[swartkrans]

> "Both agents declined to comment for this article, but according to two people briefed on the investigation..."

What are the odds the "two people" are "both agents"? That's like the lamest off the record attribution ever. Also amazing that some random agent using Google broke the case. Apparently anyone could have figured out who DPR was.

[Nicholas_C]

> Apparently anyone could have figured out who DPR was.

I think that's the most interesting part. Obviously not just everyone would have the knowledge that he would log in as DPR from a coffee shop a few hundred feet from his apartment, but they could still place him as a strong suspect based on his posts as altoid that identify himself and mention Silk Road. Something that even the FBI didn't do.

I tried to use google to find his post as altoid to no avail. Maybe it was taken down.

[1as]

- Altoid mentions Silk Road: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=175.msg42670#msg4267...

- Altoid identifies as Ross Ulbricht: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=47811.msg568744#msg5...

(Looks like the NYT got mixed up about which post was deleted)

[XorNot]

Also at some point the real IP of the silk road server was emitted via a lighthttpd config error.

Silk road was always going down, one way or another.

[smokeyj]

I thought the config error was debunked by his attorney. I think the question many people have is if parallel construction was at play and if TOR is compromised.

[nikcub]

I wrote about it here:

https://www.nikcub.com/posts/analyzing-fbi-explanation-silk-...

The FBI argument was 'leaky CAPTCHA'. The defense argument was that the application was hacked. The most likely scenario is an info leak or debug page as Ross was known to live edit/debug the application.

This evidence wasn't tested in court on 4th amendment grounds since the defense didn't demonstrate ownership of the server:

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/silk-road-judge-technicality/

[querulous]

buttcoin.com reported on the leaked ip when it happened, long before it was brought up in court. buttcoin.com was bought by butterfly labs and shut down when they had their assets frozen but dailydot reported on it here: http://www.dailydot.com/news/silk-road-ip-address-leak-drug-...

[meowface]

I notice Ulbricht uses two spaces to separate sentences there. Was this pattern also observed in DPR's posts?

[em3rgent0rdr]

citizen sleuths could figure out. But there is little motivation for ordinary folk to. Unlike the government which has a money interest.