You'd be better off reading some of Gwern's posts about Silk Road, as this NPR piece contains fundamental inaccuracies.

http://www.gwern.net/Silk%20Road

> The Dread Pirate believed in total economic freedom, but in order to make his market work, he had to do some very bad things.

WTF. As if unsubstantiated, increasingly dubious allegations were actual established fact.

Read some quality reporting from Patrick Howell O'Neill instead: http://www.dailydot.com/authors/patrick-howell-oneill/