“Can the government use hacking techniques to catch a
criminal, and, if so, what kind of warrant do they need?”—Andy Greenberg,
WIRED
It’s an important question that faces us in the second
decade of the 21st century. How do we maintain the privacy that is
so essential to our society when the internet allows for so many ways to
destroy it? Alex Winter’s “Deep Web” could someday make an interesting
companion piece to Laura Poitras’ award-winning “Citizenfour” in that both
films are about men whose fates are intertwined with that conversation about
privacy, legality and the gray area in between. Sadly, while Winter’s film,
which debuts on Epix on May 31st, raises some interesting talking
points, it doesn’t go much deeper than Greenberg’s question. Winter focuses so
tightly on the details of his chosen story that he fails to place it in the
context of overall issues of internet privacy, commerce and the drug war.
The title “Deep Web” refers to the underground portion of
the internet that is significantly bigger than what most of you access on a
daily basis. There were (and are) illegal things going on in the deep web, but
it is also a place for political and controversial speech not allowed by all
governments of the world. In other words, it’s important. It’s crucial to have
places online that support privacy to a degree that corporations and
dictatorships cannot interfere.
The lightning rod for the Deep Web’s emergence into the
public sphere was Silk Road, a web service that facilitated the sale of highly
illegal drugs. Managed by someone calling himself Dread Pirate Roberts (from “The
Princess Bride”), Silk Road had arguably positive intentions. The ineffective
war on drugs has killed thousands. Silk Road takes it out of the alleys and the
dangerous neighborhoods and arguably makes it a safer business transaction,
complete with a review process for drug dealers. Dread Pirate Roberts saw
himself as a leader of a movement—less government control, destruction of the
corrupt drug war. But was he a freedom fighter or a digital Tony Montana?
The government argued he was the latter and did everything
they could to bring him down, even learning his identity: Ross Ulbricht. How
did they do that? Well, that’s a good question. The exact route officials took
to Ulbricht’s identity is a bit of a crucial question mark in that their
explanation basically seems about as likely as getting hit by lightning twice. They
essentially claim they stumbled on to the real identity of Dread Pirate Roberts
through a Captcha loophole and started building their case. Said case included
a shocking accusation: DPR/Ulbricht had taken out a few hits on people he
wanted to see dead. Now, none of these people died, but folding these murder charges
into their conspiracy charges allowed them to paint Ulbricht as a nefarious
criminal, even though they never had to prove said murder charges. That’s
ridiculous.
By the end, “Deep Web” flirts with the bigger questions at
play here: who makes money on the drug war and would profit from shutting down
Silk Road? And even if you don’t agree with what Ulbricht did online, would you
really like to have a government who goes to illegal ends to shut him down?
“Deep Web” would have either worked better as a much tighter
TV special about Ulbricht or a more detailed, elaborate film. Instead, it falls
into a valley in between, feeling too unfocused to really offer much insight
into Ulbricht (if that’s even possible) while also missing out on essential
elements of the larger narrative that also includes polarizing figures like
Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. Narrated by Keanu Reeves, the vast majority
of “Deep Web” is disappointingly straightforward and factual: Then this
happened. Then that happened. Actual insight is too sparse in the film, and
the portrayal of DPR as a freedom fighter feels a bit thin. Winter speaks
mostly to Greenberg and Ulbricht’s family when it would have actually
strengthened his film to include more critics of Silk Road, Ulbricht and the
Deep Web overall. Most of all, one gets the sense that Winter was trying to hit
a moving target. This is a story that’s still being told and an important
chapter of American history that’s still being written. Ultimately, despite
some reasonably strong filmmaking, “Deep Web” feels too much like a footnote.
Source:: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deep-web-2015
