I don't know what you think I'm trying to deflect from but if you spell it out for me I'm more than happy to be candid.
"A better analogy would be the founders of TPB. They went to jail for getting money from pirated content (ads). What do you think will happen to you when you try to extract any money at all from a network that people are using for darknet purposes?"
TPB is a search engine for pirated content. OB1 search, duosear.ch, and mubiz.com (the main 3 OB search engines) do not show illicit content. If anybody happens across some please notify us immediately.
"Except wait, you're insulated from these ill effects because your founders are former spooks. You have ties to protect you."
Brian used to work for Booz Allen. That's it. I don't know which others you're referring to. I highly doubt Brian has government protection.
"Especially the government?"
The government has no involvement in OpenBazaar but even if they did, so does Tor. What do you think the Tor project is trying to hide?!
"But if you're determined to build your business on the backs of these people, then I am determined to beat you."
If you truly believe it's such a horrible project (the scariest you've ever heard of you said), then trying to out compete us seems extremely hypocritical.
No more hypocritical than extending an offer to the person who offered to help me, then trying to point out it's hypocritical to compete with you. :)
When it's possible for a new technology to be created and fundamentally shape society, it will inevitably be created. There is a chance that you're right about OB. If you are, then the first entity to make this technology work will have a massive advantage, just like Bitcoin and Tor do. People look to the Bitcoin core dev team for ideological guidance. You will have a lot of influence.
Now, the fact that you plan to make money by offering a search feature changes nothing about the underlying usage of the network. You're adding Tor support. You know what that means, and what the implications are. Again, you are not being straight with us -- notify us of illegal content immediately? What marketing nonsense is this? Your Tor support will be the reason for the future illegal content.
You undoubtedly know this. When people are being so shifty, it seems best not to trust them. You won't just come out and say that your idea will never work if you limit yourself to eBay type items, because we already have a perfectly good eBay. Your darknet users are your lifeline.
"No more hypocritical than extending an offer to the person who offered to help me"
I did not think you were serious, and I apologize for poaching now that I know you were serious. I thought you were joking.
There are many cases for free markets than you seem to be worried about. I am not trying to hide the fact that people can use Tor and the internet to do things they should not do. The good outweighs the bad. I'm sorry you have such a sour disposition on our project but frankly it doesn't matter. You're a lot of bark and no bite.
Neither OB1 nor OpenBazaar is anybody's "lifeline", most of us gave things up in order to work on what we believe in. We're all fortunate enough to be able to do such a thing and in no way are relying on it to survive.
There are many cases for free markets than you seem to be worried about. I am not trying to hide the fact that people can use Tor and the internet to do things they should not do. The good outweighs the bad.
I'm sorry you have such a sour disposition on our project but frankly it doesn't matter. You're a lot of bark and no bite.
Oh really? Let's find out. Antagonizing people from a position of power has a nice tendency to backfire. And the fact that you'd do it publicly is further proof of the kind of people that are behind this.
"Oh really? Let's find out. Antagonizing people from a position of power has a nice tendency to backfire."
Heard a billion times. If you're right and they come for somebody as low level as me feel free to gloat.
"And the fact that you'd do it publicly is further proof of the kind of people that are behind this."
What on Earth does that mean? I'm more than proud to be working on this project and have no reason to not be public. But "what kind of people" are you talking about? How is being open about my identity some kind of shady signal?
You called our project the "scariest" you've ever seen. How am I the one being antagonistic? I've done nothing but try to assuage your concerns and wish you luck in your own venture. If you're not going to be cooperative and only make assertions of malcontent your venture will not go very far in this community.
Continuing this discussion in Slack would be great if you wouldn't mind. Faster back and forth. It's public and you can always publish the logs if you're worried about some sort of manipulation. If you're serious about entering the space you might not want to come in totally blind.
"A better analogy would be the founders of TPB. They went to jail for getting money from pirated content (ads). What do you think will happen to you when you try to extract any money at all from a network that people are using for darknet purposes?"
TPB is a search engine for pirated content. OB1 search, duosear.ch, and mubiz.com (the main 3 OB search engines) do not show illicit content. If anybody happens across some please notify us immediately.
"Except wait, you're insulated from these ill effects because your founders are former spooks. You have ties to protect you."
Brian used to work for Booz Allen. That's it. I don't know which others you're referring to. I highly doubt Brian has government protection.
"Especially the government?"
The government has no involvement in OpenBazaar but even if they did, so does Tor. What do you think the Tor project is trying to hide?!
"But if you're determined to build your business on the backs of these people, then I am determined to beat you."
If you truly believe it's such a horrible project (the scariest you've ever heard of you said), then trying to out compete us seems extremely hypocritical.