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Mafia Tech Support

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the don-centrino-and-his-boys dept.

Mzilikazi writes "A story from Wired about performing tech support for the mob, mainly focusing on gambling. Some interesting information is presented about P2P applications. Frankly it sounds like fiction to me (you can already imagine the movie being made -- 'I Was a Hacker for The Mob'), but the story is interesting nonetheless and shows that if you're skilled and determined but have a flexible moral compass, there's a lot of job opportunities out there." I started reading it for the mob references, but kept on reading for the details of how to run an illegal gambling organization.

4 of 323 comments (clear)

  1. Bunch Bull by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This article is as fake as a letter to Miss Manners or a WWW match...

    The fact remains that I could be pulling in $150,000 as a programmer on the open market. But I make a third of that. So why am I risking a prison sentence or the potential of a lifetime in witness protection for a job that doesn't make me all that rich? Simple: When you start making a lot of money, you get noticed by the biggest bullies on the block - the cops and the IRS - and I don't want that. I like living below the radar.

    Ah if you are working in the "open market" than you do not have to worry about "living below the radar".

    The next juicy part

    I don't fork over any taxes. When you get right down to it, I'm an idealist. I don't condone the actions of the US government. By refusing to pay taxes, I withhold my financial support. And, truth be told, I like mobsters. They're more willing to accept you at face value.

    There you have it a moral mobster. Someone who does not condone the actions of the US government but overlooks the actions of the mob.

    1. Re:Bunch Bull by jcam2 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      There you have it a moral mobster. Someone who does not condone the actions of the US government but overlooks the actions of the mob.

      Since these 'mobsters' are merely taking bets from consenting adults, I'd say there are really quite moral. Only a stupid law has turned what should be a perfectly legal activity into a crime, which of course attracts organized crime groups.

      Co-incidentally, relatives of a friend of mine operated a very similar business in Malaysia, where gambling is even more heavily restricted than in the US. Naturally, they were little different from the Mafia, and used violence to get ahead. On the other hand, in places like Las Vegas where gambling is mostly legal, you don't see legitimate casino operators putting out contracts on each others' lives.

      Conclusion - when the government turns a consensual activity like selling drugs, sex or wagers into a crime, the amount of real violent crime is actually increased.

  2. Re:If this guy exists... by W2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can make anyone's story seem like a loser's story if your mind is set on viewing it that way. It's all about perspective, you will automatically interpret a story in such a way that it turns out as you would like it to, if at all possible, effectively fooling yourself.

    Take Slashdot as a prime example of this. How many articles and headlines on this site cannot be considered misleading, just because the authors have a heavy pro-free-software/pro-linux bias which colors the language of their posts? Looking at the (usually) more objectively written original story linked from a typical /. article, the truth is often quite different from what we get presented with on this site, which is simply someone's biased interpretation. Same thing as what's going on here. If your mind is set on viewing mr "mob hacker" as a loser, that's the way you're going to see it, so certain that your own point of view is the One True.

    I for one will have to agree that the author does seem to have something of a swollen ego, though I don't think he fails in portraying his life in a "romanticized" way, I wouldn't consider him a "dropout loser" either. At least he's got a job, which is more than can be said for many /. readers.

    --
    Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
  3. Moral compasses and stuff by Zhe+Mappel · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...if you're skilled and determined but have a flexible moral compass, there's a lot of job opportunities out there.
    And if you get tired of working for the mob, your moral dereliction will always be welcomed in the energy industry, corporate accounting, cable TV news, and the mutual funds market.