I trust facebook less than I trust google, because facebook consistently tries to update its TOS behind people's backs to allow them to whore you out to advertisers.
Whereas google goes out of its way to make your privacy settings easy to manage.
It's not cheap hosting a site so politically incorrect that every government and corporation with its reputation on the line will fight by fair or foul to get it shut down.
Considering it was a rogue newspaper bungling the encryption key and forcing their hand so that the bad guys weren't the only ones that had access, I very much doubt the egg on Wikileaks's face was truly their own.
Someone fucked up, wikileaks got blamed for making the best of a bad situation, and some secret operative somewhere in the guardian is probably giving the agency he works for a jolly laugh of "eeeeeeeeggcellent"
Intelligence networks have been trying like clockwork to get Wikileaks shut down ever since their parent governments started getting embarrassed by the leaks.
Infiltrating a news organization and spilling an already compromised key for the sole purpose of embarrassing and discrediting wikileaks would be very useful and if that's what really happened I would not be the least bit surprised.
Oh, and if I suddenly stop posting on slashdot...feel free to get even more suspicious.
Maybe we like punishing them because we're sadistic bastards ourselves and find child pornographers a conveniently defenseless target we can abuse freely.
After all, who would dare defend them?
Some say aggression is a basic need, and if it is why not go after creeps that nobody likes anyway?
You'd see people buying it, finding out it's a fake once apple sues the knockoff factory, and then raging as they return the fake stuff or chargeback their credit cards.
Slashdot Mirror
How does the US government have the right to interfere?
Didn't we just get a supreme court ruling that donations are freedom of speech?
I'd call supporting wikileaks a political activity.
The feds can't have it both ways.
You can't leak TO them if they don't survive.
Assange is probably on a terrorst watch list of some sort.
9/11! 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! 9/11!
I think the question is rather...
What financial institution would dare refuse to?
Bitcoin requires electrical power from electric companies that do business in dollars or whatever fiat currency.
Considering that they are usually natural monopolies that find themselves with heavy government regulation.
Aha I think I just found bitcoin's achilles heel.
Human nature being what it is I don't think such a thing is possible.
I would boldy state that humans are NOT capable of governing themselves.
Here's a hint:
If the people aren't really in charge, then it's not really a democracy.
I trust facebook less than I trust google, because facebook consistently tries to update its TOS behind people's backs to allow them to whore you out to advertisers.
Whereas google goes out of its way to make your privacy settings easy to manage.
Even if I were inclined to pull my money out where would I put it?
It does if a powerful government with guns that wants to fight over it says it does.
There's a reason you don't piss off 800 pound gorillas you know.
It's not cheap hosting a site so politically incorrect that every government and corporation with its reputation on the line will fight by fair or foul to get it shut down.
As far as I'm concerned bitcoin has been swamped by hackers and techies that swooped in after the feds swooped out.
I trust my bank only because the FDIC and FED are watching it like a hawk. I know human nature.
But I would not trust a bitcoin bank, because as far as being regulated goes it's about as trustworthy as a corporation in EVE Online.
When bitcoins can be protected just as effectively as real cash, give me a call.
Considering it was a rogue newspaper bungling the encryption key and forcing their hand so that the bad guys weren't the only ones that had access, I very much doubt the egg on Wikileaks's face was truly their own.
Someone fucked up, wikileaks got blamed for making the best of a bad situation, and some secret operative somewhere in the guardian is probably giving the agency he works for a jolly laugh of "eeeeeeeeggcellent"
Intelligence networks have been trying like clockwork to get Wikileaks shut down ever since their parent governments started getting embarrassed by the leaks.
Infiltrating a news organization and spilling an already compromised key for the sole purpose of embarrassing and discrediting wikileaks would be very useful and if that's what really happened I would not be the least bit surprised.
Oh, and if I suddenly stop posting on slashdot...feel free to get even more suspicious.
Well gee I bet they'd be really sorry about raiding my home and confiscating my computer equipment without a warrant then.
Maybe we like punishing them because we're sadistic bastards ourselves and find child pornographers a conveniently defenseless target we can abuse freely.
After all, who would dare defend them?
Some say aggression is a basic need, and if it is why not go after creeps that nobody likes anyway?
You'd see people buying it, finding out it's a fake once apple sues the knockoff factory, and then raging as they return the fake stuff or chargeback their credit cards.
Of all the things that "interstate commerce" COULD be used to properly squash, this is one of the few.
mod parent up: funny.
It's not just stupid speculators that cause bubbles.
People trying to manipulate the market can do the same thing.
The difference is that they know damn well what they are doing.
Yeah, it's kinda like the stock market tanking after 9/11.
The real problem IMHO is that hackers have pissed in the punch by writing trojans to steal them and are using armies of botnets to mine them.
So now bitcoins are derisively aggregated with everything else nefarious that black hats are up to.
One may as well try to deal in booze during prohibition.
How can you copyright numbers?
This is just like a phonebook.
Get back to me when I can trust the communist supervisors more than what little I already trust our current leadership.
It's not easy to have alternatives when you have natural monopolies on the last mile.
Even more so when you have incumbents sue the pants off of municipalities that try to change things economically.
Simple.
The RIAA paid their politician rental fee. You, have not.