March 2022 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

The 6th Anniversary of the Peter Thiel / Hulk Hogan / Gawker Case: What Have We Learned?
by professor rat 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

Corpse-media celebrities are not entitled to any privacy under the formula " Cypherpunks are all about privacy for the poor and transparency for the powerful "

1 0

[spam] [personal joke] Fwd: [Tails-news] Police raid at Zwiebelfreunde: Donor data compromised
by Karl Semich 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

I have a recurring monthly payment to these guys that I've never sorted out what is for or how to cancel or if I want to. It's been repeating for more years than this email is old. This month it cost me over $600 because my account was overdrawn and the charge kept repeating. I was over $200 negative when I looked. All my tails money went to banking institutions in overdraw and transfer fees, eating into all my other money. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Tails - News <rss(a)boum.org> Date: Sun, Jul 8, 2018, 2:53 AM Subject: [Tails-news] Police raid at Zwiebelfreunde: Donor data compromised To: <amnesia-news(a)boum.org> On June 20th 2018, German police searched the homes of board members of our former fiscal sponsor Zwiebelfreunde in a coordinated raid. Zwiebelfreunde (_Friends of onions_ in German) is a non-profit organization that supports privacy and anonymity projects and operates several Tor exit nodes. They are not accused of a crime but considered to be witnesses in a case: the operators of an anonymous website calling for protest against the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party convention used an email address at Riseup, a privacy-friendly email provider to which Zwiebelfreunde facilitates donations. During the search, computers, storage media, personal items, bank account records, and paper receipts have been confiscated. This unfortunately means that if you have donated to Tails before October 18th 2017 using our European bank account, your data is now in the hands of the German police (IBAN account number, name of account holder, amount, and date). If you donated after this date, you donated to our new fiscal sponsor CCT and not to Zwiebelfreunde. According to Moritz Bartl, one of the board members, "_there's a long history of police using that kind of data to investigate social structures; who's working where, who's involved in which projects, so we have to assume that they are looking into the social networks of people_" ([Source](https://www.zdnet.com/article/german-police-raid-homes-of-tor- linked-groups-board-members/) <https://www.zdnet.com/article/german-police-raid-homes-of-tor-linked-groups…)> ). The raid has been strongly criticized by [German media](http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/hausdurchsuchungen-bei- netzaktivisten-chaos-computer-club-kritisiert-polizeivorgehen-a-1216463.html <http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/hausdurchsuchungen-bei-netzaktivisten-ch…> ) and [digital rights activists](https://netzpolitik.org/2018/zwiebelfreunde- durchsuchungen-wenn-zeugen-wie-straftaeter-behandelt-werden/ <https://netzpolitik.org/2018/zwiebelfreunde-durchsuchungen-wenn-zeugen-wie-…>) as being [disproportionate]( https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2018/hausdurchsuchungen-bei- vereinsvorstanden-der-zwiebelfreunde-und-im-openlab-augsburg <https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2018/hausdurchsuchungen-bei-vereinsvorstanden…> ). Please join us in supporting our friends at [Zwiebelfreunde](https://www.zwiebelfreunde.de/). We are very grateful for the support they have provided to Tails. Read more about the case and find links to international press coverage on [Zwiebelfreunde's blog](https://blog.torservers.net/20180704/coordinated- raids-of-zwiebelfreunde-at-various-locations-in-germany.html <https://blog.torservers.net/20180704/coordinated-raids-of-zwiebelfreunde-at…> ). URL: https://tails.boum.org/news/zwiebelfreunde_raided/index.en.html _______________________________________________ amnesia-news mailing list amnesia-news(a)boum.org https://mailman.boum.org/listinfo/amnesia-news To unsubscribe from this list, send an empty email to amnesia-news-unsubscribe(a)boum.org.

1 2

The 6th Anniversary of the Peter Thiel / Hulk Hogan / Gawker Case: What Have We Learned?
by Gunnar Larson 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

The 6th Anniversary of the Peter Thiel / Hulk Hogan / Gawker Case: What Have We Learned? <https://litigationfinancejournal.com/the-6th-anniversary-of-the-peter-thiel…> This week marks the sixth anniversary of Terry Bollea (AKA professional wrestler Hulk Hogan) suing Gawker media for publishing a sex tape of him with a married woman. The suit made national news not just for its salacious nature—but because of the questions it raised regarding privacy versus journalistic freedom. Once news emerged that billionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was funding Hogan’s claim, the case became even more sensational. In this piece, we’ll take a look at exactly what happened in the case, and how it impacted (or hasn’t impacted) Litigation Finance. *The Facts of the Case* In 2007, Gawker, a website known for celebrity scandals and salacious content, published a piece with the headline: “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.” Was this newsworthy? Did the piece have journalistic integrity? Reasonable people can disagree. Peter Thiel is in fact gay, which means the truth of the article protected Gawker from a libel suit. In 2009, an outed Thiel gave an interview in which he called Gawker ‘destructive,’ even as he acknowledged that the site wasn’t focused on ruining him personally. Thiel also speculated that Gawker maintained a disdainful attitude toward Big Tech, and may be focusing on punishing industry leaders as a result. Fast forward to 2012, when Gawker published a lewd video featuring wrestler Hulk Hogan (AKA Terry Bollea) having sex with Heather Clem—wife of radio personality “Bubba the Love Sponge.” This led to Bollea suing the media outlet for infringement of rights of publicity, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Bollea was represented by famed Los Angeles attorney Charles Harder. The published video, which Bollea claims was recorded without his knowledge or consent, contained a 2-minute section of a 30+ minute video—ten seconds of which included explicit sex acts. In 2016, Forbes magazine revealed that it was indeed Peter Thiel who was bankrolling Bollea’s case against Gawker. Speculation soared over what was viewed by many as Thiel’s revenge against Gawker for outing him. Did he want to ruin the media company, or purchase it, or simply malign the company that caused him personal and professional anguish? Thiel maintained that his involvement was philanthropic at heart, and meant to protect people from being bullied by unscrupulous media outlets. If anything, the lawsuit was meant to deter Gawker from intentionally releasing damaging content that lacked legitimate news value. Gawker founder Nick Denton, who was named personally in Bollea’s claim, made a statement about Thiel’s involvement in the case: “Just because Peter Thiel is a Silicon Valley Billionaire, his opinion does not trump our millions of readers who know us for routinely driving big news stories. <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/business/dealbook/peter-thiel-tech-billi…> ” Also in 2016, a jury awarded Bollea compensatory damages of $115 million, plus punitive damages of $25 million—finding Gawker liable. A few months later, Gawker filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and began looking for a buyer. Several media outlets owned by Gawker were sold. By November 2016, Gawker and Bollea reached a settlement of $31 million. Today, Gawker’s flagship gossip site is still active. Gawker media sold off several of its prominent sites including Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, and io9. *The LF Connection* The case itself was of particular interest in and around the Litigation Finance community. Opponents of third-party legal funding asserted that Thiel’s actions in the case laid out an effective blueprint for the very wealthy to bankroll frivolous, but eye-catching cases. Billionaires could, some posited, use their wealth and legal connections to target specific companies, forcing them into bankruptcy. This speculation took place alongside the typical accusations that third-party litigation funding could clog court dockets with meritless actions meant to be quick paydays for funders and their clients. For example, Peter Sheer, a First Amendment expert, suggested that Thiel and others might abuse the power of third-party legal funding to intimidate media outlets. According to Sheer: “Winning is the ultimate chilling effect, but if you can’t win the case, you at least want the editors to think twice before writing another critical story about you. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/05/24/this-silicon-valley-billion…> ” To the keen-eyed observer though, it’s clear that Peter Thiel neither incited this case, nor had any real control over its outcome. Bollea initiated the case before Thiel’s involvement. At the time the case was decided, the jury was unaware that Bollea had a benefactor. And since the jury ruled in favor of Bollea, not Gawker, it’s clear that the case had merit. Thiel was always adamant that funding Bollea’s case (to the tune of $10 million) was about deterrence, not revenge. He explains that he wanted to “fight back” against Gawker’s practice of damaging reputations and bullying those with no means to pursue a claim to conclusion. As Thiel explains, “…even someone like Terry Bollea, who is a millionaire and famous and a successful person didn’t quite have the resources to do this alone. <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/business/dealbook/peter-thiel-tech-billi…> ” While one could view Thiel’s actions as being contradictory to the principles of free speech—he disagrees. In fact, Thiel has donated to free speech defenders like the Committee to Protect Journalists. Thiel maintains that there is a profound difference between journalism in the public interest, and the type of media Gawker traffics in. That’s why he decided to take action. Thiel told the New York Times, “It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest. <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/business/dealbook/peter-thiel-tech-billi…> ” Now, six years after the case has concluded—what have we learned? We haven’t seen a rash of billionaires funding cases, frivolous or not, with the intention of bringing down specific companies. That’s not to say billionaires aren’t financing claims the way Thiel did, only that they aren’t doing so publicly. Unlike traditional litigation funders, Thiel did not stand to make any money from Bollea’s lawsuit. Technically, Thiel should still be considered the litigation funder, though his term sheet wouldn’t be one most funders would want to imitate. The Gawker case has not led to a slew of frivolous, funded claim. Among other reasons, it simply doesn’t make financial sense to invest in a case lacking in merit. Bollea’s accusations against Gawker were affirmed by the jury, which resulted in a large award. So this claim was meritorious, even if Thiel’s motivation for funding the claim were not ROI-based. Media outlets are not cowering en masse over fears of punitive lawsuits from billionaires. That was much ado about nothing. Holding media outlets accountable for what they print (and occasionally, their motivations for doing so) is a vital and essential part of the free press. Free speech is not freedom to print anything—even something as personal as a sex tape—merely as an attention-getting device. *Final Takeaways* Can a lawsuit fall under the purview of Free Speech? Thiel believes so, and many others agree. This case addressed questions of privacy, free speech, and litigation funding. The end results demonstrated that we are all entitled to some element of privacy—even the celebrities among us. The Gawker case also affirmed that litigation funding still serves the interests of justice by enhancing the ability of claimants to bring lawsuits when they are wronged. The takeaway here should be that Peter Thiel afforded Hulk Hogan access to justice. Of course, when a billionaire backs a professional wrestler against a media company, sometimes the moral of the story can get lost beneath the headlines. -- *Gunnar Larson - xNY.io <http://www.xNY.io> | Bank.org <http://Bank.org>* MSc <https://www.unic.ac.cy/blockchain/msc-digital-currency/?utm_source=Google&u…> - Digital Currency MBA <https://www.unic.ac.cy/business-administration-entrepreneurship-and-innovat…> - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1-646-454-9107 New York, New York 10001

1 0

A phone relay capture may be the latest of Russia’s communications woes in Ukraine - The Verge
by jim bell 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/15/22979381/phone-relay-capture-russia-mili… "In the latest communications setback to hit the Russian military, the Security Service of Ukraine (abbreviated as SBU) claims to have captured a hacker who was helping to provide communications services for Russian troops inside Ukrainian territory, VICE reports. "The SBU shared details in a tweet and Telegram message posted at around 10AM local time (4AM ET), including pictures alleged to show the hacker and their communications system, though the reports have not been independently confirmed. "According to the SBU’s Telegram post, the hacker was helping to route calls from within Russia to the mobile phones of Russian troops in Ukraine, and also sending text messages to Ukrainian security officers and civil servants proposing they surrender.

2 1

Re: We missed Dan Kaminsky
by professor rat 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

Type 2 diabetes is a terrible diagnosis. I would only wish it on my worst enemies - like Jeff Berwick and Julian Assmange, for example. However many once deadly diseases are now symptom-manageable and we are moving closer to the ' Rapture for nerds' ( Singularity ) that promises a cure for death itself ( Uploading ) Ray Kurzweil thinks we'll start seeing significant changes post 2030 and a definite tipping point by 2045. I'm hoping we can leverage strong AI and quantum-computing to bring this down to CYPHERPUNK 2027. No disrespect Ray! Come with me if you want to live forever. Forward the global revolution!

1 0

Re: xNY.io | Palantir Technologies Board of Directors - Securities Fraud and Computer Crimes
by professor rat 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

Gunnar, Gunnar, Gunnar. You're taking all the fun out of violent revolution. Its like . . . " . . . It's like one of those "democratic" debates that goes something like this: "You, Sir, are abusing power because you killed 25 citizens, when you should have only killed 15!" And the Powers That Be smile tolerantly. They have been doing this for a long time, and they know they are not threatened. . . . ' https://cryptome.org/jdb/jdb-zola.htm

1 0

Books: Sabotage
by grarpamp 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

https://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/library/SimpleSabotageFieldManualOSS1944… https://archive.org/details/SimpleSabotageFieldManual http://www.simplesabotage.com/ https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/the-art-of-simple-sabotage/ https://www.hsdl.org/ This Simple Sabotage Field Manual Strategic Services (Provisional) is published for the information and guidance of all concerned and will be used as the basic doctrine for Strategic Services training for this subject. The contents of this Manual should be carefully controlled and should not be allowed to come into unauthorized hands. The instructions may be placed in separate pamphlets or leaflets according to categories of operations but should be distributed with care and not broadly. They should be used as a basis of radio broadcasts only for local and special cases and as directed by the theater commander. AR 380-5, pertaining to handling of secret documents, will be complied with in the handling of this Manual. William J. Donovan CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. POSSIBLE EFFECTS 3. MOTIVATING THE SABOTEUR 4. TOOLS, TARGETS, AND TIMING 5. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR SIMPLE SABOTAGE

1 0

For a secular, anarcho-syndicalist Turkey
by professor rat 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

NEW paper first evaluates the impact of a two-decade-long Islamization policy carried out by a pro-Islamist party, which came to power in 2002 in Turkey, on the attitudes of Turkish people toward religious values, religious practices, and clergy. In this regard, how the importance of religion, frequency of going to mosques, and trust in the clergy have changed among Turkish Muslims between 2002 and 2018 were examined by using World Values Survey data and employing logistic regression analysis. Estimation results indicated a reduction in belief in God, attendance to mosques, and trust in clergy, which imply the failure of the Islamization policy. Second, we explored what caused the failure by using the same data set and methodology. Our estimations suggested that the symbiotic relationship between the pro-Islamist government and religious clergy and institutions may explain the failure. As the government is identified with religion in the eye of the public, dissatisfaction with the government turned to dissatisfaction with religious values. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/03/did-turkish-islam…

1 0

SUPERINTENDENT ADRIENNE A. HARRIS ANNOUNCES THAT DFS HAS IMPOSED A PENALTY OF $8.25 MILLION ON MONEYGRAM FOR COMPLIANCE FAILURES Moneygram Failed to Properly Supervise Agents Engaging in Suspicious Transactions to China
by Gunnar Larson 17 Mar '22

17 Mar '22

*Great news out of the great state of New York: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202203161 <https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202203161>* *I am very proud of our Superintendent today. The other news of the day was not coordinated with this. Obviously, no collusion on soon to be bankrupt MoneyGram ...: * Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne A. Harris announced today that MoneyGram International Inc. (“MoneyGram”) has agreed to pay $8.25 million in penalties pursuant to a Consent Order entered into with the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS” or the “Department”). The Consent Order resolves the Department’s investigation into MoneyGram’s failure to adequately supervise local agents in New York City, including the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, that processed a substantial volume of suspicious transactions to China, in violation of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”) requirements and New York law. “Many New Yorkers depend on money transmitters to send money to their families, pay bills, and conduct other financial transactions,” said Superintendent Harris. “To maintain the integrity of that system for law-abiding New Yorkers, it is crucial money transmitters like MoneyGram diligently monitor all activity on its platform to prevent bad actors from abusing the system for illegal means.” An examination and subsequent enforcement investigation conducted by the Department found that MoneyGram did not adequately oversee the activity of six agents that saw a large spike in transaction volume of business with China from locations throughout New York City, including in Flushing, Queens. In 2014, the year preceding the spike in transaction volume, for example, there were approximately 7,500 transactions between New York and China aggregating approximately $30,000,000; during the 17-month period from January 2016 through May 2017, however, there were more than 25,000 transactions to China aggregating more than $100,000,000. The dramatic change in the number and size of the transactions processed by New York agents — most of which were small, store-front independent agents — was a clear indicator of increased money laundering risk, particularly given that the destination was known to carry a high AML risk. Moreover, other aspects of the increased transactions, including a suspicious pattern that many different senders transmitted money to the same recipient, were problematic and should have put MoneyGram on clear notice to address these risks. After being made aware of the suspicious spike in activity, MoneyGram terminated its relationship with the problematic agents and began instituting remedial measures designed to ensure better supervision of its agents across its network, among other measures. Under the settlement reached today, in addition to payment of a $8.25 million penalty, MoneyGram will be required to report to the Department on the enhancements to the policies and procedures of its BSA/AML compliance program, its Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting program, and customer due diligence requirements. MoneyGram will also furnish data to the Department for ongoing monitoring purposes. DFS acknowledges MoneyGram’s cooperation with the investigation and its ongoing remedial efforts. Read a copy of the consent order on the DFS website. <https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20220315_…> <https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20220315_…> -- *Gunnar Larson - xNY.io <http://www.xNY.io> | Bank.org <http://Bank.org>* MSc <https://www.unic.ac.cy/blockchain/msc-digital-currency/?utm_source=Google&u…> - Digital Currency MBA <https://www.unic.ac.cy/business-administration-entrepreneurship-and-innovat…> - Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ip) G(a)xNY.io +1-646-454-9107 New York, New York 10001

1 1

Ukraine is turning anarchist again
by professor rat 16 Mar '22

16 Mar '22

The spirit of Makhno is alive and well - and commie cheats - like James A. Donald, John Young, Tariq Ali and John Pilger - never prosper https://decrypt.co/95272/ukraine-president-signs-law-legalizing-and-regulat… VIVA LA REVOLUTION!

1 0