RESEARCH METHODS AND LEGAL WRITING

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

EXPLORING DARK WEB: CRIMES & LEGAL

CHALLENGES

B SRIVALLI SAILAJA

2023-1LLM-14

SEM-I LLM

NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW, HYDERABAD

SUBMITTED TO:

PROF. AMITA DHANDA &

PROF. CHIMIRALA UMA MAHESHWARI

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................2
WHAT IS DARK WEB?..........................................................................................................2
WORKING OF DARK WEB- THE CONCEPT..................................................................3
WHY IS IT A MATTER OF CONCERN?- THE CONTEXT.............................................4
REVIEW OF LITERATURE..................................................................................................4
CONSTITUTIONAL RATIONALE......................................................................................6
PERSONAL LIBERTY VERSUS PUNISHING UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR.................6
RESEARCH QUESTIONS.....................................................................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................7
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION

The dark web remains a frequent topic in the news, with reports of young
individuals sharing home-made pornography, cyber bullies and online trolls
harassing strangers, hackers stealing and disclosing personal photos,
political or religious extremists spreading their propaganda, hiring hitmen
and running assassination markets and illegal goods such as drugs and
confidential documents being easily accessible with just a few clicks. Despite
these frequent headlines, the dark web is still a world that is mostly
unexplored and little understood.

WHAT IS DARK WEB?

To begin with, there are three layers of the internet namely the surface web,
the deep web and the dark web. First, the Surface Web (Open Web or Clear
Web in other synonyms) represents all the websites and is basically the

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internet as we know it. This layer is open to the public and is easily
accessible because search engines can index them. Then comes that part of
the internet, the Deep web which is not accessible to everyone in general but
can be accessed only through protected pins and passwords such as
banking sites, paid subscriptions, etc. These are not directly accessible by
the engines for different reasons related to the operational functions of the
websites. It is estimated this part of the internet is at more than 90% of the
entire web.
Now, within the deep web, there is another realm known as the Dark web
that uses special encryption software to hide users’ identities and IP
addresses and is the most difficult-to-access part of the internet. 1

WORKING OF DARK WEB- THE CONCEPT

The search engines like Google Chrome, Bing, etc. fail to penetrate into the
dark web as these websites can only be accessed using the domain .onion
which can only be accessible by the TOR browser or other browsers with a
TOR interface. TOR stands for the Onion Ring, which the dark web is
analogous to. Just like an onion, there are layers of encryption and
anonymity associated with the dark web. The dark web has been utilized by
users for both legal and illicit activities. It relies on a technique known as
"onion routing," which masks users against monitoring and tracking by
taking them along a haphazard route of encrypted servers. Users who access
websites using Tor have their information routed through thousands of relay
points, hiding their browsing activity and making it nearly hard to monitor
them.

Onion routing provides enhanced security by encrypting data multiple

times and routing it through several servers, making it difficult for attackers
to intercept or tamper with the communication usually, these acts are
carried out using Virtual Private Networks (VPN) which act as the backbone
of the dark web, especially when someone is using the dark web with

1
Mostafa Soliman, ‘Layers of the Internet: The Challenge of the Dark Web and the Need for
an International Legal Framework’, 2023, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24958.46404.

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criminal intent. Using a VPN enables the user to connect with the internet
by hiding their IP address and thus, making an encrypted tunnel for the
user to surf through.

It is also resistant to Traffic Analysis i.e. makes it difficult for

attackers to analyse the traffic patterns and identify the source and
destination of the communication. And most importantly, it hides the IP
addresses of the sender and receiver thereby enhancing privacy and
security. It is also decentralized i.e. there is no single central authority or
centre to have control over it which enables it to access content and pages
which are banned by the governments as well as the internet service
providers.

WHY IS IT A MATTER OF CONCERN? - THE CONTEXT

There has been an alarming increase in the use of the Dark web for various
activities which has become a cause of concern to legal agencies all over the
world owing to the anonymity of the activities that are facilitated in that part
of the internet. Dark Web describes an idea more than a particular place:
internet underworlds set apart yet connected to the internet we inhabit,
worlds of freedom and anonymity, where users say and do what they like,
often uncensored, unregulated, and outside of society’s norms. It is true
that the dark web has been home to various crimes and illegal activities but
it has also allowed various civil liberties groups and millions of such people
to browse anonymously and securely. But since the dangers outweigh the
advantages, it is all the more important to delve into this issue. Lack of
knowledge about what the dark web is and how criminals have begun to
leverage it is a key problem.2

2
Goodison, Sean E., Dulani Woods, Jeremy D. Barnum, Adam R. Kemerer, and
Brian A. Jackson, Identifying Law Enforcement Needs for Conducting Criminal
Investigations Involving Evidence on the Dark Web. Santa Monica, CA: RAND
Corporation, 2019. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2704.html.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. The case of United States v. Ulbricht3 was a high-profile trial in the
Southern District of New York involving Ross Ulbricht a.k.a. “Dread
Pirate Roberts” who was accused of being the operator of the Silk
Road, an online black market for the sale of illicit drugs. The Silk
Road case was significant for several reasons. It highlighted the
challenges of law enforcement in dealing with illegal activities on the
dark web and the use of cryptocurrency for illicit transactions. It also
raised important questions about internet privacy, government
surveillance, and the limits of online anonymity. It brought attention
to the complex legal and ethical issues surrounding the dark web and
the sale of illegal goods and services online.

2. To better understand the challenges with respect to the dark web the
RAND Corporation and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), on
behalf of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), convened a workshop to
bring together a diverse group of practitioners and researchers to
identify the highest-priority problems and potential solutions related
to evidence on the dark web and developed a report. The focus was on
developing an actionable research and development agenda that will
enhance law enforcement's ability to understand and investigate illicit
activity on the dark web.

3. The paper “Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement Jurisdiction

on the Dark Web”4 extensively dealt with the jurisdiction aspect of the
dark web as it is a borderless offence. The transactions might happen
from one computer situated in one country to an anonymous
computer at a hidden address in another country. The paper provides
for suggestion as to dealing with the cross-border jurisdiction

3
United States v. Ulbricht, 14-cr-68 (KBF) (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2014)
4
Ahmed Ghappour, ‘Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement Jurisdiction on the Dark
Web’, SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2742706.

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 concerns and cooperation of various international bodies for cyber
investigation. It also provides for the need of an international
regulatory framework while using network investigative techniques.

4. It has been cited in the article Modern World Dark Web: A Theoretical
Perspective5 that countries like USA and Germany supported the
websites like TOR and have in fact funded them. But the other
countries strictly opposed dark web and VPNs in their jurisdictions
viz- Iraq, Turkmenistan, and Belarus. While countries like China,
Russia and UAE have restricted access to VPNs.

5. ‘The Dark Net- inside the digital underworld’ written by Jamie Bartlett,
published in the year 2015."The Dark Net" offers a thought-provoking
examination of the internet's underbelly. Bartlett's writing is engaging,
and his extensive research is evident throughout the book. He
presents a balanced view of the dark net, highlighting its potential for
both harm and good. The book serves as a cautionary tale about the
complexities of the digital age, emphasizing the need for responsible
online behaviour and regulation.

CONSTITUTIONAL RATIONALE

Since the larger part of cyber-criminals tend to use anonymity and

encryption as their shield to commit such offences, the major threat that
present laws pose is giving the chance to these cyber criminals to escape
from their liabilities since their identity cannot always be revealed and thus,
the benefit of doubt comes to their rescue. Striving for such penal provisions
as mentioned above mitigates the threat to the right to speech and
expression vis-à-vis the right to access the internet as well as ensures the

5
‘191Modern World Dark Web.Pdf’, accessed 5 October 2023,
https://amity.edu/UserFiles/aijem/191Modern%20World%20Dark%20Web.pdf.

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check and balance on the use of the dark web as a medium to commit
forbidden acts of crime.

PERSONAL LIBERTY VERSUS PUNISHING UNETHICAL

BEHAVIOUR

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Anuradha Bhasin v.

Union Of India6 recognized the Right to access the internet within the ambit
of the personal liberties granted under Article 21 of the Constitution of
India. The question now is whether the government in the name of curbing
online crime restricts such rights granted by the Constitution.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Whether the existing cyber laws and conventions comprehensive

enough to address the complexities of the dark web?
2. Whether regulating or imposing a blanket ban on the use of the dark
web in India amounts to an infringement of the Right to internet
under Article 21 of the Constitution of India?
3. Whether there can be a standard investigation procedure created to
debunk dark web crimes?
4. Whether regularizing ethical hacking for the purpose of dark web
investigation increase privacy concerns and in turn, infringe the right
to privacy under Article 21?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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2020 SCC Online SC 25

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The methodology opted for the current research is doctrinal as it involves a
review of various laws and reports all over the world and an analysis of the
works of various authors in the area of the dark web.

REFERENCES

1. Mostafa Soliman, ‘Layers of the Internet: The Challenge of the Dark

Web and the Need for an International Legal Framework’, 2023,
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24958.46404.
2. Goodison, Sean E., Dulani Woods, Jeremy D. Barnum, Adam R.
Kemerer, and Brian A. Jackson, Identifying Law Enforcement Needs for
Conducting Criminal Investigations Involving Evidence on the Dark
Web. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2019.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2704.html.
3. United States v. Ulbricht, 14-cr-68 (KBF) (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2014)
4. Ahmed Ghappour, ‘Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement
Jurisdiction on the Dark Web’, SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016,
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2742706.
5. ‘Modern World Dark Web’, accessed 5 October 2023,
https://amity.edu/UserFiles/aijem/191Modern%20World%20Dark
%20Web.pdf.
6. Anuradha Bhasin v. Union Of India 2020 SCC Online SC 25