Yearly Archives: 2013

In Profit-Sharing Scheme, Oklahoma DA Used Contractor for Highway Drug Stops

"An asset forfeiture scheme that utilized a private security contractor to stop vehicles on Interstate 40 in Caddo County, Oklahoma, has been shut down after garnering strong criticism. Beyond paying the private operators to train police, the contract DA Hicks agreed to in January gave Desert Snow 25% of all assets seized during training days and 10% of all assets seized even on days the contractors were not present. Hicks told The Oklahoman he hired the contractors 'because his drug task force had little success on drug stops' and because 'he hoped to make money for his office from the drug stops because of a loss of federal funds.'" Continue reading →

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The Creepy, Long-Standing Practice of Undersea Cable Tapping

"More than 550,000 miles of flexible undersea cables about the size of garden watering hoses carry all the world's emails, searches, and tweets. Together, they shoot the equivalent of several hundred Libraries of Congress worth of information back and forth every day. In 2005, the Associated Press reported that a submarine called the USS Jimmy Carter had been repurposed to carry crews of technicians to the bottom of the sea so they could tap fiber optic lines. The easiest place to get into the cables is at the regeneration points -- spots where their signals are amplified and pushed forward on their long, circuitous journeys." Continue reading →

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NSA Taps Directly Into Undersea Fiber-optic Data Cables

"Of course, by tapping directly into the beams of light transferring this data around the globe — apparently with the cooperation of the world’s chief technology companies — the federal government bypasses all legal and constitutional restraints on its already immense power. Remarkably, there does not seem to be a corresponding flight by Americans from the devices or services being monitored by the federal government. As one brick after another is stacked on the ever-growing walls of the 21st-century Panopticon, it appears that nothing will dissuade Americans from growing increasingly reliant on the very tools being used in the construction." Continue reading →

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House protects surveillance program before passing military spending bill

"After fierce debate over the limits of domestic spying, the House on Wednesday voted to protect the federal government's ability to collect phone records and other data related to U.S. citizens who aren't suspected of terrorism. The Obama administration lobbied against Amash's amendment, and members of congressional intelligence committees defended the NSA's actions. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said it was 'a false narrative that the federal government is taking in the content of American phone calls and emails.' She said there was more information about U.S. citizens in a phone book than in the NSA database." Continue reading →

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2013 Bitcoin Mid-Year Review and Outlook

"The past six months may one day prove to be among the most important in bitcoin’s history. As global events sparked increasing need for frictionless wealth transfers, bitcoin’s popularity ballooned and ignited a conversation that will likely continue to flourish in the years to come. Growth in bitcoin’s value was outpaced only by the incredible interest from entrepreneurs, investors and the press. In this 27-page report we cover the major events from the first half of 2013 and what to look out for in the months ahead." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin exchange opens in Hong Kong

"Anti-money laundering and know-your-customer compliance is easier for banking and financial institutions when they deal with virtual currency exchanges rather than cash, says the founder of what may be Hong Kong’s first licensed Bitcoin exchange. Aurélien Menant, a former investment banker at Société Générale and now chief executive and founder of Gate Digital Services, said Bitcoin’s traceability feature would help institutions with compliance and risk management." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin gets big bets from Silicon Valley

"Dot-com pioneers and fresh-faced 20-somethings alike are founding companies to help transact the virtual currency. Are those chasing Bitcoin headed for a gold rush, or fool's gold? Nick Holland, a Javelin Strategy analyst in Boston, is among those who believe math-based currencies like Bitcoin, which enable transactions from one user to another without official oversight or high fees, could upset the centuries-old tradition of paper money -- much as user-generated Wikipedia all but replaced the venerable Encyclopaedia Britannica." Continue reading →

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Life-Saving Third-World Remittances Smothered by Anti-Money-Laundering Laws

"Without a formal banking sector, millions of Somalis rely on money sent from abroad. Underground agents could potentially fill the void. Alternatively, migrant workers could simply transfer new cryptographic commodities like bitcoin, which are not against the law. Also included in the countries put on notice by Barclays are Nigeria, Ghana, India, and Bangladesh with the resulting impact certain to be felt by Somalia's neighbors, Kenya and Ethiopia. The wholesale closure of accounts parallels the situation in Minnesota last year when a local bank, citing the risk of strict penalties, ceased transfers to Somalia for migrants wanting to send money home." Continue reading →

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The Government’s Perilous Bitcoin Chase

"Nothing can strip the shine off a cool trend as quickly as national security officials sharing how it is poised to become a cutting-edge tool in terrorists’ ongoing death-to-America project. As such, I want to thank David Cohen, the Treasury’s Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and John Carlin, acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security—distinguished and otherwise delightful members of a panel I moderated at the Aspen Institute’s National Security Forum this past weekend—for casting a sinister shadow over what I had previously assumed to be the harmless if quirky Bitcoin craze." Continue reading →

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CryptoParty: Party like it’s December 31st, 1983

"Attend a CryptoParty to learn and teach how to use basic cryptography tools. A CryptoParty is free, public and fun. People bring their computers, mobile devices, and a willingness to learn! CryptoParty is a decentralized, global initiative to introduce the most basic cryptography software and the fundamental concepts of their operation to the general public, such as the Tor anonymity network, public key encryption (PGP/GPG), and OTR (Off The Record messaging). CryptoParties are free to attend, public, and commercially and politically non-aligned." Continue reading →

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