Yesterday's news about two Federal Agents arrested for various allegedly corrupt and self serving actions has introduced a substantial number of complications that could jeopardize the government's case on appeal. The charging document (plain text document image) rather than merely affecting the future disposition of the Ulbricht Silk Road case offers a number of lessons on operational security people involved with can take to heart as well as a good number of laughs. Continue reading
Category Archives: The Law
Subpoena Requests Data On /r/DarkNetMarkets Users
Wired reports that earlier this month, a Baltimore ICE agent subpoenaed Reddit for the personal data of five users who frequent the subreddit /r/DarkNetMarkets. Requested information included names, IP addresses, the dates and times that they accessed Reddit, phone numbers as well as any financial information. The five users mentioned in the subpoena include NSWGreat, evosmith, Z-L, GWERN and DEEPTHROAT_. Continue reading
Federal Agents Who Persecuted Ulbricht Arrested
Two Federal Agents involved in the undercover operation to bust the Silk Road have been arrested for stealing money taken over the course of the Investigation. Arrested were DEA Agent Carl Mark Force IV and Secret Service Agent Shaun Bridges. Mister Force IV in particular is alleged to have stolen a number of Bitcoins from the Silk Road and taken possession of them personally instead of remanding them to Government custody as was expected of him as his theft occured in the course of his undercover work. Agents of the fiat system simply can not resist the allure of better money. Given that the investigating agents could not be trusted to not take Silk Road proceeds for their own use, the serious question of what other liberties were taken during the investigation remains.
Update: The full unsealed complaint is available here. Uncompressed images of the pages may be browsed here.
Private Lawsuit Dismissed Because of State Secrets Privilege
The New Zealand Herald brings us the story of a lawsuit between a Greek shipper and an advocacy group which was dismissed by a Federal court in New York after the Department of Justice invoked the state secrets privilege. Neither party to the lawsuit is a part of the government or a contractor known to be conducting national security work on behalf of the United States Government. For a lawsuit between private parties to end upon the invocation of the State Secrets privilege is unprecedented. Continue reading
Sheep Marketplace Arrest
PayPal Settles With US For Sanctions Violations
PayPal, an early and centralized attempt at establishing a primitive form of Internet money, has announced a settlement with the United States Treasury Department. PayPal will pay the Treasury Department 7.7 million United States Dollars for having disregarded sanctions enacted by the United States Government against Iran, Cuba, and others. Examples of transactions and accounts PayPal admits allowing span from 2009 to April 2013 when PayPal enacted a system to screen in real time for prohibited payments. PayPal reports spending substantial effort over the past two years to strengthen its ability to comply with sanctions.
Local Police Arming Robots
In covering a story on the arrest of a political dissident (local mirror) in St Louis, the St Louis Post Dispatch managed to catch footage of local law enforcement officers working in tandem with a robot armed with a shotgun. This armed drone operating in an populated urban area by what is at least nominally a civilian law enforcement agency raises a number of disturbing questions about the future progression of the American Rogue State. 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
Hong Kong Says No To Regulation Of Bitcoin (For Now)
Amid calls for the regulation of Bitcoin in the aftermath of the MyCoin debacle, Reuters reports that the Hong Kong government has rebuffed requests for new legislation aimed at curtailing the use of Bitcoin because it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the Hong Kong financial system.
Responding to questions asked in the Legislative Council, Professor KC Chan of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said that bitcoin is not legal tender, that the price is volatile and that its use as a medium of exchange in Hong Kong is negligible. For these reasons, Professor KC Chan believes there is no need for the government to consider the introduction of new legislation to regulate or prohibit Bitcoin at this time. Continue reading
UK Regulates Self Out of Bitcoin
Regulators in the United Kingdom have announced they will begin applying anti-money laundering rules on digital currency exchanges. The British treasury offers that the move will magically promote innovation and lessen criminal activity. This move however in reality means something other than what Reuters' press release on behalf of the Treasury supposes. Continue reading