Hiding in Plain Sight: An Exploration of the Illegal(?) Activities of a Drugs Newsgroup

The Internet 2 is undoubtedly one of the most important communication advances of recent times, with the World Wide Web constituting the part that draws the most attention. Other components such as Usenet and Internet Relay Chat, however, largely remain abstruse. This article provides an examination of a drugs' newsgroup, which revealed that its activities provided a fertile environment to learn how to manufacture and distribute synthetic drugs and their precursors. This adds a new dimension to the way in which drugs are made available to consumers. While existing laws support the possible prosecution of group members, official attention to newsgroups with regard to preventing or reducing drug offending remains largely unknown, at least in the public domain.