly visible than it is in the world of internet. Using anything apart from our own photos as profile pictures and setting our ‘status’ as offline even while being online, are just two of the innocuous ways in which we remain anonymous. Creating fake profiles, sharing false information both fall on the other end of the anonymity spectrum.
But there are methods more advanced that truly define the term anonymity in today’s social-media obsessed world. And, these are the methods used to access and inhabit that hidden corner of the web, aptly called ‘the dark net’. It is dark not only in terms of hiddenness but also in terms of the emotional/intellectual darkness that prevails there. Just as how people would have answered our question of what they would do if they become invisible, here too people exercise their invisibility to do many things – from playing simple pranks (hacks) to performing vile acts. ‘The Dark Net’ by Jamie Bartlett does a great work in throwing light on everything that happens in that hidden part of internet.
This book is divided into seven chapters, reminding me of the similar number of vices that Christianity warns us against. The first of the vices discussed in the book is trolling. While pranking is for simple people, the anonymity cloak offered by the internet has been a boon to bullies. Today, anybody with a smartphone and internet connection can abuse and confront anyone from any part of the world. While such behavior has spilled over to the visible part of the internet these days, the revolting kind of trolling is prevalent more in the dark web. In fact, from obscene messages to disgusting images, there is nothing revolting for these bullies. These trolls don’t even refrain from making fun of funerals, mind you!
Then, there are racists, staunch nationalists and bitter radicals, who use dark net to plan attacks – at times, even physical – against one another. More often than not, these are people affable and unassuming in real life, but don absolutely contrasting identities on the web, pouring all the world’s hatred and bitterness on you. While these people rely on bitter arguments to bring about political changes, there is another group working on alternative economic controls – the crypto-currencies - like Bitcoin to loosen the financial grip of the governments on their citizens. With secretive transactions and no central control, there is nothing here that the government can keep track of and raise revenues through tax. How possible or even how acceptable are such alternative currencies?! Decide for yourself.
The fourth and fifth vices practiced in the dark net both pertain to the sins of flesh. While anyone with a smart phone and internet connectivity can access pornography freely these days, there are perverted kinds that even fans of porn would shun. Dark web is a place for information and access to such practices. Pedophilia is such a perversion ostracized from the surface web, and the perverts who want to be ‘understood’ (!) and accepted for their pedophilic tendencies have made the dark web their home.
Consuming narcotic substances is a clear no-no, as preached by all the religions. So is the act of stealing. The dark web offers a marketplace for all such forbidden things and more. You can buy anything from drugs to banned books to murderous weapons, all safely hidden from the prying eyes of the government. Strangely, the principles of economy and customer satisfaction seem to apply to these hidden marketplaces as well as they are in real markets.
While gluttony is the last of our seven vices, the act of starving oneself in order to shred every last ounce of flesh from the body seems to be an act of normalcy for some in the dark net. So is the practice of harming one’s own self or even ending one’s life. From motivating people to starve for days together, to mentoring people on harming one’s self, sometimes even egging on people to commit suicide, it all happens in the dark net.
Kudos to the author for handling such a dark subject in a matter-of-fact manner! Without standing on a high-pedestal and looking down on the inhabitants of dark net, deriding them for not following the social mores, the author presents the facts, about how they are simple people like the rest of us, their arguments and reasons that pushed them to that darkness. Reading through the book, one cannot wonder but find one’s own mind straddle the thin line between rights and wrongs, just as all these aspects of dark net are prevalent, to a lesser extent, in the visible web as well. In fact, dark web is not all evil and villains. It is just for people who prefer to carry out their activities anonymously. Sadly, anonymity is preferred more by those who have some not so acceptable agendas.
I picked up this book hoping to get a technical insight into the dark web, about TOR browser, technical configurations and so on. Instead, I ended up wondering about the dark, hidden depths of the human mind, which make possible the presence of the dark web. I have always believed that given enough darkness, we will all unleash our inner demons. ‘The Dark Net’ strengthens that belief. A good read!
But modern technology has given us very many ways to remain anonymous, if not invisible, and we humans are making do with the same to the best of our abilities. From being restricted to sending anonymous parcels or making bogus calls, we humans have gained enhanced abilities through technology. It is nowhere more clearly visible than it is in the world of internet. Using anything apart from our own photos as profile pictures and setting our ‘status’ as offline even while being online, are just two of the innocuous ways in which we remain anonymous. Creating fake profiles, sharing false information both fall on the other end of the anonymity spectrum.
But there are methods more advanced that truly define the term anonymity in today’s social-media obsessed world. And, these are the methods used to access and inhabit that hidden corner of the web, aptly called ‘the dark net’. It is dark not only in terms of hiddenness but also in terms of the emotional/intellectual darkness that prevails there. Just as how people would have answered our question of what they would do if they become invisible, here too people exercise their invisibility to do many things – from playing simple pranks (hacks) to performing vile acts. ‘The Dark Net’ by Jamie Bartlett does a great work in throwing light on everything that happens in that hidden part of internet.
This book is divided into seven chapters, reminding me of the similar number of vices that Christianity warns us against. The first of the vices discussed in the book is trolling. While pranking is for simple people, the anonymity cloak offered by the internet has been a boon to bullies. Today, anybody with a smartphone and internet connection can abuse and confront anyone from any part of the world. While such behavior has spilled over to the visible part of the internet these days, the revolting kind of trolling is prevalent more in the dark web. In fact, from obscene messages to disgusting images, there is nothing revolting for these bullies. These trolls don’t even refrain from making fun of funerals, mind you!
Then, there are racists, staunch nationalists and bitter radicals, who use dark net to plan attacks – at times, even physical – against one another. More often than not, these are people affable and unassuming in real life, but don absolutely contrasting identities on the web, pouring all the world’s hatred and bitterness on you. While these people rely on bitter arguments to bring about political changes, there is another group working on alternative economic controls – the crypto-currencies - like Bitcoin to loosen the financial grip of the governments on their citizens. With secretive transactions and no central control, there is nothing here that the government can keep track of and raise revenues through tax. How possible or even how acceptable are such alternative currencies?! Decide for yourself.
The fourth and fifth vices practiced in the dark net both pertain to the sins of flesh. While anyone with a smart phone and internet connectivity can access pornography freely these days, there are perverted kinds that even fans of porn would shun. Dark web is a place for information and access to such practices. Pedophilia is such a perversion ostracized from the surface web, and the perverts who want to be ‘understood’ (!) and accepted for their pedophilic tendencies have made the dark web their home.
Consuming narcotic substances is a clear no-no, as preached by all the religions. So is the act of stealing. The dark web offers a marketplace for all such forbidden things and more. You can buy anything from drugs to banned books to murderous weapons, all safely hidden from the prying eyes of the government. Strangely, the principles of economy and customer satisfaction seem to apply to these hidden marketplaces as well as they are in real markets.
While gluttony is the last of our seven vices, the act of starving oneself in order to shred every last ounce of flesh from the body seems to be an act of normalcy for some in the dark net. So is the practice of harming one’s own self or even ending one’s life. From motivating people to starve for days together, to mentoring people on harming one’s self, sometimes even egging on people to commit suicide, it all happens in the dark net.
Kudos to the author for handling such a dark subject in a matter-of-fact manner! Without standing on a high-pedestal and looking down on the inhabitants of dark net, deriding them for not following the social mores, the author presents the facts, about how they are simple people like the rest of us, their arguments and reasons that pushed them to that darkness. Reading through the book, one cannot wonder but find one’s own mind straddle the thin line between rights and wrongs, just as all these aspects of dark net are prevalent, to a lesser extent, in the visible web as well. In fact, dark web is not all evil and villains. It is just for people who prefer to carry out their activities anonymously. Sadly, anonymity is preferred more by those who have some not so acceptable agendas.
I picked up this book hoping to get a technical insight into the dark web, about TOR browser, technical configurations and so on. Instead, I ended up wondering about the dark, hidden depths of the human mind, which make possible the presence of the dark web. I have always believed that given enough darkness, we will all unleash our inner demons. ‘The Dark Net’ strengthens that belief. A good read!
September 15, 2017
Skip it.
Should have been called "People Being Naughty Online". Chapters include: sex cam workers, pro anorexia/eating disorder communities, self harm communities. The guys "Dark Net" experience is that he was able to connect to a marketplace via Tor and order marijuana. Regular news reports after the Dread Pirate Roberts/Silk Road raid include more interesting dark net information than this...
The actual chapters were:
1. A history of flaming and trolling going back to Arpanet, including the practice on 4chan's /b/ board of using the details in posters' nude self-pics to identify them.
2. British nationalist and anti-extremist groups creating echo-chambers for themselves on Facebook and infiltrating each-other's management networks.
3. Programmers living in an anarchist commune in Barcelona working to improve Bitcoin.
4. An unpleasant chapter on a man's descent into pedophilia, going from "teens" to "jailbait" to young girls, and only realizing the severity of his actions once the police called around to his house.
5. Finally, a chapter on Tor-only websites. Describes the author's successful attempt to buy a small amount of cannabis. Looks at their capacity to rapidly adapt to FBI infiltration. The author finds that they are remarkable accessible, easy-to-use, and relatively risk-free.
6. The author meets a cam girl as she puts on a show and receives tips from hundreds of viewers.
7. Investigates the subjects of pro-anorexia and bulimia web forums, and sites where suicidal people can receive support and advice on how to commit the act. Follows a character named Amelia made up of several sources as she is sucked into the friendly, supportive, yet toxic atmosphere of a pro-anorexia site. She is hospitalized and eventually recovers.
Should have been called "People Being Naughty Online". Chapters include: sex cam workers, pro anorexia/eating disorder communities, self harm communities. The guys "Dark Net" experience is that he was able to connect to a marketplace via Tor and order marijuana. Regular news reports after the Dread Pirate Roberts/Silk Road raid include more interesting dark net information than this...
The actual chapters were:
1. A history of flaming and trolling going back to Arpanet, including the practice on 4chan's /b/ board of using the details in posters' nude self-pics to identify them.
2. British nationalist and anti-extremist groups creating echo-chambers for themselves on Facebook and infiltrating each-other's management networks.
3. Programmers living in an anarchist commune in Barcelona working to improve Bitcoin.
4. An unpleasant chapter on a man's descent into pedophilia, going from "teens" to "jailbait" to young girls, and only realizing the severity of his actions once the police called around to his house.
5. Finally, a chapter on Tor-only websites. Describes the author's successful attempt to buy a small amount of cannabis. Looks at their capacity to rapidly adapt to FBI infiltration. The author finds that they are remarkable accessible, easy-to-use, and relatively risk-free.
6. The author meets a cam girl as she puts on a show and receives tips from hundreds of viewers.
7. Investigates the subjects of pro-anorexia and bulimia web forums, and sites where suicidal people can receive support and advice on how to commit the act. Follows a character named Amelia made up of several sources as she is sucked into the friendly, supportive, yet toxic atmosphere of a pro-anorexia site. She is hospitalized and eventually recovers.
December 10, 2015
Fascinating!
October 6, 2016
Evenhanded and illuminating--had trouble putting it down.
July 13, 2022
Journalist Bartlett grabs a flashlight and leads us down some dark and troubling internet passageways in this wide-ranging read. This is not a book about computing and technology - it is about the some of the stranger behaviors that technology has enabled. You could make a strong case that most of the phenomena exhibited here would not have existed at all if it were not for computers, and especially the internet.
Bartlett looks at internet trolling, political extremism, online drugs bazaars, pornography, transhumanists, and groups dedicated to suicide and eating disorders. Very often these are unhealthy places, and those lingering there are troubled people looking to inflict pain and/or bring others into their mad zones. There are many examples on display, such as the male nurse (a married, middle aged father and husband) who coaxed several young ladies into committing suicide. Would these people be behaving in these ways without the web? Probably not, but they probably would be feeling the same things that led them to act out there.
Bartlett is a good journalist, and he never forgets that this is a human story. He does not just examine subjects from a distance, he introduces us to some fascinating individuals, many of whom seem pretty likeable whether or not one approves of their behavior. It is a serious book, but one that is continually entertaining. A good journalist knows readers want salacious details and a glimpse of the freak show, but we also want an intelligent and well-researched presentation of what is going on in society. In "The Dark Net" Bartlett gives us both.
I listened to an audio version read superbly by Matt Bates, who here gives us more accents (and does them well) than in any other audiobook I can think of.
Bartlett looks at internet trolling, political extremism, online drugs bazaars, pornography, transhumanists, and groups dedicated to suicide and eating disorders. Very often these are unhealthy places, and those lingering there are troubled people looking to inflict pain and/or bring others into their mad zones. There are many examples on display, such as the male nurse (a married, middle aged father and husband) who coaxed several young ladies into committing suicide. Would these people be behaving in these ways without the web? Probably not, but they probably would be feeling the same things that led them to act out there.
Bartlett is a good journalist, and he never forgets that this is a human story. He does not just examine subjects from a distance, he introduces us to some fascinating individuals, many of whom seem pretty likeable whether or not one approves of their behavior. It is a serious book, but one that is continually entertaining. A good journalist knows readers want salacious details and a glimpse of the freak show, but we also want an intelligent and well-researched presentation of what is going on in society. In "The Dark Net" Bartlett gives us both.
I listened to an audio version read superbly by Matt Bates, who here gives us more accents (and does them well) than in any other audiobook I can think of.
July 19, 2017
Porn, slut shaming, the Silk Road/ Ross Ulbricht, professional trollers who make a game of it, and the other less savory aspects of the internet, dubbed the Dark Net, are all covered in this book. I am not sure if this book wasn't captivating in its own right or I simply wasn't captivated because I had recently finished Nick Bilton's American Kingpin, with which this book cannot hope to compare. Even though Bilton's account of the Dark Net has a much narrower focus, Ross Ulbricht's Silk Road, and basically ignores the other aspects of the Dark Net, it is a million times more exciting and addicting to read.
This was just ok, and as I read, I found myself often thinking that each section had a few interesting things but I was never sure if I really felt motivated to continue. I trudged through and am glad I did, only because I love to know the seedier aspects of human nature, but considering the material this author had to work with, I think they could have done a better job at drawing in the reader.
This was just ok, and as I read, I found myself often thinking that each section had a few interesting things but I was never sure if I really felt motivated to continue. I trudged through and am glad I did, only because I love to know the seedier aspects of human nature, but considering the material this author had to work with, I think they could have done a better job at drawing in the reader.
August 17, 2017
A fascinating books covering online issues rarely examined yet profoundly important - the growth of radical political entities, online drug markets, and the democratisation of pornography. Bartlett meets with some of the actors behind the scenes who have some unlikely tales to tell. He then relates these stories back to us through the greater lens of human history and psychology, remaining surprisingly non-judgemental throughout. It's stretched a little thinly over the length of a novel, but this is top notch investigative journalism.
May 8, 2023
An interesting insight to the 'scary net'. Insightful and concise.
August 7, 2025
This book was a let down.
What is up with these books being published where you feel as if you're reading a wiki article of various events smashed together and made into a book?
The two stars come from the author's own journalistic approaches: buying meth off the dark web ; watching two girls get in on via webcam amongst a bunch of followers ; watching someone get trolled on /b/ watching a girl post her nude pictures and watching the fall out (and choosing not to do anything in support of her).
All in all, there has to be better dark web books out there.
What is up with these books being published where you feel as if you're reading a wiki article of various events smashed together and made into a book?
The two stars come from the author's own journalistic approaches: buying meth off the dark web ; watching two girls get in on via webcam amongst a bunch of followers ; watching someone get trolled on /b/ watching a girl post her nude pictures and watching the fall out (and choosing not to do anything in support of her).
All in all, there has to be better dark web books out there.
July 28, 2024
Listened to the audiobook.
This was interesting! But I got a bit bored at the end.
This was interesting! But I got a bit bored at the end.
December 26, 2017
Interesting disclosure of the internet's dark underbelly. Read it quick, it's already out of date.
December 12, 2023
I want to say up front that although I didn't really enjoy this book, it is probably because I am too opinionated and picky about these types of topics. Maybe it is because I have made a living creating web applications for twenty years or because I was one of those super-geeks who used the internet before there were any real browsers, but this book just didn't do it for me. I readily admit that my industry knowledge may have made it feel watered-down and that someone without my background may find it much more interesting.
That aside, there were other aspects of this book that I just couldn't ignore. One of the main problems is that it doesn't really deliver what the title and description promise. If I based my view of what the Dark Net consists of based on this book, I would come away thinking it was a few dozen "hidden" web sites, a single index page, an evil EBay clone, and some Usenet groups. This simply isn't the case. It is akin to someone writing a book about the World Wide Web and only including Wikipedia, Yahoo, LOLCats, and Reddit.
Another problem is the fixation throughout the book on child porn and drugs. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that both are prevalent on the dark net, but the amount of copy in this book dedicated to those two topics dwarfs everything else. This isn't a moral objection on my part, I just got tired of exploring these particular two topics in such depth at the expense of the many others that only got a cursory mention or were omitted entirely. I suspect that this dwelling on these topics were done for shock value more than literary completeness.
I also found it amusing that he took me through a moral crisis of coming close to breaking the law by almost clicking on a child porn link because he almost did something illegal, but offhandedly confessed to buying illegal drugs online without any more drama than if he was buying a Snoopy lunchbox on Ebay.
As a history of the web in general, this book does a pretty good job. It traces the web's roots in ARPANET and the growth of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and USENET. If that had been the focus of the book, I would have had a higher opinion of it because those sections were both well researched and fairly interesting. However, that isn't what this book was about and there are any number of good histories of the Internet already out there.
My overall impression is that this would make a great Wired magazine article, but there just wasn't enough content to justify the full-length book version.
That aside, there were other aspects of this book that I just couldn't ignore. One of the main problems is that it doesn't really deliver what the title and description promise. If I based my view of what the Dark Net consists of based on this book, I would come away thinking it was a few dozen "hidden" web sites, a single index page, an evil EBay clone, and some Usenet groups. This simply isn't the case. It is akin to someone writing a book about the World Wide Web and only including Wikipedia, Yahoo, LOLCats, and Reddit.
Another problem is the fixation throughout the book on child porn and drugs. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that both are prevalent on the dark net, but the amount of copy in this book dedicated to those two topics dwarfs everything else. This isn't a moral objection on my part, I just got tired of exploring these particular two topics in such depth at the expense of the many others that only got a cursory mention or were omitted entirely. I suspect that this dwelling on these topics were done for shock value more than literary completeness.
I also found it amusing that he took me through a moral crisis of coming close to breaking the law by almost clicking on a child porn link because he almost did something illegal, but offhandedly confessed to buying illegal drugs online without any more drama than if he was buying a Snoopy lunchbox on Ebay.
As a history of the web in general, this book does a pretty good job. It traces the web's roots in ARPANET and the growth of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and USENET. If that had been the focus of the book, I would have had a higher opinion of it because those sections were both well researched and fairly interesting. However, that isn't what this book was about and there are any number of good histories of the Internet already out there.
My overall impression is that this would make a great Wired magazine article, but there just wasn't enough content to justify the full-length book version.
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