Is peer-to-peer drug dealing illegal for the developer?
<p>If a developer were to develop a distributed web app which essentially connected drug dealers to clients in the physical world, what would the legal ramifications be for the developer?</p>

<p><strong>Details</strong></p>

<p>Suppose a developer created a peer-to-peer drug distribution app (as an excersize), similar to 'Uber Eats' that uses the Etherium blockchain to store critical pieces of data and transactions. Could the developer be charged for drug dealing on a large scale, or with other crimes, for creating this distribution network. </p>

<p>If this is simply created as practice, or for educational purposes, I don't see that it would be illegal. But if it were placed on the net in such a way that actual drug dealers would be likely to find and use it, and particularly if the developer charged for access to it, the developer might be charged as an accessory do drug distribution, or with conspiracy, or there might be other charges, depending on the jurisdiction. It is hard to see many legitimate uses for such software, if it is specifically aimed at drug dealing. It might be better to change the model to some other kind of exchange basis.</p>

<p>This is precisely what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Silk Road</a> was - the developer got life in prison without the possibility of parole.</p>

criminal-law software drugs