Yesterday MuckRock released a number of United States Drug Enforcement Agency documents acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents reveal that methods of parallel case construction are widely utilized and trained institutionally within the Drug Enforcement Agency and collaborating agencies, with strong institutional controls in place to prevent knowledge of parallel construction involved in cases from reaching any court officers, including the prosecutors assigned the cases. Continue reading
Category Archives: North America
Ulbricht Show Trial Ends
After being precluded from presenting much of a defense at all a jury has found Ross Ulbricht guilty of running the Silk Road deliberating for around three hours. This falls in line with the money on Bitcoin prediction markets which leaned towards deliberations lasting under six hours. Mainstream press outlets have even begun questioning the competence and intentions behind the way defense lawyer Josh Dratel handled the case over its entire duration.
Preet Bharara and Dratel Battle Over Defense Witness (Plain Text of Filings)
As the Silk Road show trial continues with Preet Bharara's team and Judge Forrest doing everything they can to suppress evidence that might allow for reasonable doubt, while permitting accusatory evidence without regard for its origin the battle has moved on to challenging the defense's witnesses. Continue reading
McDonalds Creates Limited Redemption Altcoin
From February second through Valentines Day recycled food byproduct purveyor McDonald's will be minting and accepting the limited redemption of their own alternate currency. The currency will be allocated by fiat through a "Lovin' Lead" at each individual store that will select 100 customers at their location and offer them the chance to pay with the alternate currency. Those selected may commit a "Lovin' Act" as specified by the "Lovin' Lead" in order to pay for their "meal" at the cash register. Continue reading
Police Offer Well Surveilled "Online Exchange Zone"
Columbia, Missouri police have recently unveiled an online exchange zone where people might exchange goods being bought and sold on the Internet. All that is necessary to take advantage of this "safe space" for transacting with other members of the public is arranging to meet in the lobby of the police station as this video so helpfully demonstrates. Also emphasized heavily in the video is that in this "safe space" you are prohibiting from bringing or transacting in weapons. Continue reading
Police Warn Bitcoin Extortion Letter Recipients Not To Pay
Farmington Police have told recipients of an extortion letter – which demands payment of USD $2,000 made in bitcoin – not to send payment but to contact local police instead. Farmington Police are so concerned about the pay or be killed letters that they've involved the FBI and Postal Inspector to investigate further. Continue reading
Barret Brown: The Myth of Plea Leniency
Last week journalist Barret Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison after entering a guilty plea. In contrast to Government approved journalists handling information unfavorable to the regime, Barret Brown was charged as an accessory to activities he reported on while New York Times reporter James Risen was not charged as an accessory for the "espionage" he reported on. Being completely at the whims of the sentencing court the court determined: Continue reading
Reddit Drops "CryptoCurrency Engineer"
Ryan X. Charles has announced that he is no longer working for Reddit, a "social media" platform with questionable practices. He was hired in December of last year and tasked with producing yet another scam-coin. Redditnote has not materialized during the two months of Charles' employment, and although his statement implies that it will be abandoned, there is no official affirmation at this time. It is now unclear as to how Reddit will make good on its promise to "give back" 5 million dollars.
Rumor: CenturyLink May Buy CoinTerra
A snippet of from the St Louis Business Journal offers that troubled Bitcoin mining firm CoinTerra might or may have been acquired by Louisiana based Internet Service Provider CenturyLink as it continues to progress through a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.
CSM Profiles Homero J Garza, Serial Entrepreneur
Today the Christian Science Monitor published an profile of Homero "Josh" Garza featuring selection from an interview they conducted before the North American Bitcoin conference. Most of the information in the profile is not going to be new to anyone who has been following the GAW saga, but the profile covers Garza's history of serial entrepreneurship from Optima Technology and Great Awk Wireless to GAW Miners. Continue reading