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Anonymous Newspaper Commenters Subpoenaed In Tax Case

Posted by Soulskill on from the somebody-point-these-lawyers-at-youtube dept.

skuzzlebutt writes "In a federal tax case reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal last week, a local businessman has been paying his employees in gold coins instead of cash or ACH, and has reportedly told them that they can only be taxed on the face value of the coinage — not the much higher market value of the metal. The United States disagreed, and brought him up on 57 counts of income tax evasion, tax fraud and criminal conspiracy. The non-authenticated comments section of the original article brought a lot of supporters out of the woodwork, including a few who thought the jury should be hung (literally, procedurally, or figuratively ... pick one). In response, the prosecution has subpoenaed the names of the anonymous commenters, citing fears of jury safety. Or something. The obvious questions of privacy and protected speech aside, for the folks that support the defendant (the newspaper is fighting the subpoena), this also brings back into the spotlight the troll-empowering nature of pseudo-anonymous, non-authenticated boards. If they want to find you, they will; is anonymous commenting still worth it, or is it just too risky for the board owners?"

9 of 394 comments (clear)

  1. i'll be the first to say.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..what a terrible summary

    1. Re:i'll be the first to say.. by Chlorine+Trifluoride · · Score: 3, Funny

      As a 300lb UFC fighting bear wrangler, I agree with you.

    2. Re:i'll be the first to say.. by jelle · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Automated Clearing House".... Everytime I see that, I hear 'You May Already Have Won'...

      Did the person who came up with that name think banking was like sweepstakes???

      --
      --- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
    3. Re:i'll be the first to say.. by stonewallred · · Score: 5, Funny

      I find your ideas interesting, and if you include Cheney in your plans, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

    4. Re:i'll be the first to say.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm going to fucking summon a pink colored meteor from the universe and cause it to crash into the jury deliberations!

      Sephiroth? Is that you?

    5. Re:i'll be the first to say.. by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Funny

      As a beer wrangler.. oops. you said bear wrangler

      For a minute there, I was about to be offended.

  2. Yes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anonymous commenting is no longer worth the effort.

    AC OUT!

  3. YES! by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...is anonymous commenting still worth it, or is it just too risky for the board owners?

    Absolutely!

    Posting AC so they don't find out who I am.

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  4. Re:You forgot a few things to be anonymous by DriedClexler · · Score: 4, Funny

    * Don't touch the envelope or paper without wearing several layers of surgical gloves.
    * Don't use a printer that leaves any identifying marks. Most modern color printers are traceable and most older typewriters are as well.
    * Don't lick the stamp or envelope!
    * Don't drop it in any drop-box that has a security camera anywhere nearby

    They'll still find you from the return address...

    --
    Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.