Robot arrested for buying illegal items with bitcoin (Photo : Reuters)
Authorities in Switzerland have arrested a robot for purchasing illegal items online including Ecstasy, a Hungarian passport and a baseball cap with a built-in-camera.
According to CNBC, the robot called Random Darknet Shopper was able to purchase these items using $100 worth of weekly Bitcoin shopping allowance. The robot was reportedly programmed to shop and surf the "dark web" last October by a Swiss art group.
The art group !Mediengruppe Bitnik set up the robot to explore the hidden and un-indexed part of the Internet, BGR reported.
The robot would visit online marketplaces and buy illegal items which were automatically set to be delivered to a Swiss art gallery called the Kunst Halle St Gallen, where they were intended to form an exhibition.
The robot had successfully bought things on the "dark web" for a week before it was busted by authorities. It had successfully bought fake Diesel jeans, Nike trainers, a Sprite can with a hole in it where cash could be stashed and someone's entire "Lord of the Rings" e-book collection.
Swiss authorities have since released the robot and returned it to the art group after it was confiscated in January. The purchases have been returned to the artists except the Ecstasy pills (also called (MDMA)). They were reportedly destroyed.
The artists were not charged because officials established that they had no intention of using or distributing the illegal items.
Thomas Hansjakob, spokesperson for the Swiss St Gallen police said "We decided the Ecstasy that is in this presentation was safe and nobody could take it away. Bitnik never intended to sell it or consume it so we didn't punish them."
"This is a great day for the 'bot, for us and for freedom of art!" !Mediengruppe Bitnik said in a blog post published last week. "In order for withdrawal of prosecution, the public prosecutor states that the possession of Ecstasy was indeed a reasonable means for the purpose of sparking public debate about questions related to the exhibition."
