Attorneys representing the FTC have argued that Butterfly Labs should not be allowed to resume operations on the basis that doing so would jeopardise assets which should be preserved for possible consumer redress. As part of their argument, the FTC presented an expert witness who testified that the machines BFL shipped to customers were already obsolete. Continue reading
Category Archives: The Law
Bank Hacker Who Blackmailed For Bitcoin to be Sentenced
Lewys Martin who plead guilty to hacking Halifax Bank and demanding a ransom of 2800 BTC in exchange for not releasing the details of 28,000 account holders will likely have his sentence announced according to City AM. A detail of particular note is that the police:
managed to trace Martin despite him using specialised software to shield his IP address.
European Parliament Mulls Google Breakup
Reuters reports that the European Parliament is working on a resolution that proposes a forced split between Google's European search engine business and the rest of their operations. Reuters offers that: Continue reading
US Department of Justice: Kim Dotcom can't challenge asset forfeiture
In its continuing case against Kim Dotcom, lawyers for the United States Department of Justice are proposing that Dotcom's objections to seizing his assets around the world be completely tossed aside under the doctrine of fugitive disenfranchisement. This is in spite of the fact that Kim Dotcom is not under any reasonable definition a "US Person" who reasonably could be a fugitive. A few points: Continue reading
USMS Auctioning More Bitcoins
Today the United States Marshals Service has opened an auction for 50,000 more Bitcoins seized from Ross Ulbricht. The bidder registration period began today at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard time and continues through noon on Monday December 1st, 2014. Bids in the auction are to be entered by registered bidders on December 4th, 2014 from 8:00 AM through 2:00 PM, Eastern Standard time. Friday December 5th the winning bidders will be notified by the United States Marshals Service. Notified winners must initiate a wire transfer from a bank located in the United States and present a receipt for the wire transfer to the Marshals Service by 2:00 PM Eastern Standard time on Monday December 8th, 2014. Further details on the Auction structure: Continue reading
This Onion, It Smells: Inherent Hazards of the Tor Network
This week Pando Daily's Yasha Levine wrote a follow up to a post from this summer where Yasha documented many of the numerous and transparent connections between the Tor developers and the United States Government. Nothing Yasha wrote in the original piece is particularly controversial, nearly all of it comes from public records, but still Yasha was able to write a follow up on all of the venom Yasha received from fans of Tor without any actual refutations of her points. The simple fact of the matter is that Tor was born of the needs of the United States Government's intelligence community, and continued funding to keep the main Tor developers fed, clothed, and sheltered largely comes from the coffers of those interests. Continue reading
CFPB's Proposed Rules Governing Prepaid Cards Include "Virtual Currency"
Last March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sort comment regarding potential disclosures to be used on the packaging of prepaid cards such as gift cards and prepaid debit cards. The CFPB have now released their proposed disclosures which, after a brief period of comment, they hope to standardise. Continue reading
Dickson County Tennessee Sheriff Hit with Ransomware, Pays
The Memphis Business Journal reports that recently an employee of the Dickson County Sheriff's office invited ransomware to lock the department's case files. After consultation with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, the department paid the ransom.
Irish Independent: Onymous Suspect Related to Footballer – Retracted
Story was retracted by source
The Irish Independent reports that one of the suspects arrested in the Irish contribution to Operation Onymous is related to Dublin Footballer Paul Mannion. Neil Mannion along with Richard O'Connor, who is not known to have a sibling of great athletic merit, are charged with possession of ecstasy with intent to sell or supply. Continue reading
Bulgarian SNAS Release on Operation Onymous
A number of interesting tidbits come out of the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security press release on Operation Onymous.
- 129 of the Tor hidden services closed were located in Bulgaria
- Three persons were arrested in Sofia, and from them were seized 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, 5 mobile phones, SIM cards, and a sum of money
- In Plovdiv a Turkish National was allegedly detained with 40 kilograms of heroin spread over 78 packages, and the investigation continues in the case as another person is suspected of assisting.
- Bulgarian official offered an exchange rate for the Lev which values 100,000 Lev at 1 kilogram of heroin.