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Wasn't PIA bought by an offshoot from a shady malware producing company called Kape? Isn't PIA's new CTO Mark Karpeles, one of the ringleaders of the Mt. Gox de

Wasn't PIA bought by an offshoot from a shady malware producing company called Kape? Isn't PIA's new CTO Mark Karpeles, one of the ringleaders of the Mt. Gox debacle, who stole millions of dollars and was convicted for it in Japan? Nothing says safety like malware and fellons in your VPN provider. Reddit thread with a decent timeline of events: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/e9fo3l/questionable_decisions/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/e9fo...

ShorsHammer 7y ago
As a r/buttcoin regular I couldn't help but chuckle loudly in the office here reading this. Had to double check and laughed even more. The utter absurdity of it all. He actually seems like a decent guy who got in well over his head and did prison time for it in Japan, but as the saying goes "all publicity is good publicity", you literally can't do wrong in the corporate world. Patiently waiting for Elizabeth Holmes next endeavour.
- craftinator 7y ago
  I may have been laying it on a little thick, but honestly, letting him become CTO of a major VPN provider... A whole sea of capable, professional tech leaders out there, and they choose a blockchain enthusiast with a criminal record and a history of incapability. I get the feeling that Kape wants someone in charge who won't say no to shady practices.
  - Cauchon 7y ago
    I get where you’re coming from. If I’m going to choose one VPN company to use, it won’t be one with him as CTO.
    - ShorsHammer 7y ago
      Exactly. It's almost like they are trying to filter out anyone with sense.
Freeboots 7y ago
Hah, I hadn't realized Karpeles was involved. That's a pretty wild CTO choice. After all that's happened, going open source is pretty much their only option.
- craftinator 7y ago
  I can see how they can open source their client side applications, and I guess they can open source their server code, but I can't wrap my head around how we can verify what exactly they are running on their servers. Like, can we ssh into them with root access and poke around running processes? I just don't get it. Anyone have a clue how else that kind of verification can happen?
  - blibble 7y ago
    it's not possible and even if it was they could just configure their switches to mirror ports to send the traffic somewhere else for logging this entire thing is snake oil designed to fool people that don't know any better trust is earnt... and PIA hired Mark Karpeles, put him in charge of technology then later sold out to a malware firm if you insist on having a VPN: there's plenty of other firms that don't have these "attributes"
    - voisin 7y ago
      What alternatives do you suggest? I just cancelled my PIA subscription and am in the market.
      - majewsky 7y ago
        I've heard good things about Mullvad and IPredator, both from Sweden. Generally you want to be looking for VPN providers that don't spend half their revenue on marketing.
      - jcampbell1 7y ago
        I use Mullvad with the standard wireguard clients. Works much better than anything OpenVPN based. They are based in Sweden which seems like a reasonable jurisdiction.
55555 7y ago
The biggest problem I have with this is that Mark Karpeles is, provably, a bad programmer...
- Freeboots 7y ago
  Yeah, it's not just the fraud thing; Karpeles shit the bed on Mtgox multiple times. I actually kind of believe the narrative that it was incompetence more than malice, at least to start with.
almostbasic 7y ago
My name is Chris M and I am the CMO for Private Internet Access. PIA management has prepared the following statement regarding Mark Karpeles’s role at LTMH and we hope it addresses your doubts or concerns: In 2018, Mark Karpeles was appointed CTO of LTMH, which was the parent company of Private Internet Access prior to KAPE. However, Mark never had an operational role in PIA and subsequently never had access to any part of the PIA infrastructure nor any role in the planning or execution of the day-to-day operations of PIA. The role of CTO at PIA has been run collectively by Tommie P. (SvP Software, joined January 2017) handling the software development side and Gaurav G. (CIO, joined January 2015) handling the operational and infrastructure side of the business. Mark’s role at LTMH has predominantly been to manage development teams working on FutureFC, general R&D, and providing a broader perspective of the industry as a whole rather than PIA specific issues. His work is best summarized as a valued external consultant for specific discussions related to the advancement of our privacy and security efforts. As part of the merger with KAPE to become Private Internet, Mark currently has no operational role in the merged entity and is pursuing other endeavors.
- Tenoke 7y ago
  Are all your execs now spreading misinformation in random HN threads? Was your CEO not enough? Making it sound like Mark Karpeles had no real association with PIA is disingenuous. > However, Mark never had an operational role in PIA and subsequently never had access to any part of the PIA infrastructure nor any role in the planning or execution of the day-to-day operations of PIA. You say this yet PIA says diferent in your official statement > Specifically, as many have wondered, he is working as the global CTO across LTM, reviewing technical architecture from an efficiency and security perspective and providing advice and guidance. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hired-mt-gox-ex-ceo-mark-karpeles-as-cto-of-london-trust-media/ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hir... Sure, maybe it's the parent company but based on how they were structured it seems likely that the CTO of LTM had a lot of influence. Moreover, he was hired as a CTO somewhere by the same people making the big decision at PIA.. Also we can look through your CEO's comments from 2 weeks about Mark. E.g. >You don’t know a person until you see them in the toughest of situations. Mark is a good man and a great developer who fought on the front lines and I’ve known for a long time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21684155 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21684155 Seems like he trusts him.
ghostpepper 7y ago
This does seem conveniently timed, right after the controversy of a few weeks ago has died down. Hopefully wireguard will be accepted into the mainline kernel soon and it will become much easier for people to run their own VPNs. I will not be using PIA for the remainder of my subscription, and won't be renewing it. Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679682 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679682
- Tenoke 7y ago
  This looks like a PR move after their really bad recent press. Open Sourcing is just seen as easy guaranteed good PR even if it is just something less important (client).
- Gustomaximus 7y ago
  I wonder more than coincidence if users started haemorrhaging. I turned of auto-renewal the day I saw that announcement and will be looking for a new VPN in ~4 months or so. Given most people with VPN's are likely privacy conscious, seems amazing a good percentage wont be doing the same given the groups reputation that took over.
- charwalker 7y ago
  Same, moved to Windscribe but was torn between them and Mulvad. PIA lost me and they won't bring me back short of a full refund of my existing sub with them and with Windscribe. But I'd just take the money and move on anyway.

ShorsHammer 7y ago

As a r/buttcoin regular I couldn't help but chuckle loudly in the office here reading this. Had to double check and laughed even more. The utter absurdity of it all. He actually seems like a decent guy who got in well over his head and did prison time for it in Japan, but as the saying goes "all publicity is good publicity", you literally can't do wrong in the corporate world. Patiently waiting for Elizabeth Holmes next endeavour.

craftinator 7y ago
I may have been laying it on a little thick, but honestly, letting him become CTO of a major VPN provider... A whole sea of capable, professional tech leaders out there, and they choose a blockchain enthusiast with a criminal record and a history of incapability. I get the feeling that Kape wants someone in charge who won't say no to shady practices.
- Cauchon 7y ago
  I get where you’re coming from. If I’m going to choose one VPN company to use, it won’t be one with him as CTO.
  - ShorsHammer 7y ago
    Exactly. It's almost like they are trying to filter out anyone with sense.

Freeboots 7y ago

Hah, I hadn't realized Karpeles was involved. That's a pretty wild CTO choice. After all that's happened, going open source is pretty much their only option.

craftinator 7y ago
I can see how they can open source their client side applications, and I guess they can open source their server code, but I can't wrap my head around how we can verify what exactly they are running on their servers. Like, can we ssh into them with root access and poke around running processes? I just don't get it. Anyone have a clue how else that kind of verification can happen?
- blibble 7y ago
  it's not possible and even if it was they could just configure their switches to mirror ports to send the traffic somewhere else for logging this entire thing is snake oil designed to fool people that don't know any better trust is earnt... and PIA hired Mark Karpeles, put him in charge of technology then later sold out to a malware firm if you insist on having a VPN: there's plenty of other firms that don't have these "attributes"
  - voisin 7y ago
    What alternatives do you suggest? I just cancelled my PIA subscription and am in the market.
    - majewsky 7y ago
      I've heard good things about Mullvad and IPredator, both from Sweden. Generally you want to be looking for VPN providers that don't spend half their revenue on marketing.
    - jcampbell1 7y ago
      I use Mullvad with the standard wireguard clients. Works much better than anything OpenVPN based. They are based in Sweden which seems like a reasonable jurisdiction.

55555 7y ago

The biggest problem I have with this is that Mark Karpeles is, provably, a bad programmer...

Freeboots 7y ago
Yeah, it's not just the fraud thing; Karpeles shit the bed on Mtgox multiple times. I actually kind of believe the narrative that it was incompetence more than malice, at least to start with.

almostbasic 7y ago

My name is Chris M and I am the CMO for Private Internet Access. PIA management has prepared the following statement regarding Mark Karpeles’s role at LTMH and we hope it addresses your doubts or concerns: In 2018, Mark Karpeles was appointed CTO of LTMH, which was the parent company of Private Internet Access prior to KAPE. However, Mark never had an operational role in PIA and subsequently never had access to any part of the PIA infrastructure nor any role in the planning or execution of the day-to-day operations of PIA. The role of CTO at PIA has been run collectively by Tommie P. (SvP Software, joined January 2017) handling the software development side and Gaurav G. (CIO, joined January 2015) handling the operational and infrastructure side of the business. Mark’s role at LTMH has predominantly been to manage development teams working on FutureFC, general R&D, and providing a broader perspective of the industry as a whole rather than PIA specific issues. His work is best summarized as a valued external consultant for specific discussions related to the advancement of our privacy and security efforts. As part of the merger with KAPE to become Private Internet, Mark currently has no operational role in the merged entity and is pursuing other endeavors.

Tenoke 7y ago
Are all your execs now spreading misinformation in random HN threads? Was your CEO not enough? Making it sound like Mark Karpeles had no real association with PIA is disingenuous. > However, Mark never had an operational role in PIA and subsequently never had access to any part of the PIA infrastructure nor any role in the planning or execution of the day-to-day operations of PIA. You say this yet PIA says diferent in your official statement > Specifically, as many have wondered, he is working as the global CTO across LTM, reviewing technical architecture from an efficiency and security perspective and providing advice and guidance. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hired-mt-gox-ex-ceo-mark-karpeles-as-cto-of-london-trust-media/ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hir... Sure, maybe it's the parent company but based on how they were structured it seems likely that the CTO of LTM had a lot of influence. Moreover, he was hired as a CTO somewhere by the same people making the big decision at PIA.. Also we can look through your CEO's comments from 2 weeks about Mark. E.g. >You don’t know a person until you see them in the toughest of situations. Mark is a good man and a great developer who fought on the front lines and I’ve known for a long time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21684155 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21684155 Seems like he trusts him.

ghostpepper 7y ago

This does seem conveniently timed, right after the controversy of a few weeks ago has died down. Hopefully wireguard will be accepted into the mainline kernel soon and it will become much easier for people to run their own VPNs. I will not be using PIA for the remainder of my subscription, and won't be renewing it. Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679682 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679682

Tenoke 7y ago
This looks like a PR move after their really bad recent press. Open Sourcing is just seen as easy guaranteed good PR even if it is just something less important (client).
Gustomaximus 7y ago
I wonder more than coincidence if users started haemorrhaging. I turned of auto-renewal the day I saw that announcement and will be looking for a new VPN in ~4 months or so. Given most people with VPN's are likely privacy conscious, seems amazing a good percentage wont be doing the same given the groups reputation that took over.
charwalker 7y ago
Same, moved to Windscribe but was torn between them and Mulvad. PIA lost me and they won't bring me back short of a full refund of my existing sub with them and with Windscribe. But I'd just take the money and move on anyway.