Deep Web Bot Is Buying Ecstasy Online for Art

An installation art piece known as "The Random Darknet Shopper" just bought ecstasy online. The art piece is a laptop and bot combo that makes automatic purchases on the deep web. The deep web is known, among other things, as a hotbed for illegal activities. That it was able to purchase illegal drugs had made it a target of law enforcement, The Next Web reported.

The Random Darknet Shopper is the product of !Mediengruppe Bitnik. After the illicit purchase, Swiss police confiscated the laptop but eventually released it along with all the other purchases of the laptop/bot combination. Included in its purchases were a pair of fake Diesel jeans, a baseball cap with a hidden camera, a stash can, a pair of Nike trainers, 200 Chesterfield cigarettes, a set of fire brigade-issued master keys, a fake Louis Vuitton handbag and a Lord of the Rings e-book collection. The ecstasy pills, however, were destroyed, The Guardian reported.

Police were not able to keep the laptop since !Mediengruppe Bitnikwas able to prove that they are not responsible for the bot's automatic purchases. The bot uses Bitcoins for its purchases and is provided with a budget of $100 per week. "The Random Darknet Shopper is a live Mail Art piece, an exploration of the deep Web via the goods traded there. It directly connects the darknet with the gallery. By randomizing its consumerism, the bot is guaranteed a wide selection of goods from the thousands listed on deepweb markets," its creators said.

The Random Darknet Shopper used to trawl the Agora marketplace for its purchases. Since its closure, however, the bot has moved to Alpha Bay next. One very real concern is if another batch of drugs shows up at the door since the bot is scouring a marketplace of illegal items. !Mediengruppe Bitnik may no longer justify the purchase of illegal drugs to police if The Random Darknet Shopper decides to score some drugs again.

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