NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom--and almost got away with it

In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything--drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons--free of the government's watchful eye.

It wasn't long before the media got wind of the new Web site where anyone--not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers--could buy and sell contraband detection-free. Spurred by a public outcry, the federal government launched an epic two-year manhunt for the site's elusive proprietor, with no leads, no witnesses, and no clear jurisdiction. All the investigators knew was that whoever was running the site called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.

The Silk Road quickly ballooned into $1.2 billion enterprise, and Ross embraced his new role as kingpin. He enlisted a loyal crew of allies in high and low places, all as addicted to the danger and thrill of running an illegal marketplace as their customers were to the heroin they sold. Through his network he got wind of the target on his back and took drastic steps to protect himself--including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the Feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren't sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet.

Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, Vanity Fair correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks and unbelievable close calls. It's a story of the boy next door's ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralized Web advocates and the old world of government control, order, and the rule of law. Filled with unforgettable characters and capped by an astonishing climax, American Kingpin might be dismissed as too outrageous for fiction. But it's all too real.

This book introduces blockchain technology applications in supply chains. Blockchain is a relatively new tool, nevertheless, there have been considerable advances over the last five years, and blockchain is now poised to revolutionize the conventional supply chains with the offering of accountability and quality to the wider complex supply networks. Based on literature reviews and original research, this book serves as an essential introduction to blockchain and its applications in supply chain. The unique features of the book are empirical studies to demonstrate the application of blockchain technology in food, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation and retail sectors. Each chapter includes research framework and open research questions. Simple narration of concept and detailed insights from primary research information. Use case narrative will provoke the readers to demystify the myths in application of concepts in the supply chain . Overall, the book demystifies blockchain technology, reviews evolution and outlines its future applications by blending contents to meet the expectations of both academic and practice community.

The internationalization of Chinese enterprises is one of the most notable aspects of economic globalization in the 21st century. Despite the 2008 financial crisis and weak global outbound investment, under the "go global" initiative, Chinese outbound investment has gone from strength to strength, while also diversifying in terms of investment modalities, destinations, and industries. However, growing anti-globalization sentiment in some countries has also created new challenges for Chinese firms expanding internationally. Drawing on nearly 3000 data samples, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this book presents unique insights into the features and patterns of Chinese enterprises' globalization. The analysis provides a useful reference for enterprises that have already gone global and those that plan to. In particular, this book investigates challenges confronted by Chinese companies when doing business in foreign countries. It summarizes research covering three angles, namely: the current situation, causation analysis and corresponding solutions, and recommendations for firms, government agencies and other institutions. This book provides a comprehensive overview to help readers to grasp the broad picture of the international expansion of Chinese enterprises. It has important reference value for enterprises to help devise foreign investment strategy, seize opportunities, and navigate challenges in the course of globalization.

Businesses are rushing to collect personal data to fuel surging demand. Data enthusiasts claim personal information that's obtained from the commercial internet, including mobile platforms, social networks, cloud computing, and connected devices, will unlock path-breaking innovation, including advanced data security. By contrast, regulators and activists contend that corporate data practices too often disempower consumers by creating privacy harms and related problems. As the Internet of Things matures and facial recognition, predictive analytics, big data, and wearable tracking grow in power, scale, and scope, a controversial ecosystem will exacerbate the acrimony over commercial data capture and analysis. The only productive way forward is to get a grip on the key problems right now and change the conversation. That's exactly what Jules Polonetsky, Omer Tene, and Evan Selinger do. They bring together diverse views from leading academics, business leaders, and policymakers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the new data economy.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 7th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications, ICETE 2010, held in Athens, Greece, in July 2010. The 28 revised full papers presented together with 1 invited paper in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 422 initial submissions. They have passed two rounds of selection and improvement. According to the topics of the particular conference the papers are organized in thematical parts on data communication networking (DCNET), e-business (ICE-B), optical communication systems (OPTICS), security and cryptography (SECRYPT), signal processing and multimedia applications (SIGMAP), wireless information networks and systems (WINSYS).

Practical advice for managers on how the Web and social media can help them to do their jobs better

Today's managers are faced with an increasing use of the Web and social platforms by their staff, their customers, and their competitors, but most aren't sure quite what to do about it or how it all relates to them. "Organizations Don't Tweet, People Do" provides managers in all sorts of organizations, from governments to multinationals, with practical advice, insight and inspiration on how the Web and social tools can help them to do their jobs better. From strategy to corporate communication, team building to customer relations, this uniquely people-centric guide to social media in the workplace offers managers, at all levels, valuable insights into the networked world as it applies to their challenges as managers, and it outlines practical things they can do to make social media integral to the tone and tenor of their departments or organizational cultures.A long-overdue guide to social media that talks directly to people in the real world in which they workGrounded in the author's unparalleled experience consulting on social media, it features eye-opening accounts from some of the world's most successful and powerful organizationsGives managers at all levels and in every type of organization the context and the confidence to make better decisions about the social web and its impact on them

Take advantage of the skyrocketing popularity of podcasts and learn how your business can use the unique opportunity to stand out and drive loyal engagement with target audiences, using this complete guide to podcast marketing - written by the hosts of the global top ten iTunes podcast, The Digital Marketing Podcast. Podcasting is a hugely persuasive, yet under-utilized channel accessed by an affluent and influential demographic. In a crowded and noisy digital environment, it gives organizations, brand builders and marketers the unique opportunity to stand out and drive engagement with target audiences, with accurate and measurable levels of allegiance that can only be dreamed of on other digital channels. This book is the complete guide to the podcast environment. It describes the importance of podcasting for businesses and explains why, uniquely, it has the highest level of consumer commitment than any other social media. Written by award-winning author Daniel Rowles, and his co-host of the global top ten iTunes podcast, The Digital Marketing Podcast, this book: -Explains how podcasting can drive business results -Advises on how to record, edit, and advertise your content -Provides a unique digital marketing toolkit -Is supported by case studies from influential organizations around the globe Quite simply, Podcasting Marketing Strategy is the definitive authority to making and publishing podcasts that deliver quantifiable results.

This book explores a wide range of emerging cultural, heritage, and other tourism issues that will shape the future of hospitality and tourism research and practice in the digital and innovation era. It offers stimulating new perspectives in the fields of tourism, travel, hospitality, culture and heritage, leisure, and sports within the context of a knowledge society and smart economy. A central theme is the need to adopt a more holistic approach to tourism development that is aligned with principles of sustainability; at the same time, the book critically reassesses the common emphasis on innovation as a tool for growth-led and market-oriented development. In turn, fresh approaches to innovation practices underpinned by ethics and sustainability are encouraged, and opportunities for the exploration of new research avenues and projects on innovation in tourism are highlighted. Based on the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (IACuDiT) and edited in collaboration with IACuDiT, the book will appeal to a broad readership encompassing academia, industry, government, and other organizations.

Shedding new light on the human side of big data through the lenses of emotional and social intelligence competencies, this book advances the understanding of the requirements of the different professions that deal with big data. It also illustrates the empirical evidence collected through the application of the competency-based methodology to a sample of data scientists and data analysts, the two most in-demand big data jobs in the labor market. The book provides recommendations for the higher education system to offer better designed curricula for entry-level big data professions. It also offers managerial insights in describing how organizations and specifically HR practitioners can benefit from the competency-based approach to overcome the skill shortage that characterizes the demand for big data professional roles and to increase the effectiveness of the selection and recruiting processes.

This book discusses trade relations and facilitation issues at both the regional and the continental African level, highlighting the increasing business opportunities and challenges that confront Africa in the digital age. It also examines the effects of trade policies and other policy instruments on Africa's economic development and presents workable policy measures for a more business-friendly ecosystem. Discussing various topics, including trade relations between African countries, African and international trade agreements, and trade liberalization policies, the book appeals to scholars of economics, business and management as well as professionals and policymakers interested in fostering free trade and sustainable business development in Africa.

"Share This" is a practical handbook to the biggest changes taking place in the media and its professions by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Social Media Panel. The book was conceived and written by more than 20 public relations practitioners representing a cross-section of public, private and voluntary sector expertise using many of the social tools and techniques that it addresses.

The book is split into 26 chapters over eight topic areas covering the media and public relations industry, planning, social networks, online media relations, monitoring and measurement, skills, industry change and the future of the industry. It's a pragmatic guide for anyone that works in public relations and wants to continue working in the industry.

"Share This "was edited by Stephen Waddington with contributions from: Katy Howell, Simon Sanders, Andrew Smith, Helen Nowicka, Gemma Griffiths, Becky McMichael, Robin Wilson, Alex Lacey, Matt Appleby, Dan Tyte, Stephen Waddington, Stuart Bruce, Rob Brown, Russell Goldsmith, Adam Parker, Julio Romo, Philip Sheldrake, Richard Bagnall, Daljit Bhurji, Richard Bailey, Rachel Miller, Mark Pack, and Simon Collister.

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 18th Workshop on e-Business, WeB 2019, which took place in Munich, Germany, in December 2019. The purpose of WeB is to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss findings, novel ideas, and lessons learned to address major challenges and map out the future directions for e-Business. The WeB 2019 theme was "Smart Business: Technology and Data Enabled Innovative Business Models and Practices." The 20 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 42 submissions. The contributions are organized in topical sections as follows: crowdfunding and blockchain; business analytics; digital platforms and social media; managing e-Business projects and processes; and global e-Business.

This book constitutes papers from the workshops held at the 18th IFIP WG 6.11 Conference on e-Business, e-Services, and e-Society, I3E 2019, which took place in Trondheim, Norway, in September 2019. The 11 full papers and 4 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 33 submissions to the following workshops: DTIS: Digital Transformation for an Inclusive Society TPSIE: Trust and Privacy Aspects of Smart Information Environments 3(IT): Innovative Teaching of Introductory Topics in Information Technology CROPS: CROwd-Powered e-Services

This book examines issues and implications of digital and social media marketing for emerging markets. These markets necessitate substantial adaptations of developed theories and approaches employed in the Western world. The book investigates problems specific to emerging markets, while identifying new theoretical constructs and practical applications of digital marketing. It addresses topics such as electronic word of mouth (eWOM), demographic differences in digital marketing, mobile marketing, search engine advertising, among others. A radical increase in both temporal and geographical reach is empowering consumers to exert influence on brands, products, and services. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and digital media are having a significant impact on the way people communicate and fulfil their socio-economic, emotional and material needs. These technologies are also being harnessed by businesses for various purposes including distribution and selling of goods, retailing of consumer services, customer relationship management, and influencing consumer behaviour by employing digital marketing practices. This book considers this, as it examines the practice and research related to digital and social media marketing.

This book analyzes the effects of the latest technological advances in blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) on business operations and strategies. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the contributions examine new developments that change the rules of traditional management. The chapters focus mainly on blockchain technologies and digital business in the "Industry 4.0" context, covering such topics as accounting, digitalization and use of AI in business operations and cybercrime. Intended for academics, blockchain experts, students and practitioners, the book helps business strategists design a path for future opportunities.

Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform how the accounting and financial services industries engage with the business, stakeholder and consumer communities. Presenting a blend of technical analysis with current and future applications, this book provides professionals with an action plan to embrace and move forward with these new technologies in financial and accounting organizations. It is written in a conversational style that is unbiased and objective, replacing jargon and technical details with real world case examples.

Social media has received considerable attention, and many potential benefits, as well as concerns, are now being discussed. This book explores how social media can successfully support business processes in marketing, sales and service in the context of customer relationship management (CRM). It presents the fundamentals of Social CRM and shows how small and large companies alike have implemented it. In turn, the book presents analytic and operational software tools that offer features for enhancing and streamlining interactions with customers. The book concludes with an overview of essential design areas that businesses need to bear in mind when introducing social media into their CRM strategies. In this regard, it also points out key success factors, limitations, and data protection aspects.

This open access book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of knowledge on the state of crowdfunding research and practice. It considers crowdfunding models and their different manifestations across a variety of geographies and sectors, and explores the perspectives of fundraisers, backers, platforms, and regulators. Gathering insights from a wide range of influential researchers in the field, the book balances concepts, theory, and case studies. Going beyond previous research on crowdfunding, the contributors also investigate issues of community, sustainability, education, and ethics. A vital resource for anyone researching crowdfunding, this book offers readers a deep understanding of the characteristics, business models, user-relations, and behavioural patterns of crowdfunding.

Competition policy debates on digital platform markets are often premised on the idea that market fragmentation and the standard forces of competition and entry may provide a potential solution to excessive concentration and market power. In this work, Francesco Ducci provides readers with a different perspective based on the theoretical lens of natural monopoly. Ducci explores this framework through the development of three case studies on horizontal search, e-commerce marketplaces, and ride-hailing platforms, investigating the strength and limit of potential (and often heterogeneous) sources of natural monopoly at play in each industry. Building on these case studies, the book then derives from the application of the natural monopoly framework general policy implications for digital industries by identifying the respective institutional flaws and shortcomings of ex ante and ex post approaches to market power as one of the central challenges in digital platform markets.

This new Edition of Electronic Commerce is a complete update of the leading graduate level/advanced undergraduate level textbook on the subject. Electronic commerce (EC) describes the manner in which transactions take place over electronic networks, mostly the Internet. It is the process of electronically buying and selling goods, services, and information. Certain EC applications, such as buying and selling stocks and airline tickets online, are reaching maturity, some even exceeding non-Internet trades. However, EC is not just about buying and selling; it also is about electronically communicating, collaborating, and discovering information. It is about e-learning, e-government, social networks, and much more. EC is having an impact on a significant portion of the world, affecting businesses, professions, trade, and of course, people. The most important developments in EC since 2014 are the continuous phenomenal growth of social networks, especially Facebook , LinkedIn and Instagram, and the trend toward conducting EC with mobile devices. Other major developments are the expansion of EC globally, especially in China where you can find the world's largest EC company. Much attention is lately being given to smart commerce and the use of AI-based analytics and big data to enhance the field. Finally, some emerging EC business models are changing industries (e.g., the shared economy models of Uber and Airbnb). The 2018 (9th) edition, brings forth the latest trends in e-commerce, including smart commerce, social commerce, social collaboration, shared economy, innovations, and mobility.

The spread of the Internet into all areas of business activities has put a particular focus on business models. The digitalization of business processes is the driver of changes in company strategies and management practices alike. This textbook provides a structured and conceptual approach, allowing students and other readers to understand the commonalities and specifics of the respective business models. The book begins with an overview of the business model concept in general by presenting the development of business models, analyzing definitions of business models and discussing the significance of the success of business model management. In turn, Chapter 2 offers insights into and explanations of the business model concept and provides the underlying approaches and ideas behind business models. Building on these foundations, Chapter 3 outlines the fundamental aspects of the digital economy. In the following chapters the book examines various core models in the business to consumer (B2C) context. The chapters follow a 4-C approach that divides the digital B2C businesses into models focusing on content, commerce, context and connection. Each chapter describes one of the four models and provides information on the respective business model types, the value chain, core assets and competencies as well as a case study. Based on the example of Google, Chapter 8 merges these approaches and describes the development of a hybrid digital business model. Chapter 9 is dedicated to business-to-business (B2B) digital business models. It shows how companies focus on business solutions such as online provision of sourcing, sales, supportive collaboration and broker services. Chapter 10 shares insight into the innovation aspect of digital business models, presenting structures and processes of digital business model innovation. The book is rounded out by a comprehensive case study on Google/Alphabet that combines all aspects of digital business models. Conceived as a textbook for students in advanced undergraduate courses, the book will also be useful for professionals and practitioners involved in business model innovation, and applied researchers.