Thursday, November 21, 2013
Bitcoin makes a pitch for 'safe and sane' regulation
Bitcoin, the virtual currency that fuels transactions on Internet black markets such as Silk Road and Black Market Reloaded, will make its case to Congress on Monday that such currency has potential to open the digital economy to poor societies around the world.
Federal law enforcement agents will testify that criminals can use Bitcoin to launder money.
Last month, federal agents shut down Silk Road, a black market that sold illegal goods such as heroin and forged documents, and arrested its alleged operator, Ross Ulbricht. The site operated on an underground network known as Tor and transacted its sales in bitcoin.
Patrick Murck, general counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, will appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for the first congressional hearing on virtual currency. Murck, in prepared testimony, said he hoped Congress would "chart a safe and sane regulatory course" without tamping down the economic and societal potential for the digital economy and Bitcoin.
Bitcoin can help people avoid official corruption and punitive taxes and spend money on unpopular causes without risking interference from government, Murck said. Fees are generally lower than traditional banking, he said.
"Bitcoin can facilitate private and anonymous transactions, which are resistant to oversight and control," Murck's testimony says. "This by no means implies that using Bitcoin can or should provide anyone immunity from the law."
The committee has asked Murck and representatives of the Justice Department, Homeland Security and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children to discuss the risks and potential of digital cash that can be transferred anonymously and without government regulation.
Bitcoin, invented in 2008 as a person-to-person digital currency that can be traded without banks or a central monetary authority, has grown exponentially as Internet businesses, legal and illegal, adopt it as a payment method. Bitcoin can be exchanged for standard currency, such as dollars, euros or yen, but the exchange rate varies wildly. One Bitcoin has sold for more than $400.
In March, the Treasury Department's Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCen) said Bitcoin exchanges that allow users to convert their virtual currency to dollars must register with the government and abide by anti-money-laundering regulations. European regulators issued similar requirements in July.
To pay with Bitcoin, users create a "wallet" using Bitcoin software that is identified with a 33-digit code. That code links to a private one known only to the owner. The wallet's owner uses the private key to "sign" transactions, which is then validated by the computer. Every transaction is listed in a public ledger, called the "block chain," which prevents spending Bitcoin twice.
Responsible virtual currency providers should implement the Treasury Department's anti-money laundering procedures and report suspicious transactions, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, director of FinCen, said in written testimony.
"Legitimate financial institutions, including virtual currency providers, do not go into business with the aim of laundering money on behalf of criminals," she said. "Any financial institution could be exploited for money laundering purposes. What is important is for institutions to put controls in place to deal with those money laundering threats."
The Department of Homeland Security is carefully watching the development of virtual currencies, Brian de Vallance, acting assistant secretary for legislative affairs wrote in a letter to the committee.
Anonymity in cyberspace creates "a unique opportunity for criminal organizations to launder huge sum of money undetected," he wrote.
Criminals have migrated to Tor to hide their identities and use virtual currency to hide their transactions, said Ernie Allen, CEO of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, in prepared testimony submitted to the committee.
In August, police arrested the owner and operator of Freedom Hosting, which maintained "deep Web" servers that hosted child porn sites, including Lolita City and Pedo Empire, that accepted payment in Bitcoin. The FBI called Freedom Hosting "the largest facilitator of child pornography on the planet," Allen said.
He said he can see the virtues of a digital economy and digital currency as a way to get capital to people without access to banks, credit cards and mainstream financial institutions, but he also sees it as a way for criminals to hide the profits of their crimes. Police often follow the money to find the operators of child pornography and sex trafficking websites, Allen said. The center is encouraging countries to regulate virtual currency at the point where it is traded for standard currency.
"The attractiveness of Tor and Bitcoin for child pornography is based upon a perception of anonymity," Allen said. "If the perception of anonymity diminishes, we believe the criminal use will diminish with it."
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Author: Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY
George Zimmerman arrested after disturbance call
In this handout photo provided by Seminole County Sheriff`s Office, George Zimmerman poses for a mug shot photo after being arrested and booked into jail at the John Polk Correctional Facility November 18, 2013 in Sanford, Florida.
A statement says George Zimmerman was arrested Monday afternoon after deputies responded to a disturbance call at a house in Apopka, Florida.
APOPKA, Fla. — George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted earlier this year in the killing of an unarmed black teen, was arrested Monday in Florida after deputies responded to a disturbance call at a house, authorities said.
Zimmerman will be transported and booked into jail, a sheriff's office statement said. Authorities provided few other details, and it was not immediately known what charges he faced. Messages for comment left by The Associated Press with the sheriff's office were not immediately returned.
Zimmerman, 30, was acquitted of all charges earlier this year in the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin. The death of the black teenager, who was unarmed, touched off a nationwide debate about race and self-defense. Zimmerman has said he shot the 17-year-old to defend himself during a fight.
Zimmerman's arrest at a house in Apopka, northwest of Orlando, was just his latest brush with the law.
Zimmerman and his estranged wife were involved in a domestic dispute in September just days after Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers, but police later said no charges were filed against either of them because of a lack of evidence.
Zimmerman has also been pulled over three times for traffic stops since his acquittal. He was ticketed for doing 60 mph in a 45 mph zone in September and was given a warning by a state trooper for having a tag cover and windows that were too darkly tinted. He was also stopped near Dallas in July and was given a warning for speeding.
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By Associated Press
NASA launches robotic explorer to Mars
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft onboard is seen at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
NASA's robotic explorer, called Maven, blasted off Monday, Nov. 18, 2013 on a 10-month journey to the red planet.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's newest robotic explorer, Maven, rocketed toward Mars on Monday on a quest to unravel the ancient mystery of the red planet's radical climate change.
The Maven spacecraft is due at Mars next fall following a journey of more than 440 million miles.
Scientists want to know why Mars went from being warm and wet during its first billion year to cold and dry today. The early Martian atmosphere was thick enough to hold water and possibly support microbial life. But much of that atmosphere may have been lost to space, eroded by the sun.
"We want to know: What happened?" said Michael Meyer, NASA's lead Mars scientist.
To help solve this environmental puzzle, Maven will spend an entire Earth year measuring atmospheric gases once it reaches Mars on Sept. 22, 2014.
This is NASA's 21st mission to Mars since the 1960s. But it's the first one devoted to studying the Martian upper atmosphere.
The mission costs $671 million.
NASA launches robotic explorer to MarsReuters: C. Inton Maven — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, with a capital "N'' in EvolutioN — bears eight science instruments. The spacecraft, at 5,410 pounds, weighs as much as an SUV. From solar wingtip to wingtip, it stretches 37.5 feet, about the length of a school bus.
A question underlying all of NASA's Mars missions to date is whether life could have started on what now seems to be a barren world.
"We don't have that answer yet, and that's all part of our quest for trying to answer, 'Are we alone in the universe?' in a much broader sense," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's science mission director.
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By Marcia Dunn of Associated Press
French automaker Renault can cut off your car battery if you don’t make payments on time
Last year Tesla dealt with its first real scandal, the so-called “bricking” of batteries that are allowed to run entirely out of charge. But what about a car company that could brick a car’s battery on purpose? As it turns out, French automaker Renault is using its battery leasing scheme to prevent non-paying customers from charging their electric cars. Big Brother is watching…your battery.
It’s another form of DRM, or Digital Rights Management, that video game and movie companies use to try (and fail) to prevent piracy. Renault, which leases the batteries in vehicle like its Zoe Z.E. electric car in a bid to keep prices down (and probably make a few extra bucks in the long game), also draws a huge amount of information from the battery data.
This includes keeping tabs on non-paying customers, and Renault worked a nifty feature into their rented batteries that they didn’t exactly brag about in the press releases. In the service contract, however, in the fine print, it is revealed that Renault has the right to prevent charging of the Zoe Z.E. at the end of the battery rental contract. It was also revealed that Renault can do this in the case of non-payment on the car or battery as well, effectively making “your” vehicle worthless.
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Author: By Chris DeMorro
Bristol Palin responds to Levi Johnston's custody request by claiming he never spends time with his son, who of course she has hidden away in Arizona, and by calling him a felon.
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| Photo courtesy of Levi's Facebook page |
Levi Johnston has his priorities screwed up ... he's buying cars, dropping serious cash on hunting and taking fancy trips, instead of forking over child support ... this according to legal docs filed by Bristol Palin.
In the new docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Bristol claims Levi isn't a suitable parent on many levels to get what he's after -- 50/50 custody. She says aside from the fact that he's $67K behind in child support, he doesn't even visit Tripp on a regular basis.
In fact, Bristol believes Levi is so deep in the red, it constitutes a felony under Alaskan law.
And this is the best part ... Bristol wants the judge to say out loud that Levi is voluntarily underemployed -- translation ... LOSER.
Well so much for TMZ staying neutral.
Of course the fact that Levi "doesn't even visit his son on a regular basis," might have something to do with the fact that Bristol has him in Arizona much of the time and NEVER tells Levi when they are in the state. (As was reported before.)
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| Courtesy of Brancy's blog |
Bristol Palin responds to Levi Johnston's custody request by claiming he never spends time with his son, who of course she has hidden away in Arizona, and by calling him a felon.
As for the child support amount that is the result of a very unfair monthly amount based on Levi's Playgirl payout and should never have been allowed to stand. Of course WHY Levi has not gone to court to have it reassessed is still a mystery to me.As for Levi being able to make more money than he currently does, I don't see how he has many employment options considering the fact that he dropped out of school (He may have his GED but I'm not sure.) and only has a few marketable skills. Personally I think his job as an electrician may be the best he can do right now. (Of course Levi did also turn down two reality show gigs so perhaps that is what Bristol is talking about. Especially since she sees no problem with putting your personal life of television for all the world to see.)
Speaking of inviting ridicule, it looks like Palin has decided to put up barriers at her book signings to keep the riff raff at a distance.
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| Photo courtesy of Facebook |
By the way it looks like Palin is not going to simply allow Martin Bashir apologize like a gentleman and move on with this life. He dared to speak out against her and must be punished.
This letter was sent to Breatbart, from SarahPAC:
When Palin smells blood in the water there is no way she is simply going to swim away without biting off her pound of flesh first.
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Rachel Maddow reports on Koch brother funded anti-Obamacare ads in Alaska.
Rachel was quite kind to give a shout out to my fellow Alaska bloggers over at Alaska Commons, who first broke this story back on November 7th.
John Arrrono did good work, and hopefully now that this story is getting national attention the media will be on alert for more of this kind of manipulation.
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George Zimmerman threatened girlfriend with shotgun. Kind of noticing a pattern here. Update!
George Zimmerman threatened girlfriend with shotgun. Kind of noticing a pattern here. Update!
George Zimmerman is being held without bail on charges that he threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun.
Zimmerman, 30, was taken into custody Monday afternoon following a disturbance call at a home in Apopka, Fla., about 15 miles from Orlando, according to Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma of the Seminole County Sheriff's office.
In a 911 call released later Monday, Samantha Scheibe told police that Zimmerman had smashed a glass table, broken her sunglasses and pointed a shotgun in her face.
"You put your gun in my freaking face," Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman on the call. "Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house."
Seconds later, she can be heard telling the dispatcher, "He pushed me out of my house and locked me out. ... He knows how to do this. He knows how to play this game."
After police arrived on the scene, Zimmerman placed his own 911 call.
"I have a girlfriend, who for lack of a better word, has gone crazy on me," Zimmerman said. He said that he never pulled a gun on his girlfriend, and that it was Scheibe who smashed a table at the home.
He also told the dispatcher that Scheibe was pregnant with their child and that she had decided she would raise the child on her own. When Zimmerman started to leave, "she got mad," he said.
When the dispatcher asked why Zimmerman had called 911 instead of talking to the police officers who were outside the home, he said, "I just want everyone to know the truth."
Lemma told reporters that the girlfriend told police she is not pregnant.
Here is a link to the police conference, with a few more details.
Let's face it this guy thinks he can get away with anything, and will not stop being a danger to his community and anybody who gets close to him until he is locked away.
Update: Here is video of Zimmerman's arraignment during which we learn that he had also choked his girlfriend a week and a half ago.
I would expect nothing less from a POS who needs a gun to make him feel like a man.
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