Monthly Archives: January 2014

Bitcoin `Ponzi’ Concern Sparks Warning From Estonia Central Bank

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“The central bank of Estonia, where Swedish banks dominate the lending market, urged consumers to steer clear of Bitcoin, warning that the software and others like it could prove to be little more than a ‘Ponzi scheme.’  Bitcoin ‘is a problematic scheme,’ Mihkel Nommela, head of the Estonian central bank’s payment and settlement systems department, said in an e-mailed reply to questions. ‘All risks are assumed by the user, who has no one to turn to for help.’  Regulators and banks are escalating warnings against Bitcoin, and other digital currencies, amid concern such software lends itself to financial crime.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-30/bitcoin-ponzi-scheme-worry-sparks-estonia-central-bank-caution

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Winklevosses to Submit Revised Bitcoin ETF to SEC

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“Despite the legal challenges the Winklevosses face, SecondMarket has already succeeded at launching a bitcoin ETF known as the Bitcoin Investment Trust. One notable difference between the two funds, is that SecondMarket’s offering is only open to high-income, institutional investors.  The original proposal for the Winklevoss ETF called for it to be traded publicly and open to general investors. Subsequent reports suggested that SecondMarket was able to bypass many regulatory hurdles by pursuing this demographic, and that even ETFs that deal in established commodities can face difficulties making it to a wider market.”

http://www.coindesk.com/winklevoss-to-submit-revised-bitcoin-etf-sec/

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FinCEN Publishes Rulings on Virtual Currency Miners and Investors

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“The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today published two administrative rulings, providing additional information on whether a person’s conduct related to convertible virtual currency brings them within the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) definition of a money transmitter. The first ruling states that, to the extent a user creates or ‘mines’ a convertible virtual currency solely for a user’s own purposes, the user is not a money transmitter under the BSA. The second states that a company purchasing and selling convertible virtual currency as an investment exclusively for the company’s benefit is not a money transmitter.”

http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/nr/html/20140130.html

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The Emerging Bitcoin Civil War

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“A civil war is emerging between Bitcoin’s earliest and most libertarian adopters, and a more commercial wing seeking to embrace regulation as a means of legitimizing Bitcoin businesses.  On the first day of hearings about the future of Bitcoin regulation convened this week by the New York Department of Financial Services, a panel of VCs were quick to disavow Shrem as an example of a more immature wing of Bitcoin. The Winklevoss twins said they were gratified the Department was discussing ways to help legitimize Bitcoin commerce.  Their Bitcoin ETF is awaiting regulatory approval from the SEC.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoins-new-civil-war-2014-1

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The State Protects Their Sports Gambling Interests

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“Opensecrets.org records the incredible amount of money that is funneled from the casinos to the political arena. In 2012 alone over $71 million was contributed from casinos to the political sector. This includes both hard money and soft money contributions.  Illegal gambling, especially sports gambling, is a huge industry in the United States. The number of dollars wagered legally on the Super Bowl is only a small slice of the total sports betting pie. The State does not appreciate when bookies, which have not been sanctioned by the State, take a piece of the pie without giving a bite to the tax man.”

http://lionsofliberty.com/2014/01/30/felony-friday-the-state-protects-their-sports-gambling-interests/

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Silk Road Vendor Argues He Sold Legal Products For Seized Bitcoins

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“Somewhere in the $164 million worth of bitcoins held by the U.S. government, there’s a chunk of the cryptocurrency that until very recently belonged to Peter Ward, a British self-described ‘cybertechnohippy’ and dealer in drug paraphernalia like bongs, marijuana seeds, and rolling papers. On Thursday, Ward began the process of retaining a lawyer to file a claim for what he says were 100 bitcoins seized by the FBI in the takedown of the Silk Road online black market for drugs last October. Ward says he earned his bitcoins through entirely legal means, offering the same merchandise that he advertises on the public Internet from his head shop Planet Pluto in Devon, England.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2014/01/31/silk-road-vendor-filing-claim-for-seized-bitcoins-argues-he-sold-only-legal-items/

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EU has secret plan for police to ‘remote stop’ cars

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“The European Union is secretly developing a ‘remote stopping’ device to be fitted to all cars that would allow the police to disable vehicles at the flick of a switch from a control room. Confidential documents from a committee of senior EU police officers, who hold their meetings in secret, have set out a plan entitled ‘remote stopping vehicles’ as part of wider law enforcement surveillance and tracking measures. The devices, which could be in all new cars by the end of the decade, would be activated by a police officer working from a computer screen in a central headquarters.  The engine of a car used by a fugitive or other suspect would stop, the supply of fuel would be cut and the ignition switched off.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10605328/EU-has-secret-plan-for-police-to-remote-stop-cars.html

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The drug war works its way into your pants

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“I asked a couple medical ethics specialists about all of this. They told me that the doctors who performed the procedures were also likely in violation of their professional ethical obligations. But here too, it was extremely unlikely anyone would be sanctioned.  So to sum up: When it comes to cavity searches for drugs, what’s legal is bad enough. But it turns out that police and medical professionals might also do some illegal things to you that are even more awful. And despite the illegality of those procures, and that they’re medically unethical, there’s a good chance that they’ll all get away with it.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2014/01/30/the-drug-war-works-its-way-into-your-pants/

I asked a couple medical ethics specialists about all of this. They told me that the doctors who performed the procedures were also likely in violation of their professional ethical obligations. But here too, it was extremely unlikely anyone would be sanctioned.

So to sum up: When it comes to cavity searches for drugs, what’s legal is bad enough. But it turns out that police and medical professionals might also do some illegal things to you that are even more awful. And despite the illegality of those procures, and that they’re medically unethical, there’s a good chance that they’ll all get away with it.

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Former Troy DARE officer sentenced

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“A former Troy police officer convicted of stealing more than $13,000 intended for the DARE program was sentenced Monday to five years of community control and 60 days in the Miami County Jail.  Kirt E. Wright, 41, of Troy pleaded guilty in December to felony theft in office.  Judge James F. Stevenson of Shelby County sentenced Wright to a $500 fine and costs of the court action.  Wright was accused of misusing a credit card issued only for the purposes of the schools DARE program. The card was funded with money donated to the program.”

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/crime-law/former-troy-dare-officer-sentenced/nc4PQ/

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SF police officer pleads not guilty to child molestation charges

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“A San Francisco police officer pleaded not guilty Monday morning in Contra Costa Superior Court to 10 felony counts of child molestation and possession of child pornography.  Deputy District Attorney Alison Chandler said the boy was clearly underage and was stopped by police that night in August on suspicion of a curfew violation.  When police contacted Hastings, he allegedly said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m a police officer,’ Chandler said.  ‘He was using his police status to get out of the trouble he was about to be in,’ she said.”

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/sf-police-officer-pleads-not-guilty-child-molestat/nc4L4/

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