Land Of The Flea

New Heights in Disgraceful Asset Forfeiture (Seizure)

"The U.S. is seizing 650 Fifth Avenue, the 36-story Piaget Building, from Iranian interests. I’d guess the value is several hundred million dollars. All asset seizure procedures are an utter disgrace, totally unlawful and unjust. This one is triply disgraceful, based as it is on undeclared economic warfare against Iran, phonily done in the name of anti-terrorism, and based on as about as unlawful a 'law' as Congress has ever manufactured." Continue reading →

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Court: WiFi Sniffing Can Be Wiretapping Because WiFi Isn’t Audio

"A couple years ago, we were disappointed to see a judge take the technologically wrong stance that data transmitted over WiFi is not a 'radio communication,' thereby making sniffing of unencrypted WiFi signals potentially a form of wiretapping. Indeed, based on that, the court eventually ruled that Google's infamous WiFi sniffing could be a violation of wiretap laws. This is wrong on so many levels... and tragically, an appeals court has now upheld the lower court's ruling. There are serious problems with this. Under no reasonable view is WiFi not a radio communication first of all. That's exactly what it is." Continue reading →

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Apple’s Fingerprint ID May Mean You Can’t ‘Take the Fifth’

"For the privilege to apply, however, the government must try to compel a person to make a 'testimonial' statement that would tend to incriminate him or her. When a person has a valid privilege against self-incrimination, nobody — not even a judge — can force the witness to give that information to the government. But a communication is 'testimonial' only when it reveals the contents of your mind. We can’t invoke the privilege against self-incrimination to prevent the government from collecting biometrics like fingerprints, DNA samples, or voice exemplars. Why? Because the courts have decided that this evidence doesn’t reveal anything you know. It’s not testimonial." Continue reading →

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What Do the Latest NSA Leaks Mean for Bitcoin?

"Could the intelligence community have a secret exploit for Bitcoin? It's rather obvious that Bitcoin presents a very strong financial incentive to break its cryptography, since such a vulnerability could allow an attacker to claim large amounts of virtual currency for themselves. But given the decentralized nature of the currency, it may also be a target for intelligence officials looking for ways to track its use. Clearly, Bitcoin is on the government's radar. Knowing how much effort the NSA, amongst others, has placed on cracking encryption, has it tackled Bitcoin too? First, we need to look at how Bitcoin works." Continue reading →

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FATCA: a Tool of the Electronic Surveillance State

"If FATCA’s sole purpose were to 'recover' tax revenues from assets squirreled away offshore by American 'fat cats,' it seems odd that it targets only individuals and specifically exempts reporting on accounts held by U.S. corporations. On the other hand, targeting individuals makes a lot of sense if FATCA’s purpose is directed towards something else: adding to U.S. government agencies’ global electronic 'map' of personal information. It should be further understood that any data transmitted by foreign financial institutions will not be confined to the IRS but will be handed over ('upon request,' of course) to other 'three-letter' agencies of the U.S. government." Continue reading →

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Senators want to ban Russian Banks from the United States over Syria

"In a joint letter, the senators urged Secretary Lew to enforce sanctions that prevent Russian banks that have propped up the Syrian government from doing business in the United States. 'Russian bank support violates international sanctions by enabling Syria to pay for imports and receive funds for exports. This assistance eases much of the financial burden on the Assad regime, allowing it to continue military purchases and pay the soldiers that sustain the war in Syria,' the senators wrote. 'It is now more critical than ever that you swiftly designate those financial institutions that have profited from violating sanctions to prop up the Syrian regime.'" Continue reading →

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Coming Soon to America: Bitcoin ATMs

"At least two firms have plans to ship out Bitcoin ATMs to American cities in the coming months. Robocoin, the Las Vegas-based firm rolling out the world’s first Bitcoin ATMs in Canada this fall, plans to ship 12 to 15 of the units by the end of the year. So what, you may wonder, is the point of an ATM for a digital currency? Think of it more like a vending machine or currency exchange counter: Rather than just offering withdrawals or deposits, the Bitcoin ATM allows a user to buy Bitcoins in exchange for cash. The machines also offer some real-world convenience—like traditional ATMs, you can take dollars from the ATM by trading in your Bitcoins." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Getting Down to Virtual Currency Basics

"At many credit unions, the apparent upshot of the regulatory signals is confusion. 'The guidance is not straightforward. It is incredibly confusing,' said one credit union CEO who asked for anonymity on the advice of legal counsel. He added that, according to his analysis, there also would be a substantial staff burden in complying with regulatory requirements imposed on a credit union classified as a money transmitter under FinCEN, and he is unsure the costs to process Bitcoin transactions are worth the benefits. 'You have to decide if it is worth it to adhere to the regulations and for us, right now, the answer is no,' he said. But he insisted that door could open if the Bitcoin demand surfaced." Continue reading →

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100 to 115 SWAT raids per day in the US

"We are talking 100 to 115 SWAT raid per day in the U.S., and if we are going to continue to fight the drug war we need to go after these low and mid level offenders. There’s just not enough police man power, there’s just not enough creative non-violent ways to come up with to get them to turn themselves in. This has become the default way to carry out the drug war…bashing into somebody’s home at night. It’s born from just an overwhelming case flows, and also a lack of creativity. You also have a lot of incentives coming from the federal government that encourage warrants to be served this way." Continue reading →

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