Tag Archives: Bandit Gang Writ Large

The Anti-Hong Kong: Tanzania Bans Private Statistics

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“The government did what any embarrassed, fearful autocrats would do: they passed a bill to outlaw ‘false’ statistics — meaning only official numbers will be allowed. Another of six similar bills rushed through the legislature makes it illegal to publish information that is ‘defamatory,’ likely to ‘disturb the public peace,’ or ‘misleading or inaccurate.’  What are ‘false statistics’? What counts as ‘misleading’ or ‘disturbing’? Nobody is sure, since the government hasn’t bothered to publish the final versions of the acts it passed, but we do know who will get to decide — and the punishment could include a prison sentence of up to three years.”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/tanzania-becomes-the-anti-hong-kong-bans-private-statistics

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Legal Marijuana Faces Another Federal Hurdle: Taxes

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“Even as more states embrace legal marijuana, shops say they are being forced to pay crippling federal income taxes because of a decades-old law.  The tax rule, an obscure provision referred to as 280E, catches many marijuana entrepreneurs by surprise, often in the form of an audit notice from the I.R.S. [..] This year, Allgreens, a marijuana shop in Colorado, successfully challenged an I.R.S. policy that imposed about $30,000 in penalties for paying its payroll taxes in cash — common in an industry in which businesses rely on armed guards and cash-stuffed safes because they cannot get bank accounts.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/us/politics/legal-marijuana-faces-another-federal-hurdle-taxes.html?_r=0

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Warrantless airport seizure of laptop “cannot be justified,” judge rules

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“The authorities who were investigating Jae Shik Kim exercised the border exception rule that allows the authorities to seize and search goods and people—without court warrants—along the border and at airport international terminals. US District Court judge Amy Berman Jackson noted that the Supreme Court has never directly addressed the issue of warrantless computer searches at an international border crossing, but she ruled (PDF) the government used Kim’s flight home as an illegal pretext to seize his computer. Authorities then shipped it 150 miles south to San Diego where the hard drive was copied and examined for weeks, but the judge said the initial seizure ‘surely cannot be justified.'”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/warrantless-airport-search-of-laptop-cannot-be-justified-judge-rules/

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Man arrested for refusing to give phone passcode to border agents

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“Alain Philippon arrived at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Canada and was stopped by border agents.  He had flown in from the Dominican Republic.  As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports, the agents wanted access to his cell phone. Philippon refused to give them the passcode and was arrested.  A spokeswoman for the Canadian Border Services Agency confirmed me to that he has been ‘arrested under section 153.1 of the Customs Act for hindering.’  Was he hindering? Or was he, as he told CBC, merely protecting something he deemed personal?”

http://www.cnet.com/news/man-charged-for-refusing-to-give-up-phone-passcode-to-canadian-border-agents/

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Michigan tax hike suffers worst ballot smackdown in decades

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“Proposal 1 suffered the worst defeat Tuesday of any Michigan constitutional amendment ballot measure since the current constitution was adopted more than a half-century ago, as 80.1 percent of voters rejected the sales tax increase and road funding plan.  This year’s thumping occurred even though the measure was backed by Gov. Rick Snyder as well as the Republican and Democratic legislative leaders from last year’s Michigan House and Senate. The Safe Roads Yes campaign ended up amassing about $9.5 million, 27 times as much money as the roughly $350,000 the three opposition campaigns had combined.”

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/05/06/prop-suffers-worst-ballot-measure-defeat-years/70877352/

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Hershey, Cuba

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“Hershey, Cuba, was founded by Milton Hershey, the American chocolate tycoon who founded Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey invested his own money to found this town around 30 miles east of Havana.  The town revolved around a sugar mill, ‘once among the world’s most advanced,’ according to the Post. Everything in the town was first-class. ‘Neatly laid residential streets,’ houses with clapboard siding, and ‘some of the only screened-in porches anywhere in Cuba.’ Also a company hotel and ‘big, stately flagstone homes, where the American supervisors lived.’ There was also the Hershey Social Club and a golf course.”

http://fff.org/2015/05/06/hershey-cuba/

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FinCEN Fines Ripple Labs for Bank Secrecy Act Violations

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“The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FincCEN) has fined Ripple Labs and its subsidiary XRP II $700,000 for ‘willful violations’ of the Bank Secrecy Act.  According to a 5th May press release, Ripple Labs failed to register as a money services business (MSB) with FinCEN prior to selling XRP, the digital token used within the Ripple network. Additionally, the company is said to have failed to implement appropriate anti-money laundering (AML) procedures.  FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery said in a statement that the event should serve as a reminder that all US companies that facilitate the exchange digital currencies must bring products to market that comply with AML law.”

http://www.coindesk.com/fincen-fines-ripple-labs-700000-bank-secrecy-act/

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Nepali State to Seize All Relief Funds from Bank Accounts

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“After the money grab led to a public outcry, Nepali state actor Narayan Malego claimed that the seizure was justified, promising that the Nepali bureaucracy will ensure that ‘benevolent donations are not misused and the rights of victims are protected.’  But The Economist reports that after speaking to politicians, journalists and activists all across Nepal, they found the state apparatus there to be ‘marked by systematic fraud, [with] the financing of political networks [benefiting] powerful local figures and, indirectly, criminal gangs.’ And as for the ‘rights of victims,’ The Jackson Sun reports that the Nepali state has already been blocking the delivery of aid items by holding up the goods in airports.”

http://cointelegraph.com/news/114158/nepali-state-to-seize-all-relief-funds-from-bank-accounts

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Federal officials stole $1M in bitcoins from Silk Road while investigating it

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“The Secret Service agent, Shaun Bridges, allegedly stole $800,000 worth of virtual currency, according to the complaint, and kept his stash in the exchange known as Mt. Gox. The DEA official, Carl Force, was ‘the lead undercover agent in communication’ with Roberts — a role that gave him the power to extort. Using a series of private, fictitious accounts, Force allegedly told Roberts he would bury evidence related to the case if Roberts paid him $250,000. In another instance, Roberts allegedly paid Force $100,000 in bitcoins after Force, using one of his anonymous accounts, offered up information related to the federal investigation.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/30/doj-these-federal-officials-stole-bitcoins-from-silk-road-while-investigating-silk-road/

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DEA ‘Cold Consent’ Encounters Constitute Federal Stop-and-Frisk

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“In a cold consent encounter, a person is stopped if an agent thinks that person’s behavior fits a drug courier profile. Or an agent can stop a person cold ‘based on no particular behavior,’ according to the Inspector General report. The agent then asks the people they have stopped for consent to question them and sometimes to search their possessions as well. By gaining consent, law enforcement officers can bypass the need for a warrant.  While many people who believe they have nothing to hide may–inadvisably–consent to a police search, they may not be familiar with federal civil asset forfeiture laws, which give federal agents wide latitude to seize property, especially cash, without charging anyone.”

http://www.cato.org/blog/dea-cold-consent-encounters-constitute-federal-stop-frisk

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