“Freedom is a huge responsibility and a rare privilege. When you take on it, it’s better…

“Freedom is a huge responsibility and a rare privilege. When you take on it, it’s better to know what you’re doing.”

Spontaneous fact about me - I love cinema. I love completely different films, but I never thought that I would write about it in my channel about IoT, cybersecurity and other IT fun. But it so happened that a film caught my eye, which turned out to be interesting to me not as a lover of good cinema, but as a security professional. And now you are already reading this post 😌

What kind of movie? 🧐

"Asocial Network" (original title - "Silk Road" ) from director Tiller Russell. The film is not a documentary, but a feature, but is based on the true story of Ross Ulbricht and his scandalous Silk Road platform. It turned out to be an interesting thriller, telling about how the underground darknet marketplace worked, and how it was all eventually closed ( including Ross himself ). Let's give a short summary to make it clearer what we're talking about 🔎

Silk Road - a site on the darknet, well-known ( and notorious ) because it was possible to anonymously buy something that could not be obtained legally: drugs, fake documents, weapons and other illegal things . They paid there in bitcoins, and gained access through Tor ( if you want a post about the darknet and Tor, put an emoji ⚡ to this post ). If you are far from the darknet and all that, then know: yes, this is not fiction. You can buy weapons, drugs, CPU, user data, access to bank accounts and much more online. And I will immediately make a reservation that all this is evil, and I sharply condemn those who participate in it

The main figure of the whole story is Ross Ulbricht , aka Dread Pirate Roberts. A young idealist who believed in complete freedom of the market and anonymity on the Internet. It would seem that libertarian views and the desire for absolute freedom of speech are not a bad thing in themselves ( the same Julian Assange does not cause me any negativity ). But the film clearly shows how good ideas can turn into a very dark side, when the principle of “freedom without borders” begins to work against the person himself.

What did you like? 😍

The film runs quite briskly, without drawn-out scenes. Filmed in a “cat and mouse” format between Ulbricht and the DEA agent who is in the process of exposing him. It's interesting to see how both risk everything, but for diametrically opposed reasons. Even if using artistic techniques, the film gives a general idea of ​​how people managed to organize an entire empire underground. It also reminds us that anonymity on the Internet is not such an absolute thing ( forget it, she's gone )

Is everything so great? ☹

The film explicitly states that it is based on investigative journalism, and some of the stories and scenes are embellished. So, if you are expecting strictly documentary accuracy, there is none here (as in all films based on real events). Some points seemed too simplified to me (the creators either avoided complex technical details or felt that they would alienate a wide audience ). Not all plot lines are resolved, and at the end there is a feeling that something was left unsaid. Perhaps this was done to let the viewer figure it out for himself, but personally I wanted a little more facts

Impressions from the film 🤔

The film is captivating and allows you to look into the topic of underground cyberculture. It is especially interesting to look at the director’s attempt to show Ross’s internal conflict. The way he descended from high ideals and theses about freedom always and in everything to the realization that freedom can turn into chaos if it is not controlled. And yes, the picture really reminds us that ultimately, behind any links and pseudonyms there are living people with their own motives, fears and beliefs

Subjectively I would rate it 7/10 . This is not an all-time masterpiece, but, overall, a good film that makes you think about the nature of anonymity on the Internet and the perception of the concept of “Freedom” in the modern world. I don't regret watching it

What interesting things have you watched lately? 📺

P.S. January 22 this year Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht , who had been serving a life sentence since 2015. We live in interesting times 😳

#film_review
#information_security