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Comment by dolzenko | Hacker News Reader

Fun, failing to count how many times he said "I am an expert", I assume thats the basic tactic to survival in security consultant space but still.

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This is actually a legal convention, not arrogance. Look at criminal complaints for other computer crimes (child pornography, hacking, etc.) and the language is identical.

Hm. "As an expert I can attest DPR sucked at opsec"¹ is a bit unconventional for a legal convention. ;)

¹) Not an exact quote, I know, I glued two sentences together and cut some parts.

Nearly all infosec experts can agree that DPR was awful at OPSEC, and expert testimony is a real legal thing. :)

Yeah, I was only a bit curious about the wording of the statement.

The original charges against Ulbricht, as well as his defense attorney's responses, both include this kind of "I am an expert" language. This is most likely a convention of legal writing, not technical writing.

Not quite, Silk Road document is using very neutral and "objective" kind of speech, c.f. "Based on my training and experience, Silk Road has emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today." [0]

[0] http://computersweden.idg.se/polopoly_fs/1.526338.1380735946...

I thought he pressed that point a little as well but assuming his lack of writing skills disqualifies his security opinion is a bit of a far jump to me.

Yeah, that pretty much undermined his speech..

I would say you assume incorrectly, and this guy is just a tool.

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