The meteoric rise of the internet brought with it the installation in the network of individuals whose activities are the reflection of how far the human being can reach in its purpose of degradation: white slavery, drug or arms trafficking, through chats, forums, or classified ad groups to which anyone can have access from their home.
In 2001, the twins Belinda and Kimberly were purchased by an American couple and later resold to Judith and Alan Kilshaw, an odd couple from Wales. The operation was developed through the virtual agency Caring Heart Adoption. The sale of humans and their organs is immoral and illegal in our society. Despite this, in 1999, the online auction company eBay discovered that three infants and two kidneys were being offered on its website—a case that reached a bid of 5.7 million dollars before its withdrawal and which compelled the introduction of the first ethical self-regulation policies on the network. Shortly thereafter, several Chinese portals were discovered auctioning non-vital human organs. The leading internet technology company NetEase offered the possibility of acquiring corneas, lungs, and kidneys.
Rons Angels, taking advantage of the legal loophole existing in the American justice system, even offered on its controversial page eggs from young models, generally from countries in Eastern Europe. Transactions ranged between 15,000 and 150,000 dollars. Going even further, Clones ‘R’ Us proposed the possibility of cloning after paying acquisition licenses.
Another case widely commented on in the world press was the Principality of Sealand, a virtual country founded in 1967 by Roy Bates and his wife Joan, which is nothing more than an oil platform—the former military structure HM Fort Roughs—in the North Sea. Its main source of income is sustained by the sale of noble titles through the internet, leveraging the fact that its location outside British territorial waters turned this point into an academic anomaly regarding the privatisation of sovereignty. It is also possible to purchase one square metre of territory for 33 dollars.
Regarding more heavily prosecuted issues such as drug or arms trafficking, operations are always carried out via personal messages or through secret pages only accessible via the Tor network. Sites selling vitamins hide among their products thousands of varieties of illegal pharmaceuticals. At present, in the United States, there is a worrying number of online auction sites where weapons are marketed along with their licenses, almost always illegal. In October 1999, a missile, a grenade launcher, and a bazooka were located on eBay.
The birth of the new culture of virtual commerce facilitated the emergence of a new concept within the criminal underworld: the cybercriminal.
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