For my final blog I wanted to expand on the dark side of communication and what I personally would have enjoyed being added to the course. In lab today I discussed we were told to pick a topic we would like to have covered and what I chose was silk road. I have always found Silk road which was considered the online black market, to be very interesting and shocking. It amazes me that a website that sold contraband such as Drugs, fake Id's, and even guns at one point could remain up and usable for over two years.
        Of course with something this hazardous and against the law, you can only imagine the incredible software and encryption that were able to not only keep the website from being shut down but also from keeping the creator and all of the consumers completely anonymous. Really making you wonder how something of this caliber is truly possible.  The answer is probably as convoluted as you expect, the website was created and could only be accessed on a hidden network know as TOR or the onion router. TOR was created by government officials, top mathematicians and other government specialists initially intended to send and protect anonymous government intelligence communications in 1993. It was then expanded and used by the public in 1997. Onion routing is essentially placing layers upon layers of encryption on everything you send virtually impossible to trace. When ever you attempt to trace it thousands of different encryption come at you making the actual IP Address you would be looking for impossible to find.
        The next process involves actual payment in order to prevent a paper trail the all of the purchases on Silk Road were made entirely with bit coins, which is an online currency that is also impossible to trace back to an individual. So for over two years this website was up and made billions of dollars, most of which accounted for 70% of all sales. The FBI and NSA eventually managed to shut down the website in 2013 and the alleged man responsible for silk road is Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht denies the charges and is set to have his trial in January.
          I thoroughly enjoyed this course throughout the year, I think it made me understand the internet a lot better  and introduced to a lot of new different ideas and perspectives. If you guys were looking for information to add to the course I think touching on Silk Road would be a great addition.That would do a good job of making people question there opinions on how involved the government should be on the internet. Furthermore the fact that alleged perpetrator Ross Ulbricht is a Penn State Alumni could potentially make it more relevant and interesting. all in all I would like to thank you for everything as I truly enjoyed this course.