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An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

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Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#11

Post by ivraatiems »

Retric wrote: post #8
asocial wrote: post #5

The “police have been devoting a huge amount of resources to track down peaceful people engaged in voluntary trade like Charlie Shrem and the operators of the Silk Road Market,” Ver says, “while evil hackers were busy terrorizing quadriplegic Hal Finney and his family.” "voluntary trade" makes it sound like said trade wasn't actually illegal (in other words, like something the police are actually supposed to stop, pe…

Somehow I think you missed the whole "Every transaction is public" part of Bitcoin. Cash is difficult but not impossible to track, Bitcoin is ridiculously easy to track by comparison.

Except that Bitcoin can be laundered quite effectively, and often is. [1] In fact, there are services that do so. [2]

[1] http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/72/how-is-it-poss...

[2] https://bitlaunder.com/

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#12

Post by Retric »

ivraatiems wrote: post #11
Retric wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow I think you missed the whole "Every transaction is public" part of Bitcoin. Cash is difficult but not impossible to track, Bitcoin is ridiculously easy to track by comparison.

Except that Bitcoin can be laundered quite effectively, and often is. [1] In fact, there are services that do so. [2] [1] http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/72/how-is-it-poss... [2] https://bitlaunder.com/

Try and launder a 1Billion to 10 Billion dollor transaction with bitcoin and that's going to fall flat.

PS: For comparison you can fedex ~170,000$ worth of gold in a vary inconspicious 15 LB box. Shipping ~60,000 lb of gold (1Billion$) is much easier to track and more risky.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#13

Post by mycroft-holmes »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argument that heroin and meth should be legal is asinine.

Why exactly?

> often leads to more crime as addicts will steal or even kill for their next fix.

You realize the drug laws you support create this behavior, right?

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#14

Post by AlisdairO »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> The argument that heroin and meth should be legal is asinine.

I don't think it's asinine. There's clearly reasonable arguments for it: mostly that the consequences to society of harsh crackdowns on drug abuse are worse than those of legalisation - in particular that addicts feel that they have no option but to kill or steal in order to obtain their next fix.

Do I think people ought to do hard drugs? Absolutely not, it's clearly a terrible idea. I just think addiction should be treated as a medical condition, not some righteous moral crusade. Legalisation might be a step too far, but criminalisation isn't clearly a better option.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#15

Post by dghughes »

mycroft-holmes wrote: post #13
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argument that heroin and meth should be legal is asinine. Why exactly? > often leads to more crime as addicts will steal or even kill for their next fix. You realize the drug laws you support create this behavior, right?

People steal alcohol bum and steal money to get it and it's legal.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#16

Post by discardorama »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> I don't care if the meth dealer is a hip and gentle guy. He's empowering others to destroy their lives

You do know that Paul Erdös, the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century (if not ever) was a meth addict, right?

I'm not saying "meth is good"; but that blanket generalizations are bad.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#17

Post by reverend_gonzo »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> He's empowering others to destroy their lives, which very often leads to more crime as addicts will steal or even kill for their next fix.

What about alcohol? Cigarettes? Poker? Penny stocks?

All of these things have contributed to people blowing their savings, futures, and ruining their own lives and their families' lives.

By criminalizing drugs, people who want to fix their behavior are unable to because they're afraid to go to jail.

What we need is support centers, like we have for alcoholics, gambling addicts, sex addicts, internet addicts, and addicts of any other kind. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol in the 20s, and it hasn't worked for drugs.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#18

Post by WhitneyLand »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

Asinine? How many people do you think are dying from opiate use now, compared to when prescription painkillers were easier to get? Heroin use has actually had a massive increase due to the laws you support. Imagine if opiates were legal and well regulated. So many families might be dealing with substance abuse rather than death of a loved one due to guessing what's in an illegal plastic bag. Similar to moonshine which caused blindness and death during prohibition.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#19

Post by ceejayoz »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> He's empowering others to destroy their lives

So does Farmville.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#20

Post by scotty79 »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

> He's empowering others to destroy their lives, which very often leads to more crime as addicts will steal or even kill for their next fix.

What do you think about state organized lotteries then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PK-netuhHA

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