Comment Re:Snowden leaks: NSA data now used by DEA, others (Score 1) 191
Often, I see TV shows that dramatize the hindrance of proper procedure to convict a "bad guy". But what threat does Silk Road represent versus government agencies that use illegal data collection and secret information to convict people? More people die from legal prescriptions than illegal -- but regardless of what anyone believes about Silk Road's activities, they bypass laws that are designed to protect people (whether they do or not). While the justice system is bypassing it's own rules, or eroding legal protections.
Look at it this way; if all data is collected, and there are so many RULES we can break - then with enough data mining, all people at some point are breaking a RULE even if it does no harm to anyone else. Everyone is guilty. Enforcement then becomes merely a process of picking and choosing where you bother to enforce the law.
Silk Road isn't the "little guy", nor the big bad guy -- but I don't like the idea of secret information in any court case. It's the end of free expression because anyone who offends the system is already guilty. The trial is merely a formality.