Jack Yan (甄爵恩)So weird to see the glee with which #KimDotcomʼs extradition is being reported—people are treating him worse than pædophile Ron Brierley. Is it because heʼs an immigrant, or is it because of his weight?
Phil@jackyan I think it's his corruption? I'm just spitballing here though.
@paw In what way? (Genuine question—I know he faces fraud charges—do you mean those?)
Carl@jackyan @paw
He has a massive backstory of corrupt and criminal activity, occasionally resulting in imprisonment, going back years Jack... I first came across him in the late 90's and he was well known in infosec circles as being a charlatan and con-man extraordinaire even then.
You can certainly argue that some of the 'crimes' were victimless if you assume a corporation can't be a victim, but there is the embezzlement and insider trading etc. as well.
His money is not 'clean' by any means.
He has a massive backstory of corrupt and criminal activity, occasionally resulting in imprisonment, going back years Jack... I first came across him in the late 90's and he was well known in infosec circles as being a charlatan and con-man extraordinaire even then.
You can certainly argue that some of the 'crimes' were victimless if you assume a corporation can't be a victim, but there is the embezzlement and insider trading etc. as well.
His money is not 'clean' by any means.
@carl_klitscher @paw Speaking of Thiel, years ago, I started a hashtag #NeilNotThiel over on OnlyKlans, supporting Neil Gaiman living here and not the other bloke … yeah, that didn’t work out terribly well …
@carl_klitscher @paw Good context, thanks, Carl. I knew the guy had been to jail before in Germany, but not what he had been up to within infosec circles.
I don’t consider the copyright issue victimless, but a dawn raid for a copyright case remains unique, and a case of serious macho BS—with Hollywood calling the shots. I know there are fraud charges attached to it. However, my feelings on there haven’t shifted as a matter of law: I can’t see how he and various US Big Tech players differ.
I don’t consider the copyright issue victimless, but a dawn raid for a copyright case remains unique, and a case of serious macho BS—with Hollywood calling the shots. I know there are fraud charges attached to it. However, my feelings on there haven’t shifted as a matter of law: I can’t see how he and various US Big Tech players differ.
@carl_klitscher @paw I can understand the glee if this is decades in the making and karma has bitten him in the arse—that part is fair—but then Brierley is far from clean himself, did a lot of harm to businesses here, long before anyone found out he was into small kids. Feels kind of two-tier.
@jackyan @paw
Aye. As a 'free and democratic' society we pander to money more than we should.
To me Brierley, and others, made money by destroying things but in NZ at that time money was what what we aspired to... and lots of people lost their shirts because of it... (we also got John Key)...
But yeah, we still pander to TechBro billionaires as though they are gods. They're not. They've just worked out a way to fleece the general public legally. And we have local examples of that as well.
Aye. As a 'free and democratic' society we pander to money more than we should.
To me Brierley, and others, made money by destroying things but in NZ at that time money was what what we aspired to... and lots of people lost their shirts because of it... (we also got John Key)...
But yeah, we still pander to TechBro billionaires as though they are gods. They're not. They've just worked out a way to fleece the general public legally. And we have local examples of that as well.
@carl_klitscher @paw Agreed on all points, Carl—that was a decade of greed (not that subsequent ones weren’t, but the ’80s certainly unlocked a taste for it). I still remember that episode of Close-up where they showed the life of a currency trader—had no idea I was watching a future PM at the time.
I’ve been hit by bugs on big-name websites for years (as I am sure everyone has). It was obvious to me from the early days that tech bros made questionable (often unethical) decisions.
I’ve been hit by bugs on big-name websites for years (as I am sure everyone has). It was obvious to me from the early days that tech bros made questionable (often unethical) decisions.