Tag Archives: System D

Disruptions: A Digital Underworld Cloaked in Anonymity

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“That this story intruded here, at a public library in a nice little neighborhood, says a lot about the dark corners of the Internet. Glen Park isn’t the gritty Tenderloin over the hills, or Oakland or Richmond out in East Bay. And that is precisely the point. The Dark Web, as it is known, is everywhere and nowhere, and it’s growing fast.  No sooner was the old Silk Road shut down than a new, supposedly improved Silk Road popped up. Other online bazaars for illegal guns and drugs are thriving.  And the Dread Pirate Roberts — the old one, a new one, who knows? — is back, taunting the authorities. (The pseudonym is a reference to a character in the film ‘The Princess Bride’.)”

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/disruptions-a-digital-underworld-cloaked-in-anonymity/?_r=0

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Bitcoin Goes to Washington: Monday’s Hearing Is Just the Beginning

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“Pages and pages of explanations and definitions mark the testimony. What are bitcoins? How are they made? How do they differ from centralized virtual currencies? It is clear Washington has a ways to go in understanding, let alone regulating, cryptocurrencies. The hearing is a first step in what will likely be a long process toward any kind of lawmaking. ‘Honestly, the environment seems to be a game of hot potato where no politician wants to be caught being pro or anti bitcoin,’ says Charles Hoskinson, director of the Bitcoin Education Project. ‘Once the market cap gets to around $10 billion or so [it’s currently just over $2 billion], then expect real hearings and a lot of lobbying.'”

http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/17/bitcoin-comes-to-washington-mondays-hearing-is-just-the-beginning/

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Not exactly the brightest way to smuggle gold…

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“Because of its traditional gold ties, regional commerce, and generous transportation options, Thailand has now become a major transit point for international gold smuggling destined for India.  The World Gold Council recently released its quarterly data on global gold trends, and the numbers are very clear: India’s gold demand cratered, dropping 32% because of the restrictions.  In Thailand, however, gold demand is up 125% from the 3rd quarter of 2012.  I’ve noticed this on the ground; there’s been a surge of gold shops and new inventory in the marketplace, particularly the small ‘biscuit’ bars that are easier to smuggle.  Much of this is bound for India.”

http://www.sovereignman.com/offshore/not-exactly-the-brightest-way-to-smuggle-gold-13193/

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Buying Guns and Drugs on the Deep Web (Documentary)

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“We used the deep web to find out just how easy it was to buy guns, drugs, and other contraband online.”

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Chicago’s Sky-High Tobacco Tax Creates a Huge Black Market

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“Tobacco importers rent 18-wheelers and drive to tobacco-growing states — recipients of federal tobacco subsidies — that have very low taxes on tobacco. They load up these low-tax products. Then they drive to Chicago. They sell the tobacco at below-market prices. Cigarettes are especially profitable.  This is not regarded by politicians as the free market at work — a tax revolt by the little people. They see this as a crime. They label this market as a black market. In Cook County, it really is. Blacks are the primary targets. A local ABC-TV reporter says that ‘taxpayers are losing millions.’ On the contrary, tax collectors are losing millions. Taxpayers are saving millions.”

http://teapartyeconomist.com/2013/11/14/chicagos-sky-high-tobacco-tax-creates-huge-black-market/

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Is It Time to Boycott All US Bitcoin Companies?

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“Regulators in the US and possibly other countries are waiting for such a database to exist so that they can require all companies in their jurisdiction to only accept payments from customers whose identities can be fully tracked. Matt Mellon, Alex Waters, and Yifu Guo are apparently willing to build it for them. Now you know who to thank for selling out your financial privacy.  Note how badly it damages the value of a Bitcoin balance. Do you currently care about the complete history of every physical currency note you carry in your wallet? What if stores would suddenly reject your cash because two years ago someone you never even met used in the commission of a crime?”

http://bitcoinism.blogspot.com/2013/11/is-it-time-to-boycott-all-us-bitcoin.html

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As Silk Road 2.0 Pops Up, The Government Needs To Avoid Moral Panic

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techdirt1

“While some people like to mock concepts like the dark web and Bitcoin, there’s a tremendous amount of important innovation happening.  While they may initially be used, in part, for illegal activity, that’s going to become less and less of the predominant use, and all sorts of powerful new tools and services are likely to develop — if allowed. Bitcoin, in particular, has many powerful uses beyond just being a currency, but overly regulating it based on moral panics might kill that off. I already know a few entrepreneurs and investors who are unwilling to commit to some really interesting Bitcoin projects, just because they know the regulatory situation might destroy the space overnight.”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131107/02364625162/as-silk-road-20-pops-up-government-needs-to-avoid-temptation-moral-panic.shtml

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Execute elephant poachers on the spot, Tanzanian minister urges

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“A government minister in Tanzania has called for a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against poachers in a radical measure to curb the mass slaughter of elephants.  Khamis Kagasheki’s proposal for perpetrators of the illicit ivory trade to be executed ‘on the spot’ divided opinion, with some conservationists backing it as a necessary deterrent but others warning that it would lead to an escalation of violence.  Tanzania is said to have lost half its elephants in the past three years.  Ivory has been dubbed the ‘white gold of jihad’ by activists who say it is funding armed rebel groups including al-Shabaab, the militia behind the siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left at least 67 people dead.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/08/shoot-elephant-poachers-tanzania-ivory

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Virtual currencies being undermined by rising criminality: McAfee firm

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“‘The proliferation of digital currencies fuels the proliferation of tools and services necessary for cybercrime. This in turn helps fuel the growth in cybercrime, and other forms of digital disruption,’ said McAfee EMEA CTO, Raj Samani.  ‘Further, the challenges facing such currencies go beyond their propensity for use within money laundering – to targeted attacks on financial exchanges, and malware developed to target digital wallets.’  Evidence that virtual currencies have become a mechanism for online and physical crime risks the possibility of full-scale intervention by governments.  There is plenty of precedent for this, McAfee’s authors note.”

http://news.techworld.com/security/3473654/bitcoin-virtual-currencies-being-undermined-by-rising-criminality-says-mcafee/

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Dutch Silk Road vendors ‘caught with a thick layer of MDMA in their hair’

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“The 24-year-old and 29-year-old were caught, ‘red-handed during the manufacturing of ecstasy in a container behind their home in Zetten. The suspects were arrested with a thick layer of MDMA powder in their hair,’ reports The Daily Dot.  Police found trays of MDMA powder, used stamps, cutting tools, and a tablet machine.  When going to their homes in the city of Arnhem they found ecstasy and MDMA worth 26,000 euros in one’s home, and drugs worth 80,000 euros in the other home.  The vendors went by the name XTC Express and they were extremely popular among Silk Road users. The 300mg pills were very potent and got great reviews from customers.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2456758/Two-Dutch-Silk-Road-vendors-alias-XTC-Express-caught-red-handed-layer-MDMA-hair.html

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