BE group read: CH 2

[Joseph Tracy]

Maxine suggests that the information Reg needs about hashslingerz would normally be easy to get to with Nexis Lexis, HotBot….

R “What I’m really looking for,” solemn more than impatient, “probably won’t be anyplace any search engine can get to.”  
M “Because . . . what you’re looking for . . .”
 R  “Just normal company records—daybooks, ledgers, logs, tax sheets. But try to have a look, and that’s when it gets weird, everything stashed away far far beyond the reach of LexisNexis.”

Here we get our first indication that there is a web that is not avilable to the public, except with special procedures and passwords , the deep web . This deep web operates in the novel in 2 ways, as the reality of a secret communication and infomation storage system and IMO as  a kind of digital subconscious where new forms  and arenas of consciousness are emerging, a telling reflection of our desires and hidden doings. 

Practically  It brings up questions out of my depth. I have a general idea of the the deepweb but plenty that I don’t understand at all. I assume it means code stored on servers as opposed to computers. So I will try to ask some questions and hope there are p-listers who understand this stuff better than I do and might be wiling to offer or direct us to good info.

Are there servers that are just private storage or are all servers required to register 
or have some trackable identity? What exactly does it mean to be indexed? How hidden can information be.
There are drug and contraband dealers who use the deep web. This and any other illicit use of the deep web is often called the dark web. Is access by word of mouth? what keeps them from being busted? are transactons possible here without known addresses? suggested articles?
on stored in the Deep Web be?  Are there search engines like deep archer that can find and make acessible the deep web. Has getting this access always been the essence of hacking?
It seems that P is suggesting digital tech opens new ways to hide money transactions etc. Has anyone tried to estimate the tax losses etc? Any thoughts on how much of this is going on?
Does anyone have more intelligent questions about this. I read the wikipedia article on this topic  last time we read BE and not much stuck.  I Will re-read more on the topic  but it’s definitely not my natural terrain. Pretty ok at photo editing and paint programs but that only as it relates to my own art processes and website.

 Some expertise in this area of the functioning of the Deep web/Dark Web would definitely add to understading BE.