TOR isnt distributed cryptography, its just a series of proxies. If you dont encrypt your actual payload people on the network can snoop with ease - and do. (It stands for The Onion Router ). Joining the network, and snooping on all the traffic people dont bother to encrypt is actually a favorite pasttime of quite a few people, and intelligence agencies.

And... wtf are you doing trying to bring "net neutrality" into the discussion? Has no relevance.

Anyhow, I have heard of silk road and look forward to reading the article.

For who could be free when every other man's humour might domineer over him? - John Locke (2nd Treatise, sect 57)