US Teen Pleads Guilty To Teaching ISIS About Bitcoin Via Twitter

jfruh writes: Ali Shukri Amin, a 17-year-old from Virginia, has pleaded guilty to charges that he aided ISIS by giving the group advice about using bitcoin. An odd and potentially troubling aspect of the charges is that this all took place in public — he Tweeted out links to an article on his blog about how bitcoin and Darknet could help jihadi groups, making it difficult to say whether he was publishing information protected under free speech or was directly advising the terrorist organization. Free speech qua speech isn't the only relevant charge, though: Amin "also admitted facilitating the travel of another teenager, 18-year-old Reza Niknejad, to Syria to join IS. Amin faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted."

Comments

Mixture

[SuperKendall]

The advising on use of bitcoin should be allowed under free speech, but aiding someone to become a fighter seems pretty far over the line as far as aid to a terrorist organization goes...

Re:Mixture

[ArcadeMan]

What worries me is that some asshole politician is going to try and use that as an argument against crypto-currencies, as if fiat money was any better.

Re:Mixture

[Whiteox]

Has the US declared war on ISIS/ISIL? I know it's a moot point but I'd like to know. Obama has asked congress for some sort of declaration on the 12th June but I'm unsure of the previous status.
So by facilitating (in any manner) assistance for the enemy in a war not legally declared, is illegal?
Last time this happened was the police action against North Vietnam.

Re:Mixture

[ShanghaiBill]

What worries me is that some asshole politician is going to try and use that as an argument against crypto-currencies

Free advice: Worry about problems that actually exist, of which there are many to choose from, rather than stuff that you made up.

Re:Mixture

[Rei]

ISIL is a "designated terror organization". It is a crime to support a designated terrorist organization.

Re:Mixture

[Anonymous Coward]

What, like the CIA and other government agencies do.....Train, Fund and supply "freedom fighters" who become next years terrorists.

The USA has had a LONG history of doing this.

Re:Mixture

[antiperimetaparalogo]

What worries me is that some asshole politician is going to try and use that as an argument against crypto-currencies, as if fiat money was any better.

Well, if "some [asshole or not] politician is going to try and use that as an argument against crypto-currencies"... he will have a point! Keep in mind that "fiat money" IS BETTER because some checks are in place already (that is why crypto-currencies are so popular among criminals/terrorists/"bad guys") - let's be honest!

Re:Mixture

[omfgnosis]

I'm far more worried that this will be used to defend some kind of surveillance program as having "prevented an attack", or that it'll be used without context as precedent of curtailing speech without controversy.

Re:Mixture

[PopeRatzo]

Has the US declared war on ISIS/ISIL?

They don't have to. The authorization to use force after 9/11 (that was re-passed more recently) covers any foreign terrorist organizations.

It's a stretch IMO, but that's the way the law has been interpreted ever since.

If some random person in a Slashdot comment asks you how to use Bitcoin to transfer funds anonymously and you help him, that's not a crime. If you know the people you're helping out are ISIL then it's a different story. The Internet is not a magical place where laws don't apply.

Re:Mixture

[troll -1]

When you use a pejorative like "bad guys" to describe bitcoin users you are taking the government's position that drugs should be illegal. Maybe these are not bad guys but just "anti authority" which is not necessarily always bad.

Re:Mixture

[anagama]

It's a crime to support certain terrorist organizations and perfectly acceptable to support others -- which congress member was a supporter of the IRA? Oh yeah -- Peter King: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03...

I find it very disturbing that certain beliefs are so totally verboten that to speak of them at all seems to be a Federal crime, and worse than that, so many people don't even see it as a problem. What we have are random politicians or cabinet members declaring a group to be off limits -- no declaration of war, no trial with public evidence, just a bureaucratic determination. So what group is next? Model rocketeers? Certainly the Sierra Club. At the word of an official in DC you could basically be killed or imprisoned -- at least this kid got a show trial. God Bless America, Home of the Free [to think and speak in an approved manner].

Re:Mixture

[PPH]

an argument against crypto-currencies,

Like flying to Syria is an argument against airlines.

Re:Mixture

[Pentium100]

I noticed that as time passes, there is smaller and smaller difference between the US and Russia. It almost looks like the US government is looking at Russia as a model of how to do things...

Re:Mixture

[amiga3D]

Just what kind of proof are you looking for? The fact they openly state their desire to destroy the US and kill Americans isn't enough for you? The videos they proudly make and distribute where they round up people because they don't believe as they do and then behead them is not enough proof? The fact they encourage Islamic citizens of the US to join their Jihad and kill their neighbors isn't enough? What the fuck more do you need? I'm pretty ambivalent about a lot of the shit coming out of Washington D.C. but I've got to pretty much admit that ISIS and it's followers seem like terrorists. Convince me I'm wrong if you can.

Re:Mixture

[Anonymous Coward]

ISIL is a "designated terror organization". It is a crime to support a designated terrorist organization.

Well, sure, but the underlying question is whether it should be a crime.

How much do you trust the government? Is this Western civilization fighting for its very survival or is this yet another banana republic situation of a small number of ultra-rich people in the USA exploiting poor people in a foreign country?

I'm not claiming ISIS are good guys. But bad guys often come to power in the context of a great underlying injustice. And unless you do something about the underlying injustice then you'll just be playing whack-a-mole with an endless series of bad guys that are continually created by the injustice.

Dick Cheney and his friends at Haliburton would like you to believe that this is all just Western civilization fighting for its survival. Do you trust him? Do you trust the assurances of the US government that it is a government of, by, and for the (ordinary) people?

Re:Mixture

[amiga3D]

Really? I watch and read every single day all kinds of objections to the way things are run in the USA. I've yet to see anyone sent off to rot in a prison for 20 years or so just for bitching about the government. I've seen miscarriages of justice but even these, once they get the light of public scrutiny shone on them generally get righted. Just because things aren't perfect hardly calls for such extreme accusations. In the old USSR, comrade, just the level of protest you've shown here would be enough for you to be interrogated about your crimes against the state.

Re:Mixture

[aliquis]

At least cash is just for criminals. I feel. I don't need them.

Re:Mixture

[Pentium100]

My grandmother said that you could bitch about the government, though you would not be allowed to do that on TV or radio. Well, at least after Stalin's death.

Also, I am not saying that the US is the same as Russia (or USSR), but it's getting there. If this continues, then after a few decades, it may become even more of a police state than USSR ever was. After all, the various agencies have spying capabilities that the KGB could only dream about. Automatic tracking of cars by photographing license plates, internet data mining, call data mining (speech recognition beats a guy listening to one conversation at a time).

Re:Mixture

[schnell]

Want to end terrorist Isalm, target the two originators Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Exactly, because ... Islamic terrorists ... like ... Israel ... and they are ... buddies and ... WHAT?

Perhaps you are arguing that Israel creates Islamic terror groups by its actions. While that is certainly an arguable issue, it is clearly not the sole root since Al Qaida explicitly cited the basing of US troops in Saudi Arabia as a motivation for the 9/11 attacks. Which had nothing to do with Israel, and was actually Islamic terror based on anger at Saudi Arabia ... which you say is the originator ... of ... WAIT, WHAT AGAIN?

So far the only government to tackle Saudi Arabia has been the Russian government with direct threats should any Saudi Arabian government led terrorists attack occur during the Russian Olympics. Shame Uncle Tom Obama the choom gang coward is such a god damned weasel

This seems like a reasonable argument that ... wait ... DAFUQ? How did this get to +3?

Congratulations Slashdot on hitting on a topic that somehow makes even init/SystemD discussions seam rational and well researched.

Re:Mixture

[aaaaaaargh!]

Last time I checked, there were plenty of reports by the mass media on this topic. Unless by "mass media" you mean Fox News.

Re:Mixture

[AmiMoJo]

The quality and safety of drugs sold via anonymous markets like Silk Road are much better than those sold person to person. For example, cocaine sold "on the street" in the UK ranges from about 5 to 20% pure on average, where as Silk Road regularly averaged about 60%. Silk Road was also much safer and much less likely to result in the buyer becoming the victim of violence, and the prices were generally a bit lower too.

The key was that although anonymous Silk Road did allow sellers to be rated and reviewed. It is possible to be anonymous and still ensure quality.

Re:Mixture

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

My grandmother said that you could bitch about the government, though you would not be allowed to do that on TV or radio. Well, at least after Stalin's death.

That's sort of true in that I think if the complaints were kept to a very small group of people, like bitching to your next door neighbor, it was mostly tolerated. But you still had to be careful what you said. Complaining about a lack of bread was one thing. Complaining that Brezhnev (for example) was terrible might be something else.

There's a great old joke in Russia from the Soviet days about how a Texan came to visit Moscow.
Muscovite: How do you like Moscow and the Soviet Union?
Texan: Well it's really nice, but you have no freedom here. In America, any time I want to, I can go to the White House and stand outside it and say that the president is terrible and he needs to go and nobody will do anything to me.
Muscovite: Oh it is the same here.
Texan: Really?
Muscovite: Yes. Anytime I want, I can go outside the Kremlin and say that the American president is terrible and he needs to go and nobody will do anything to me.

Some people I know who grew up in China really liked that joke.

Re:Mixture

[Kjella]

Buy grocery product, inject with $poison and covertly return it to the store shelf. If you want to be a homicidal psycho, you don't really need the Internet to do it. Compared to all the other risks of buying and doing drugs, like for example bad batches or accidental contamination the odds of problems seem slim. And you'll always have the truly desperate who'll try from the cheapest offer with no reputation, you don't have to be one of them.

Re:Mixture

[Archangel Michael]

Worry about problems that actually exist

Actually, worry about risk, not problems. There are tons of problems in the world, many of which are low risk if you know how to avoid them. However, in this case, there is little one can do to prevent the risk on a personal level, while at the same time, a high probability that such a problem actually come to fruition. AND by the time it does come into being, is already too late for Freedom.

Please, do not take the idea of liberty slipping away slowly, as it is already happening. Liberty is something we must ALWAYS guard diligently.

Did he tweet...

[Nutria]

here's how to use bitcoin, or did he tweet, hey Jihadists, here's how to use bitcoin and evade the NSA ? It makes a big difference.

(No, I did not RTFA.)

Re:Did he tweet...

[Rei]

From the statement which he pled guilty to:

4. At all relevant times, the defendant knew that ISIL was a designated terrorist organization, and that it was a violation of United States law to provide support and resources to ISIL.

THE DEFENDANT'S USE OF @.AmreekiWitness IN FURTHERANCE OF HIS CONSPIRACY TO SUPPORT ISIL

5. On or about June 26, 2014, the defendant started the Twitter account: @AmreekiWitness, which boasted over 4,000 followers. The defendant used the account as a pro-ISIL platform during the course of over 7,000 'tweets.' Specifically, the defendant used this account to conduct twitter-based conversations regarding ways to develop financial support for ISIL using on-line currency, such as Bitcoin, and ways to establish a secure donation system or fund for ISIL.

6. The following are examples of the defendant's use of Twitter in furtherance of his conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL:

a. On or about July 7, 2014, using the @AmreekiWitness account, the defendant tweeted a link to an article he authored entitled "Bitcoin wa' Sadaqat al-Jihad" (Bitcoin and the Charity of Jihad). The link transferred the user to the defendant's blog, where the article was posted. The article discussed how to use bitcoins and how jihadists could utilize this currency to fund their efforts. The article explained what bitcoins were, how the bitcoin system worked and suggested using Dark Wallet, a new bitcoin wallet, which keeps the user of bitcoins anonymous. The article included statements on how to set up an anonymous donations system to send money, using bitcoin, to the mujahedeen.

b. On approximately August 1, 2014, the defendant showed support for ISIL and his desire to help garner financial support for those wanting to commit jihad. Through @AmreekiWitness the defendant discussed methods to provide financial support for those wanting to commit jihad and for those individuals trying to travel overseas.

c. On approximately August 19, 2014, the defendant showed support for ISIL and desire to support ISIL. The defendant tweeted that the khilafah needed an official website "ASAP," and that ISIL could not continue to release media "in the wild" or use "JustPaste." Through various tweets, the defendant provided information on how to prevent the website from being taken down, by adding security and defenses, and he solicited others via Twitter to assist on the development of the website.

7. The defendant also operated an Amreeki Witness page on the website ask.fm. The defendant used these accounts extensively as a platform to proselytize his radical Islamic ideology, justify and defend ISIL's violent practices, and to provide advice on topics such as jihadists travel to fight with ISIL, online security measures, and about how to use Bitcoin to finance themselves without creating evidence of crime, among other matters.

8. The defendant also created the pro-ISIL blog entitled, "Al-Khilafah Aridat." On this blog, the defendant authored a series of highly-technical articles targeted at aspiring jihadists and ISIL supporters detailing the use of security measures in online communications to include use of encryption and anonymity software, tools and techniques, as well as the use of the virtual currency Bitcoin as a means to anonymously fund ISIL.

THE DEFENDANT'S FACILITATION OF RN'S TRAVEL TO SYRIA

9. RN, a co-conspirator, is an 18-year-old resident of Prince William County, Virginia.

10. Beginning in or around September 2014, the defendant began an effort to convert RN to a radical form of Islam.

11. In or about late November or early December 2014, the defendant put RN in touch with an ISIL supporter located outside of the United States via Surespot in order to facilitate RN's travel to Syria to join and fight with ISIL.

12. The defendant arranged for this ISIL supporter located overseas to send RN a package containing a phone for RN's use during his travel to Syria, an encrypted thumb drive, and a letter.

13. On or ab

Great

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's put a 17 year old in prison for 15 years for writing forbidded sentences. He'll come out as a well adjusted 32 year old adult.

Re:Great

[retchdog]

You're right. Treason is constitutionally punishable by death, after all. We could avoid that problem rather easily.

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

Treason...

It's amazing how different the views can be on why the USA is mucking about in Iraq.

In one view, the US government (and, by extension all of Western civilization) is teetering on the brink of being overthrown by ISIS - and any assistance to ISIS is treason.

In another view, it's basically just a Banana Republic situation where some corporate fatcats with close ties to the US government saw an opportunity to make themselves a few extra bucks exploiting Iraq's oil - using the US military as their muscle to keep the locals in check.

Re:Great

[ShadowRangerRIT]

The U.S. Constitution says no such thing. Quit making shit up. Article III, Section 3 (omitting the second half which is all about punishment, not conviction):

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

If you levy war against the U.S., it doesn't matter if the U.S. has declared war against you. And you don't actually have to be making war, that's just one way of being labelled a traitor.

Strategically speaking...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

The 'people from places you've heard of deciding to pay a visit to scenic Syria and fight for the caliphate' phenomenon has caused a lot of hand-wringing and talk about 'radicalization' and 'grooming' and so on(especially from the brits; but some here as well).

And I can see the reason for concern, from the perspective of a desire to see ISIS collapse sooner rather than later. The expats haven't, on the whole, been marked by particularly notable skills or anything; but unless they are out and out fuckups, they are presumably of some use.

On the other hand, though, there doesn't seem to be much attention being paid to the positive side: If going to some sandtrap hellhole to fight a meatgrinder land war in the service of the Caliph is something you'd do voluntarily; it seems fairly likely that you are not exactly liberal democracy's best buddy, or a strong candidate for 'most likely to get along just fine with the apostates and unbelievers'. Isn't having such people voluntarily decide to leave us to sin in peace and go travel far away to take substantial risks, up to and including fatal ones, rather convenient?

I've been surprised by the amount of chatter among various government talking heads about trying to prevent the would-be jihadis from traveling. Were I in their position; I'd be keeping a careful eye on anyone who tries to come back; but would be very much tempted to politely ignore anyone heading out for martyrdom and hope that they'll no longer be my problem.

Re:Strategically speaking...

[Anonymous Coward]

So this has come up in a number of countries already.

eg Australia has a number of now ex-jihadi's and ex-Mujh (of a several flavours) wanting to come back to Australia, having spent time in caliphate

This is proving problematic as of course they can come back, but essentially face court proceedings and extensive jail time before they can rejoin society, and they aren't all that keen on paying that entry tax.

ISIS is the bad guy?

[fustakrakich]

Yeah, and check out who the good guys are now. The charade can go on indefinitely...

Re:ISIS is the bad guy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, and check out who the good guys are now. The charade can go on indefinitely...

OK, feel free to actually pay attention to the news coming out of Syria and then do that retroactively for a few years.

If you're clueless, seriously, go research it. This is a multipolar conflict. We never ever armed or allied with Al Nusra or ISIS. ISIS came from an org that we did our best to destroy and actually the entire surge was based more or less around destroying them and coopting former insurgents. The whole country (Iraq) fought against these guys. and then we left and it all went to shit. They moved next door and were heavily infiltrated by former Batthist intelligence and military guys. It's a long story.

I used to say shit like that all of the time, in the early days of the Iraq War. And then I spent a few years reading news and analysis all day, and I realized that it was far more complicated than this reductionist conspiracy bullshit. There are many sides in this war, not just two. Quite a lot of the guys fighting Assad are actually moderates. These are the guys we tried to arm. Many of them were killed and coopted by ISIS and Al Nusra. If you can't wrap your head around the actual dynamic at work here, how messy of a civil war this is, then you should seriously read more about it and branch out from obvious left-wing, right-wing, and conspiracy sites.

Am I fully aware of the past crimes of the CIA? Oh, fuck yeah. Have I read Chomsky and shit? Yes. The neocons were full of it, and I was against all of these wars. We created this mess in a very large way. But is Assad a monster? Yes! If you think the opposite, you have most likely fallen for his propaganda, of which there is a lot. Is ISIS complete madness and yet half Baathist... and quite possibly possessing serious military genius? Yup! Is Al Nusra a better option? Actually yeah, but they're still fucked up. The point being, it's seriously complicated over there, and reducing this situation to the CIA making this shit up and it all being a charade for.... for what I'm not sure... but this doesn't at all fit the facts. It sure as shit fits a dumb conspiracy narrative which will conveniently ignore the facts.

Re:ISIS is the bad guy?

[unixisc]

While they are all Sunni thugs, they are different factions, all wanting to seize power. However, ISIS has managed to globalize their brand, under a Caliphate claim - and are attracting volunteers worldwide - something that al Nusra, Khorasan and FSA have all been unable to do. But yeah, forget the FSA, even arming the Iraqi army has ended up arming ISIS, since the Iraqis are a bunch of cowards who flee the moment ISIS arrives: even Iran has been unable to do much for them.

Re:ISIS is a CIA operation

[ganjadude]

is that what "they" told you???

Knowledge

[SuperKendall]

"Hey, I'm gong over to Syria to kill westerners and enslave Christians for the raping and whatnot. Give me a lift?"

How is that not aid?

If he didn't know, that would be one thing. But the Twitter stuff makes it seem pretty likely he did know why the guy was going...

Re:Knowledge

[chihowa]

Is imparting (academic, general) knowledge really "aid", though? And where do you draw the line?

"Hey, I'm going over to Syria to kill westerners and enslave Christians for the raping and whatnot..."

"but my car broke down Ms Librarian. Do you have a book on automotive repair?"

"but my car broke down Mr Mechanic. Can you point out the distributor for me?"

"but it costs money to get there. Do you have any investing advice?"

"but I have no idea where Syria is. Can you point me in the general direction?"

At some point, you can't be held for responsible for the intentions of others, even if they tell you what they are.

Re:Knowledge

[Nutria]

At some point, you can't be held for responsible for the intentions of others

Yes, at some point. There *is* a big grey middle, but the edges are also pretty clear.

Re:Knowledge

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Telling people how to do something, knowing they will use it in a crime, makes you a participant. It's legal to say that house over there sells cocaine, but not if I'm a roving salesman for them drumming up sales.

Re:Knowledge

[Rei]

Where do you draw the line? Somewhere long before you get to here.

Re:Knowledge

[SuperKendall]

But that is pure information, removed from any intent for use.

BTW that particular book is also REALLY POORLY WRITTEN. Some of the things in that book are wrong, some are so wrong I swear it was written by the CIA so terrorists would off themselves first. I guess in that sense the book is good, there's no telling how many lives it saved due to crappy malfunctioning bombs in the past... but its time is over as terrorists have more accurate info now. At this point that book is only hurting miscreant 14-year old boys.

Re:Knowledge

[sumdumass]

It's not illegal to explode things- only certain things and people. In my neck of the woods, all i have to do is notify the sheriff in advance. In other areas you might need a permit and perhaps a license or more.

Movie Plot again ?

[DrYak]

some asshole politician is going to try and use that as an argument against crypto-currencies

Googling around...
Apparently the story about this teen has been reported in the Washington post (among other).

I would have thought instead that this was straight out of Bruce Schneier's Movie Plot Threat Contest

Re:This Amin kid is obviously an idiot.

[omfgnosis]

So toughen up, little Ali Amin, because your ass belongs to the Commonwealth of Virginia now, and
they are going to teach you that sympathizing with the lunatics who behead people or burn people
alive comes with a price. Personally I wish the authorities would just report you had hung yourself in
your cell and call it a day.

Damn right. Get ready to deal with a slightly-to-moderately different bunch of lunatics and their nominally distinguishable abuse.

you left something out

[cstacy]

US Teen Pleads Guilty To Teaching ISIS About 3D Printing Bitcoins Via Twitter

ftfy

Hello ISIL ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello ISIL and all other banned groups, criminals, conspirators, freedom fighters, druglords, mafioso, cash hoarders, money launderers, anarchists, revolutionaries, gun and rum runners, privacy nuts, journalists, lobbyists, leakers, whores, et al...

HERE is where you learn about money...
https://bitcointalk.org/
HERE is how you move money around...
https://bitcoin.org/
HERE is how you hide data...
https://www.gnupg.org/
HERE is how you move data around...
https://geti2p.net/
HERE is how you secure your computer...
http://www.openbsd.org/
HERE is a bunch more shit to play around with...
https://www.prism-break.org/

These are all dual use technologies, fully protected by freedom of speech, privacy, and other memes.
They're also basically the top search results in their respective classes as you have already discovered on your own.
Anyone telling you about them, educating you how to use them, even how to apply them to your cause... is engaging in fully protected free speech.
Killing someone is not.

Re:Laugh

[Rei]

He already is - read the sort of stuff he's writing. He's damned lucky that they're not charging him as a member of a terrorist organization rather than, basically, their Booster Club.