Continuing to keep its shiva hands full and not content with just tackling the videogame industry, the EFF has just helped to win a decision with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that invalidates the "podcasting patent" held by Personal Audio LLC, a Texas-based patent trolling firm. Personal Audio LLC is famous for having squeezed $8 mn from Apple Inc. in 2011 for the fruit company's use of "navigable playlists" on its iPod music players, as well as having sued American comedian Adam Corolla for distributing podcasts, only to be counter-sued before the two parties quietly settled. Continue reading
Category Archives: Fraud
Coinbase Outgoing Email Hacked
As noticed by #bitcoin-assets user fluffypony, and later confirmed by reddit user CoinbaseAdrian, a sendgrid.net account associated with em.coinbase.com has been compromised. The scammers behind this attack have used it to send email to a list composed mostly of, but not limited to, users of localbitcoins.com. Continue reading
Olivier Janssens: Bitcoin Floundation Out Of Money, Hates Transparency
A mere month after having been elected to the Bitcoin Floundation, Olivier Janssens has gone public to announce what most of us already knew – the scam foundation has very little money left and that the way in which it has been run to date is to blame for its coming bankrupty.
Janssens writes: (archive) Continue reading
Sheep Marketplace Arrest
Bitcoin Floundation Moves To Dilute The Bitcoin Brand
Not content with the goal of bloating the blockchain with its proposed increase of the block size limit, the Bitcoin Floundation has now moved to assist in diluting the Bitcoin brand, the very brand which they claim to represent, by allowing so-called guest bloggers to promote alternative coins on its blog under the banner of mainstream adoption.
Authored by Vogogo's Head of Marketing and Creative Chantel Meeley, the article implies that due to the large number of coins available, a new brand which is inclusive of all coins is required if mainstream adoption is to occur. To that end, Vogogo have teamed up with the infamous altcoin exchange Crypsty to promote BrandMeCrypto's logo competition in which the winner will be awarded $10,000. Continue reading
Shavers Enters Not Guilty Plea
Yesterday the criminal case against Trendon Shavers has finally progressed to the point that Shavers could enter a plea of not guilty. This is in spite of his Ponzi scheme collapsing a full year before the arrest of Ross Ulbricht who has already been tried and convicted. Both Shavers and Ulbricht are targets selected for criminal prosecution by United States Attorney Preet Bharara. Criminal charges were filed against Shavers back in November 2014 in Manhattan after Shavers lost in a civil case brought by the SEC in September where he was ordered to pay 40 million dollars in damages. The SEC's civil case occurred in Shaver's home state of Texas. Continue reading
Czech Ministry Fingers Heist Suspect
Czech Republic based Bitcoin exchange Bitcash.cz was allegedly hacked on November 11, 2013 and approximately 4000 bitcoins were stolen. The operator or operators almost succeeded in their efforts to remain anonymous with impunity, were it not for disgruntled users that named some suspected perpetrators in online forums. According to the 2014 yearly report of the analytics departmentt of the Czech Ministry of Finance, one of the named persons opened new bank account (in a Czech bank) and immediately transferred to there non-trivial amounts from an EU Bitcoin exchange, thus prompting a closer look from the Department. It concluded with a money laundering criminal complaint, which is currently waiting for court proceedings.
Missouri Secretary of State Orders Slaughter to Pay Civil Penalties
AMC/VMC 'CEO' Kenneth Slaughter has been ordered to pay civil penalties of over $30,000 for multiple violations of Missouri Securities Act. Violations include, but are not limited to: offering/selling unregistered securities, making untrue statements and omitting to state material facts. Continue reading
Leaked Emails Detail Inner Workings Of Josh Garza's Scams
Alleged emails which detail the inner workings and day to day operations of Homero Joshua Garza's fraud outfit known as GAW Miners have been leaked. The damning emails not only confirm long held suspicions about Garza's operations but also bring to light other debacles GAW Miners finds itself involved in. The emails confirm: Continue reading
Anti-Integrity Advocates Push Netflix to Break Contracts
Two days after the United States Federal Communications Commission decided to bring "Network Neutrality" regulations to the Internet in their country, an editorial in Ars Technica is advocating that prominent corporate advocate for these changes Netflix use the rules to break its contracts with a number of Internet Service Providers by having regulators impose more favorable terms for them in their relationships with other businesses. Continue reading