Unlike illicit trade in drugs, guns or pornography, illicit trade in rare species doesn\u2019t have to hide on the \u2018darknet\u2019 because people can find whatever they want in the open market.<\/p>\n
The so-called darknet is not required for trade in species such as rhino or elephant, because laws protecting wildlife trade online are so poorly enforced, research by the University of Kent suggests.<\/p>\n
In an article entitled Assessing the extent and nature of wildlife trade on the darknet, published in\u00a0Conservation Biology<\/em>, the lack of darknet markets was compared to the burgeoning trade on the open web, which researchers say indicates a lack of successful enforcement there.<\/p>\n The research collaboration between\u00a0Dr David Roberts<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology\u00a0<\/a>(DICE),\u00a0School of Anthropology and Conservation<\/a>, and\u00a0Dr Julio Hernandez-Castro<\/a>\u00a0and Joseph Harrison, PhD student, of the\u00a0Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security Research<\/a>\u00a0within the University\u2019s\u00a0School of Computing<\/a>, provides a first baseline for further research.<\/p>\n The illegal wildlife trade is facilitated by the global reach of the Internet that allows billions of transactions to take place every day without even the need for anonymity given the apparent low level of enforcement.<\/p>\n Growing concern has led to calls for bans, such as eBay\u2019s ban on ivory. However, this has led to fears the trade could move to the darknet where illegal activity is possible without the trader\u2019s true identity being revealed, as happened with drugs, firearms and pornography.<\/p>\n The research carried out is the first survey of wildlife trade on the anonymous networks that hide the location and identity of users. It adds a valuable contribution to the knowledge of internet wildlife trade by showing there is a negligible amount of trade on the darknet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"