It's surprising how much effort some on HN will go through to insist the case against Ulbricht must be completely invalid somehow. Several people in this thread have already assumed that because the FBI has his laptop, that must mean they stole it without a warrant. And now, if they found his diary, well, they must have planted it.

You may have to come to terms with the possibility that the FBI actually has a case supported by evidence obtained through legal means.

DPR definitely broke the law, there's no question about that. A lot of us think it's an unjust law, but whatever. He may have also put out hits on people (though, curiously, he is not being charged for that). If that's the case then he's also a danger to society and really does belong in prison.

But, it is immensely frustrating, even heartbreaking when you consider the cost in human lives, that given the choice between something like Silk Road and Mexican drug cartels, we as a society have apparently chosen Mexican drug cartels, and all the gut-wrenching bloodshed and destabilization they bring.

I'm reserving judgement on Ulbricht the person, but what he did should not be illegal, for reasons ideological, practical, and humanitarian.

I'm not entirely certain that black markets are the best way to facilitate a safe drug trade, but given a choice between Silk Road and more violent alternatives, Silk Road seems like the obvious better choice.

Right. Aside from, or in spite of, being a black market (by necessity), Silk Road was pretty benign compared to the alternatives. Surely Silk Road was taking some profits away from drug cartels. Probably not much, but a legal market would put them out of business. Now with Silk Road gone, all that trade is back under the umbrella of the cartels again, and the profits are theirs.

No, he is being charged for that. It's a separate case.

This same narrative also played out during the Hans Reiser arrest/trial. Even after his conviction (due in no small part to his own testimony), people were still defending him -- up until he revealed the location of the body in return for a reduced sentence.

I agree it does read that way.

But the most reasonable explanation is that an arrogant narcissist (classic Dunning-Kruger) wrote it.

The FBI did not write it.