5 ms·

Well, this is one way to make bitcoins look seedy and give a negative impression to politicians and the mainstream. But on the other hand, kind of bad ass.

by ericz 14y ago

MartinCron 14y ago
In what way is ransoming private sensitive financial information on the Internet "bad ass"? Would it be bad ass if it were a candidate that you liked? You? Your family? I'm no Romney supporter, but this is the ugliest kind of politics.
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  I actually am more upset about it being ransomed rather than simply released.
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    Releasing someone's private financial documents against their will is pretty ugly as well, but I agree that the ransom/blackmail/extortion angle makes this particularly ugly.
  - rhizome 14y ago
    "it" is BS.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  Wait... I thought as a Presidential candidate he would be handing that over anyway. Is that optional? I'm confused.
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    There's no legal requirement for any candidate of office to disclose any tax returns. It has become a standard thing to do, and Romney has released at least one (2010) and has pledged to release another (2011), but it is totally optional. Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000.
    - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
      Got it. I guess since they've all done it I assumed that was just what they did. I personally don't really give a crap about their tax returns. I fail to see what it matters how much money they made last year or 10yrs ago. Is that some sort of measure of how good of a President they will be?
      - MartinCron 14y ago
        People make the argument that it's a measure of character, but I don't buy it. I kind of like that it has provided a concrete example of how different people pay vastly different effective tax rates, but that could have been done in a bunch of different ways.
        jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        A measure of character? Jeez... I hope we don't have too many people measuring a person's character based on the thickness of their wallet.
        Karunamon 14y ago
        Well, when a guy is running on a platform of being as American as mom and apple pie, it wouldn't look good for him to be using all kinds of offshore tax havens and loopholes.
        MartinCron 14y ago
        I think it is more about the aggressiveness if their loophole exploitation than mere thickness.
        jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        Just like I encourage my tax man to find every possible way for me to reduce my tax burden, I would expect everyone to do that. A loophole is a legal way to do that. If a person has the know-how to aggressively find and use the resources available to them... that shows a great deal of character to me. Don't hate the player... hate the game. You have a problem with a loophole, lobby to get it closed. Or use it also. But I imagine this view is not shared by everyone.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
daenz 14y ago
The person/organization in charge has to be caught, otherwise the world is being signaled that bitcoin is the perfect extortion currency.
- lifeguard 14y ago
  Reminds me of the cypherpunk's 'assassination politics' episode. (I do not condone assassination)
  - andreyf 14y ago
    Episode? Did you mean "essay"? This one, in particular: http://cryptome.org/jdb/ap.htm http://cryptome.org/jdb/ap.htm Side note: the story of the author of that essay in an interesting one... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bell
    - lifeguard 14y ago
      No, yes, maybe: I meant legal episode of the author of that essay.
- politician 14y ago
  No, Bitcoin is not the perfect extortion currency. The transactions are public, so the value is traceable. Even if it is moved into one billion accounts which are split into another billion accounts, if any of the money ends up being spent to the accounts of known actors then it can be seized and the purchases can potentially be traced. I have no doubt that the Secret Service would monitor that account and the transitive closure of the transaction graph involved for the next 50 years if a payment was made to it. Hell, if there is any value currently assigned to that account it is effectively pinned. The owner of the account would have to work very hard to launder it.
  - Bakkot 14y ago
    Wouldn't 'laundering' look exactly like 'sending the BTC to any of the dozens of services which store BTC for you in a centralized account, (SR, instawallet, etc) and then withdrawing that same amount? This produces bitcoins not visibly linked to the originals - it's exactly like depositing and then withdrawing money from a bank (a bank which doesn't make a record of people's identity).

Well, this is one way to make bitcoins look seedy and give a negative impression to politicians and the mainstream. But on the other hand, kind of bad ass.

by ericz 14y ago

Well, this is one way to make bitcoins look seedy and give a negative impression to politicians and the mainstream. But on the other hand, kind of bad ass.

MartinCron 14y ago

In what way is ransoming private sensitive financial information on the Internet "bad ass"? Would it be bad ass if it were a candidate that you liked? You? Your family? I'm no Romney supporter, but this is the ugliest kind of politics.

drivebyacct2 14y ago
I actually am more upset about it being ransomed rather than simply released.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  Releasing someone's private financial documents against their will is pretty ugly as well, but I agree that the ransom/blackmail/extortion angle makes this particularly ugly.
- rhizome 14y ago
  "it" is BS.
jack-r-abbit 14y ago
Wait... I thought as a Presidential candidate he would be handing that over anyway. Is that optional? I'm confused.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  There's no legal requirement for any candidate of office to disclose any tax returns. It has become a standard thing to do, and Romney has released at least one (2010) and has pledged to release another (2011), but it is totally optional. Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000.
  - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
    Got it. I guess since they've all done it I assumed that was just what they did. I personally don't really give a crap about their tax returns. I fail to see what it matters how much money they made last year or 10yrs ago. Is that some sort of measure of how good of a President they will be?
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      People make the argument that it's a measure of character, but I don't buy it. I kind of like that it has provided a concrete example of how different people pay vastly different effective tax rates, but that could have been done in a bunch of different ways.
      - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        A measure of character? Jeez... I hope we don't have too many people measuring a person's character based on the thickness of their wallet.
        Karunamon 14y ago
        Well, when a guy is running on a platform of being as American as mom and apple pie, it wouldn't look good for him to be using all kinds of offshore tax havens and loopholes.
        MartinCron 14y ago
        I think it is more about the aggressiveness if their loophole exploitation than mere thickness.
        jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        Just like I encourage my tax man to find every possible way for me to reduce my tax burden, I would expect everyone to do that. A loophole is a legal way to do that. If a person has the know-how to aggressively find and use the resources available to them... that shows a great deal of character to me. Don't hate the player... hate the game. You have a problem with a loophole, lobby to get it closed. Or use it also. But I imagine this view is not shared by everyone.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

daenz 14y ago

The person/organization in charge has to be caught, otherwise the world is being signaled that bitcoin is the perfect extortion currency.

lifeguard 14y ago
Reminds me of the cypherpunk's 'assassination politics' episode. (I do not condone assassination)
- andreyf 14y ago
  Episode? Did you mean "essay"? This one, in particular: http://cryptome.org/jdb/ap.htm http://cryptome.org/jdb/ap.htm Side note: the story of the author of that essay in an interesting one... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bell
  - lifeguard 14y ago
    No, yes, maybe: I meant legal episode of the author of that essay.
politician 14y ago
No, Bitcoin is not the perfect extortion currency. The transactions are public, so the value is traceable. Even if it is moved into one billion accounts which are split into another billion accounts, if any of the money ends up being spent to the accounts of known actors then it can be seized and the purchases can potentially be traced. I have no doubt that the Secret Service would monitor that account and the transitive closure of the transaction graph involved for the next 50 years if a payment was made to it. Hell, if there is any value currently assigned to that account it is effectively pinned. The owner of the account would have to work very hard to launder it.
- Bakkot 14y ago
  Wouldn't 'laundering' look exactly like 'sending the BTC to any of the dozens of services which store BTC for you in a centralized account, (SR, instawallet, etc) and then withdrawing that same amount? This produces bitcoins not visibly linked to the originals - it's exactly like depositing and then withdrawing money from a bank (a bank which doesn't make a record of people's identity).