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Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

nashvillecitypaper.com

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Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#41

Post by brown9-2 »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #15
mtgx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to dilute what the words means to the point it can mean just about any crime, sure. But if you're referring to the strict term, then no.

>the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion Which word am I diluting exactly? If Romney is as afraid of releasing his taxes as many imply, would he not be fearful of their release? edit2: thanks for the replies, I think I understand why y'all disagree and I think that I agree with you. It's not systematic and it's not being used to intimidate others, it's too focused, basically.

The entire idea of blackmail is that you fear the thing being held against you.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#42

Post by scarmig »

MartinCron wrote: post #32
scarmig wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, I'm not sure. It's pretty clear what's in Romney's returns at this point (a lower than average income tax rate, though it's hard to say whether it's closer to 5% or 15%), so I don't see a huge downside risk for him in them being released. If they upped their demands to, say $10 million, we're talking about real money, even for Mitt. Enough to get an extra percent of the vote or so in a moderate sized state. Unles…

He has recently insisted that he's never paid less than 13%, so if it comes out as less than that, he might have a huge political problem. For the record, I don't think he's lying about that, he seems far too smart to set up a trap like that for himself.

I recall it being couched in words about overall tax rate, though, not income tax rate. Which would give him enough wiggle room if push comes to shove.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#43

Post by waterlesscloud »

What if it's all a scheme to drive up the value of bitcoin via speculation?

Increased attention to the currency will have some bidding up the price, so anyone just holding bitcoin could profit, even if without 1 coin being sent to either address.

Of course, if someone did try to make the payment and purchase a million bucks of bitcoins, that would drive the price sky high.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#44

Post by lotharbot »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #15
mtgx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to dilute what the words means to the point it can mean just about any crime, sure. But if you're referring to the strict term, then no.

>the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion Which word am I diluting exactly? If Romney is as afraid of releasing his taxes as many imply, would he not be fearful of their release? edit2: thanks for the replies, I think I understand why y'all disagree and I think that I agree with you. It's not systematic and it's not being used to intimidate others, it's too focused, basically.

Two issues with your usage:

- this is not "systematic". Terrorism targets a whole group.

- this is not "violent" (search the wikipedia entry[0]; while the word is left out of the one-liner at the top, it appears throughout).

I would have categorized this under blackmail, or possibly harassment or intimidation. It definitely isn't terrorism.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#45

Post by uptown »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #15
mtgx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to dilute what the words means to the point it can mean just about any crime, sure. But if you're referring to the strict term, then no.

>the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion Which word am I diluting exactly? If Romney is as afraid of releasing his taxes as many imply, would he not be fearful of their release? edit2: thanks for the replies, I think I understand why y'all disagree and I think that I agree with you. It's not systematic and it's not being used to intimidate others, it's too focused, basically.

"If Romney is as afraid of releasing his taxes as many imply, would he not be fearful of their release?"

If a kid is afraid of their first day of school that doesn't mean the school is a terrorist, though that child may be full of terror about that day. It's a very broad term - arguably which contributes to problem of ever really "winning" a "war on terror", but the common understanding of the word terrorism today doesn't usually include things like fear of tax records being released.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#47

Post by ender7 »

I don't understand why they made this a public posting. Romney isn't incentivized to pay up once the blackmail is public knowledge -- payment is equivalent to admitting guilt. Might as well keep your money and take the hits.

I don't see any situations where this beats contacting the campaign privately, with a document or two in hand to prove that you have the real stuff.

Unless, of course, if this is just a stunt that someone is running on the off chance that anyone is stupid enough to actually pay the money.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#48

Post by brokentone »

Some of us developers have been working on the rehabilitation of the term "hack" and "hacker" (Hacker News anyone). The various Anonymous/LulzSec attacks of the last few years have been amusing and most have not been directly attacked individuals or been extortive (however, they've still been illegal, and I have not agreed with them).

Although a politician, Mitt Romney is still a person. No one has rights to his personal information he has not decided to share.

This attack is despicable.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#49

Post by malkia »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #13

Can this be considered terrorism? Surely, blackmail, but also terrorism? Just curious. edit: Since I received record fast downvotes, I'll clarify that this is not meant to be a political comment, jesus.

I don't think so. Since it would bring fear, only if the people were wrong in the first place (not innocent). And that fear is nothing like fear for your life, or the life of the others, or fear of being sexually molested, or offended by any other physical or psychological means.

Re: Anonymous allegedly hacked Romney tax records

#50

Post by brokentone »

ender7 wrote: post #47

I don't understand why they made this a public posting. Romney isn't incentivized to pay up once the blackmail is public knowledge -- payment is equivalent to admitting guilt. Might as well keep your money and take the hits. I don't see any situations where this beats contacting the campaign privately, with a document or two in hand to prove that you have the real stuff. Unless, of course, if this is just a stunt tha…

So far they've made $0.30 BTC and the story has hardly broken...
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