Entrepreneurship

Snap up a pint in Britain’s first Bitcoin pub

"Bitcoin has its first British boozer. The Pembury Tavern in Hackney, east London – as well as its sister pubs in Cambridge, Norwich and Peterborough – are now accepting the virtual currency. The system is quick and effective. The bar staff press two buttons on the till and the screen displays a QR code. The customer opens their digital Bitcoin wallet, takes a snap of the screen and confirms the payment. The staff press one more button and the transaction is complete. Snapping the QR code in a crowded bar could be a challenge but in a quiet pub it is faster than paying by card." Continue reading →

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Spying fears highlight worth of Swiss data centres

"‘Trust’ is the watchword of the expanding Swiss data storage industry as it quietly carves out a highly lucrative global niche. Recent revelations of U.S. intelligence agency spying, coupled with ongoing reports of espionage emanating from China, may have raised public consciousness of the dangers to data but the industry has known about it for years. Some data storage providers have taken security to extremes, housing their servers in ex-military alpine bunkers, such as the aptly-named ‘Fort Knox’ in canton Bern. One company using the bunker, Siag – which labels itself the 'Swiss private bank for digital assets' - refuses to deal with US clients on security grounds." Continue reading →

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Privacy services companies stand up against Big Brother

"Encryption communication services companies are gaining momentum as public trust in US technology companies and social media networks are at an all-time low following explosive revelations by Edward Snowden. 'It’s going crazy. You know a lot of people suspected the US government was spying on Americans. But now we have this confirmation so everybody is contacting us now. We’ve had a huge surge in orders,' said Phil Zimmermann, CEO of Silent Circle, encrypted communications firm. Another company that is bearing the fruits of the NSA’s misfortune is Seecrypt, a mobile application that encrypts information sent over the mobile phone." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Foundation Receives Cease And Desist Order From California

"Directly following last month’s Bitcoin 2013 conference event in San Jose, CA that brought good revenue into the state, California’s Department of Financial Institutions decided to issue a cease and desist warning to conference organizer Bitcoin Foundation for allegedly engaging in the business of money transmission without a license or proper authorization. If found to be in violation of California Financial Code, penalties can be severe ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per violation per day plus criminal prosecution which could result in fines and/or imprisonment." Continue reading →

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NSA controversy boosts interest in ‘private’ Internet search engines

"While Google’s market share has not seen a noticeable dent, privacy search engines like US-based DuckDuckGo and European-based Ixquick have seen jumps in traffic from users seeking to limit their online tracks. The stored data has become a concern following revelations of a massive surveillance program run by the secretive National Security Agency, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other Internet firms. US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism. The same data and profiles can be used by the search engine to deliver ads and sold to outside marketers as well." Continue reading →

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Nashville restaurant raided by swarms of armed officers to randomly check alcohol permits

"An 'army' of armed officers raided a family-owned restaurant late one night to check alcohol permits. Although 'The Family Wash' had done nothing wrong and broken no laws, the agents still raided their establishment, shut down the band that was playing, scared away all the customers, and harassed the owner. They chose to do this raid on a busy Friday night, when people were eating, drinking, and listening to music. The joint task-force of permit-checkers from multiple different jurisdictions and agencies collectively was out performing random raids on restaurants." Continue reading →

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Welcome, baseball fan. Go directly to jail.

"You see, they take law and order Very Seriously in Washington. Oh, sure, there is murder, drugs and prostitution (and solicitation, but more on that later), but those crimes are a byproduct of any large metropolitan area, and, well, folks will be folks. No, I am talking about the unspeakable crime of trying to resell tickets to a Washington Nationals makeup baseball game. I went to jail. I sat in a cell for 2½ hours, stood for a mug shot, got fingerprinted, paid 50 bucks and was released. In the grand scheme of things, my travails were minor to all but me. But when that cell door slams shut, the world becomes a different place." Continue reading →

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In-Person Bitcoin Exchanges Are Thriving

"Call it a sign of the times, but something is definitely changing as face-to-face purchases of bitcoin are booming worldwide. In addition to avoiding a sometimes cumbersome registration process with traditional exchangers, in-person bitcoin transactions allow you to meet interesting new people in your area – and discuss bitcoin. Many choices are available with varying degrees of identification required. For the casual traders seeking more privacy, I recommend in-person trading through LocalBitcoins.com, the leading person-to-person matching service for people in various locales to meet and conduct bitcoin business." Continue reading →

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Steve Wozniak Laments Creating The Tools That Government Uses To Spy On Us

"When Morgan suggested the government would not be able to keep such a close eye on citizens without the work of innovators like him, Wozniak acknowledged: 'I actually feel a little guilty about that – but not totally. We created the computers to free the people up, give them instant communication anywhere in the world; any thought you had, you could share freely. That it was going to overcome a lot of the government restrictions. We didn't realise that in the digital world there were a lot of ways to use the digital technology to control us, to snoop on us, to make things possible that weren't.'" Continue reading →

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Businesses in Berlin open arms to digital currency Bitcoin

"Cassandra Wintgens ceremoniously affixed the blue sticker with the thick, yellow 'B' to the pane in the front door of her guesthouse-cum-cafe. 'Bitcoin accepted here,' it read. The establishment Lekkerurlaub Notaufnahme, which translates roughly as 'Yummy Holiday Emergency Admission,' thereby became the seventh business in the Graefe neighbourhood of the multicultural Berlin district of Kreuzberg, to accept the digital currency — whether for an overnight stay or a cup of coffee in the cafe. 'I think it’s exciting,' she remarked. 'We don’t need banks for Bitcoins. They just muck us about anyway and don’t do anything for small-scale businesspeople.'" Continue reading →

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