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Cops arrest robot after it buys Ecstasy tablets with Bitcoin

Published Apr 22nd, 2015 9:45PM EDT
Robot Buys Ecstasy With Bitcoin Arrested

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Remember how Futurama thought it was being completely over the top when it introduced us to Bender, the alcoholic robot? Well that’s nothing: An actual robot in Switzerland has been busted for buying E.

MORE BITCOIN: Former Bitcoin coder and ALS patient is now being cryonically frozen

As CNBC reports, a group of Swiss artists last year decided it would be cool to program a bot to scour the “dark web” and buy $100 worth of random goods each week using a regular Bitcoin allowance. Among other things, the robot purchased a Hungarian passport, a baseball hat that had a hidden camera installed, and someone’s entire Lord of the Rings eBook collection. Oh, and it also bought some ecstasy too.

The idea was to display all this precious contraband at an art exhibit to reveal the seedy side of the Internet. Or something like that. It doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that police in Switzerland somehow caught wind of the bot’s dirty doings and then seized the computer and all the illegal items it had purchased. However, authorities did not charge any of the artists with purchasing E because they apparently never intended to sell it or use it themselves (HA HA HA YEAH RIGHT!).

The cops eventually returned both the computer and all the non-Ecstasy items it purchased back to the artists, who said this action was “a great day… for freedom of art!”

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.