This is some crazy stuff that is associated with this.

Regardless of what actually may have happened (death threats? Police?
what?) I fundamentally disagree with Olivier making open accusations
against anyone on twitter. It is very likely that anyone reading his
timeline has any idea of the circumstances of the case, he may not
have any idea of the circumstances of the case, and I certainly don't.
So in summary: I don't see how this helps anyone. If he were
compelled or asked to give evidence that he may have been privy to,
shouldn't he reserve his statement and then confer with his own legal
counsel and figure out what to say before a court? I'm not a lawyer,
but twitter doesn't seem to be the best place for such judgments,
thought it certainly is useful for a lot of debate and inquiry.

It does seem as though most of the twitter comments on this are at
best terribly uninformed. For example look at this thread from Sarah
Jeong which provides some (alleged) information relating to Karpeles,
which as with a lot of stuff on twitter was "just some stuff found on
the internet" and basically not really factual at all:
(see also confused nonsense in thread)
https://twitter.com/sarahjeong/status/556244890389348354

I did step in briefly to point in that BTC are not anonymous and that
tools have existed to trace / correlate etc. for some time, though
twitter didn't allow me room to elaborate about recent developments
(like stealth) which make me a bit more cheery about BTC:
(my tweet about BitIodine here)
https://twitter.com/AnonyOdinn/status/556247292898861056

um by the way, did anyone notice what is happening in Puerto Rico with
the Bitcoin Foundation and that ZeroCash project, which did present at
the prior FinCrypto, is noticeably ABSENT from this upcoming one? See:
http://fc15.ifca.ai (yeah, interesting read)

One feels as though the law is somehow intertwining inextricably with
many statements that are made in connection with that Silk Road case,
because the case is made in fact, as what? As a manifestation of
modern law, which is itself dysfunctional. And in many ways, just
gone. Gone. Now should one despair about that? Probably not. I
think that there are actually many reasons why one should not be
concerned about the degradation of due process (as it opens up new
channels for cryptoanarchistic pursuits that previously were perhaps
not as feasible in some channels of modern society) but also, there
are some issues with trying to use the legal system to challenge
things like the Silk Road.

Let's be realistic here. I want to provide you with an overview of
what I mean. I am not a lawyer, but I have been watching legal
developments for a while, I have an EMPA, and I've lived in the US
almost my whole life. I've seen the spiral. So I will summarize.
This is not pretty and I don't think the legal system provides a
solution to what you are describing in this thing you call the "Silk
Road Trial."

Let me add something to this here before I proceed any further. I do
not believe that due process of law has meaningfully existed in the
United States since April 28, 2014. That is because on that date a
matter received some attention at the US Supreme Court (a Hedges case
involving NDAA, indefinite detention, and other things) and rather
than even consider it, the US Supreme Court declined it after the
lawyers' third and final allowed try to get it up to the Court. This
also had implications for the Korematsu precedent ~ if you don't know,
the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality had a brief in the
case as it ascended in the lower courts, supporting Hedges' points of
view against the US government; Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American
who defied the military orders during World War II that ultimately led
to the
incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans. He took his challenge to
the United States Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction in 1944
on the ground that the removal of Japanese Americans was justified by
“mili
tary necessity.”
Fred Korematsu went on to successfully vacate
his conviction and to champion the cause of civil liberties and civil
rights for all people. Unfortunately, however, the precedent of
incarceration of vast numbers of people because of suspicion of who
they are, as "military necessity," was never overruled by the US
Supreme Court, not in the 1940s, and not under the Hedges case which
concluded on April 28, 2014. (The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law
and Equality continues to work for social justice despite the
difficulty of doing so in the United States.)
My tweet on the subject for documentation:
https://twitter.com/AnonyOdinn/status/460812507360157696

It's entirely possible that some people would argue with me and say
that there hasn't been much due process of law since the 1940s, but on
the other hand, it's MLK day and some people feel emboldened by the
victories of the 1960s. On the flip side of that, the progress and
advancements in the US since the 1960s in many ways seem to have
reversed / disappeared and in many ways, if the color of your skin is
darker, it's almost like we are back to before 1965 all over again...

I recently consulted a lawyer on some random matter. I noticed Noam
Chomsky books on his office shelf. So at the end of our meeting I
asked him a question unrelated to our business. I asked, "Do you
think there is any due process left in the United States of America
anymore?" He paused silently for a moment, rubbed his jaw, thought
about it, and came back with an answer. "Well," he said, "I'm a
lawyer, this is my business, so yes... but..." "Well," I said, "I'll
revise the question then, do you think it meaningfully exists?..." ...
"Well... he said, "that depends..." And there was a big pause.
"That depends..." he said... "on a lot of things.... on the color of
your skin... on how much you have... on so many factors... we could do
better at being compassionate in society today."
"Thanks," I said.
And I shook his hand, and we concluded our business.

So as you can see, in many respects, there is no law, and indeed one
could argue even based upon the Korematsu case (which has never
changed since the 1940s) that there is no due process in the United
States. Any time you get in court is either due to luck or just what
someone has paid for, or because your lawyer has really good
connections, or the judge is having a good day. Or maybe you landed a
judge who cared enough to get serious about it and care a little.
That's all. There is almost nothing left of our legal system. IMHO,
for the record.

And maybe I'm just totally wrong, but if I take a good honest look at
the US legal system from the first day I set foot in it (in the
observer's gallery because I was curious as a kid and thought I'd see
what judges were doing to prisoners who were about to be sentenced for
involuntary civil commitment - put in psych wards) from the time later
on when I started ad-hoc defending homeless people (just plain trying
to keep them out of police and judges' hands, and into care wherever
support was possible), to today (where now I would argue we basically
have something well beyond a police state, that is more of a
militarily occupied corporation-state, in which off and on you might
find yourself exposed to a thing called a "legal system") then it's
probably just your personal obligation not to keep supporting this
corporation state, to resist it by whatever means financially etc.,
but on the flip side of that, it's also kind of (to me) ridiculous to
use SR1, SR2, SR3 (though from what I get SR3 is i2p / eepsite based)
- - why? The emphasis on sites. I just don't think it's decentralized
enough. I think models like openbazaar and zeronet are stronger and
will prove to be more resilient. Inevitably just by creating "the
next SR" more admins get sacrificed and offered up to the Lords of the
Court. Why? To what End? Olivier makes "A Statement." What does it
all mean? A judge renders "A judgment." Who should honor this
judgment in a time when we, as I pointed out in previous paragraphs,
DO NOT EVEN HAVE DUE PROCESS ANYMORE IN THE USA? I do not make these
points lightly.

So, repositories. Github. Sourceforge. Bitbucket. All Decentralized
methods of creating clones of software ~ as piratebay, openbazaar,
darkwallet, and numerous other projects have learned:
To stay alive, decentralize.
No owners. (Yes to Repositories / projects as owned by everyone ~ FOSS
principles.)
No corporations running a project (these can be shut down if they
don't have a certain license... like a government license for
encryption. Like in Russia right now, or maybe in USA in a few months
or a year.)
No "top" admins. Instead, respect the idea of distribution and
decentralizaton of power, minimization or erasure of authority where
detected wherever possible. (Or, if project leads are somehow removed
or compromised by a corporation-state, the project is still out there,
and can be verified in multiple ways as being authentic.)


OK, concluding long ramble...

Since everybody and their dog seems to be saying something about the
hearing, I wanted to make sure I had my say too.

Julia Tourianski:
> Amir (regarding karpeles and hits comment):
> https://twitter.com/olivierjanss/status/555889044618346498
>
> I made sure he got directly in touch with the defence.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> For the secrets and lies, my PGP key:
> https://libbitcoin.dyne.org/julia_tourianski.pgp.asc
>
> On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 7:50 AM, Amir Taaki <genjix@???>
> wrote:
>
>> I do think Mark would be the type to order hits, not Ross. I saw
>> an old interview and he doesn't have that temperament.
>>
>> On 01/16/2015 03:09 AM, Julia Tourianski wrote:
>>> The entire thing has been shocking from the first day. Wish you
>>> guys could be in the court with us. Nothing quite like watching
>>> it in person.
>>>
>>> On Jan 15, 2015 6:51 PM, "Amir Taaki" <genjix@???
>>> <mailto:genjix@riseup.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>> They're making a go of it. Before the PKK was seeking legal
>>> recognition for Kurds to be given a seat in the UN (de jure).
>>> But then in the 90s they increasingly
>> adopted
>>> anti-state ideas and now they're more into making a
>>> confederation of autonomous cities/towns/regions, and operating
>>> decentralised as an independent nation (de facto). They're
>>> trying to create localised administration with staying power
>>> against central authorities.
>>>
>>> On 01/16/2015 12:41 AM, brian@???
>>> <mailto:brian@openbazaar.org> wrote:
>>>> So is Rojava going to be a new country or what?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "System undo crew"
>>>> <unsystem@???
>>> <mailto:unsystem@lists.dyne.org>>
>>>>
>>>> To: <unsystem@???
>>>> <mailto:unsystem@lists.dyne.org>> Cc:
>>>>
>>>> Sent: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:25:12 +0100 Subject: Re: [unSYSTEM]
>>>> Silk Road Trial is starting.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> goes to show that with 7 billion individuals, anything can
>>> happen. I was
>>>> certain kobane was going to fall within a week and it's been
>>> months.
>>>> whether this is true or not, it's another reminder to give
>>>> me
>>> confidence
>>>> in the power for individuals.
>>>>
>>>> btw this is a crazy day:
>>>>
>>>> * 3 people shot dead in belgian by anti-terror police.
>>>>
>>>> * David Cameron seeks cooperation of US president over
>> encryption
>>>> crackdown:
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/15/david-cameron-ask-us-barack-obama-help-tracking-islamist-extremists-online
>>>
>>
> this comes after cameron's speech after the paris shootings
>> about
>>>> banning end to end encryption (making software like
>>>> Darkwallet
>> or
>>>> OpenBazaar illegal):
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_kqM0gn63M
>>>>
>>>> * 2 italian girls captured in syria are freed after italian
>>> government
>>>> pays a ransom of $12 million to the jihadis:
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/15/two-italian-aid-workers-freed-syria
>>>
>>
> here's the earlier article with their picture:
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724701/Two-Italian-aid-workers-kidnapped-Islamist-militants-Syria-ignoring-parents-pleas-not-go.html
>>>
>>
>
>>>> * Joint statement by the academic delegation who went to
>> Rojava is
>>>> released talking about their experience and describing the
>>>> revolution there:
>>>>
>> http://roarmag.org/2015/01/statement-academic-delegation-rojava/
>>>>
>>>> On 01/16/2015 12:12 AM, Mark Lamb wrote:
>>>>> When everyone made the point that "This trial is going to
>>>>> be
>>> hugely
>>>>> important for the history of the internet" I completely
>>> agreed with
>>>>> them. This trial is absolutely vital. However I didn't
>>>>> think
>>> it could
>>>>> possibly go well!! Seems like it's going positively so
>>>>> far?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 11:09 PM, Charlie 'Charles' Shrem
>>>>> <cshrem@??? <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com>
>>> <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I remember when they thought I was DPR, I was like "bitch
>>> please,
>>>>> I'm not smart enough for that"
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thursday, January 15, 2015, Mark Lamb
>>> <markdavidlamb@??? <mailto:markdavidlamb@gmail.com>
>>>>> <mailto:markdavidlamb@gmail.com
>>> <mailto:markdavidlamb@gmail.com>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> You beat me to posting that quote!
>>>>>
>>>>> This is so bizarre...
>>>>>
>>>>> Fascinating trial to follow!
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 11:04 PM, Amir Taaki
>>> <genjix@??? <mailto:genjix@riseup.net>>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Myth and legend enters history, The Story of Dread Pirate
>>>>> Roberts <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHZGqBVBCRw>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 01/15/2015 11:59 PM, Brian Hoffman wrote:
>>>>>> Willy Bot Has now been implicated as DPR...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 15, 2015, at 5:56 PM, Charlie 'Charles' Shrem
>>>> <cshrem@??? <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com>
>>>>>> <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com <mailto:cshrem@gmail.com>>>
>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Whoa!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Mutum Sigilum, a Karpeles holding company, had
>>>>>>> registered silkroadmarket.org
>>>>>>> <http://silkroadmarket.org>
>>> <http://silkroadmarket.org>
>>>>> <http://silkroadmarket.org> as a means to publicize
>>>>>>> the site further."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.dailydot.com/crime/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-mark-karpales-fbi/
>>>
>>
>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thursday, January 15, 2015, Amir Taaki
>>> <genjix@??? <mailto:genjix@riseup.net>
>>>>>>> <mailto:genjix@riseup.net <mailto:genjix@riseup.net>>>
>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> speechless
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2sjuvu/defense_in_silk_road_trial_arguing_mark_karpeles/cnq7f3i
>>>
>>
>>>>
>>>>>>> On 01/15/2015 11:09 PM, Alicia Cruz wrote:
>>>>>>>> whoa! plot twist! so karpeles is dpr!?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 7:18 AM, Jaromil
>>> <jaromil@??? <mailto:jaromil@dyne.org>
>>>>>>> <javascript:;>
>>>>>>>> <mailto:jaromil@dyne.org <mailto:jaromil@dyne.org>
>>> <javascript:;>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 8 January 2015 13:32:53 CET, Aaron van Wirdum
>>>>>>>> <aaronbitcoining@???
>>> <mailto:aaronbitcoining@gmail.com> <javascript:;>
>>>>>>> <mailto:aaronbitcoining@gmail.com
>>> <mailto:aaronbitcoining@gmail.com> <javascript:;>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> As for the line drawn between private property and
>>>>>>> resources, IIRC this
>>>>>>>>> line is drawn at *natural* resources, hence,
>>>>> kind of the
>>>>>>>>> geo-libertarian ideal. But perhaps someone with
>>>>>>>>> more knowledge
>>>>> on this
>>>>>>> subject can
>>>>>>>>> confirm (or deny) this?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> some relevant literature on the topic of
>>>>> "managing the
>>>>>>> commons" was
>>>>>>>> written by Elinor Ostrom. FWIW she also won a
>>>>> nobel prize for it
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ciao _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglistsdyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -- Thanks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Charlie
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> CharlieShrem.com <http://CharlieShrem.com> | /Please
>>>>> //encrypt
>>>>>>> messages with my PGP key
>>>>>>> <http://charlieshremcom/contact/
>>> /
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -- Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Charlie
>>>>>
>>>>> CharlieShrem.com <http://CharlieShrem.com> | /Please
>> //encrypt
>>>>> messages with my PGP key
>>>>> <http://charlieshrem.com/contact/>/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>>
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>
>>>>
>
>>> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM
>>> mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
_______________________________________________
>>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>>
>>
>>>
_______________________________________________
>> unSYSTEM mailing list: http://unsystem.net
>> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________ unSYSTEM mailing
> list: http://unsystem.net
> https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unsystem
>

- --
http://abis.io ~
"a protocol concept to enable decentralization
and expansion of a giving economy, and a new social good"
https://keybase.io/odinn