The story of a hacker who was able to get into iCloud and steal photos of naked celebrity females who have more beauty than good sense is all over the Web.
Another guy faked photos, and then sold them for Bitcoins. People with more Bitcoins than good sense or ethics bought them.
The crime really is a crime: the theft of other people’s property. I think most people understand this.
I make this a rule. I do not buy stolen goods. I think people with ethics adhere to this rule. But, as George C. Scott said as Mordecai Jones in The Flim-Flam Man a generation ago, “you can sell people anything if they think it is stolen.”
Why Bitcoins? Because of this. Bitcoins are useful mainly for buying things that are digital.
The suggestion that Bitcoins can become an alternative to the conventional banking system is an updated version of Mordecai Jones’s sales pitch. To buy non-digital goods, you must convert your Bitcoins into real money: bank-created money. You can buy no non-digital goods with “100% out of the banking system” Bitcoins, because to replace sold inventories, sellers of non-digital goods have to sell their Bitcoins for real money. This pulls them back into the economy of central banking.
So, the only things that you can buy with Bitcoins that are worth anything outside of the banking system are digital services and digital goods. You can buy computer programming. You can buy digital information: “special reports.” And you can buy photos of naked people — stolen photos, if they are good-looking people. As the rule goes, “If you see a photo of a really good-looking naked woman online, you can be sure it’s copyrighted.”
So, when you hand over your Bitcoins for what you know is stolen material, you are probably dealing with someone in Mordecai Jones’s line of work. Don’t be surprised when the digital goods are faked.
Bitcoins are the playthings mostly of people without much net worth. So were the people who got sucked in by Moredecai Jones.
Ok…I understand that the pictures on the cloud were…supposedly…protected by a password…still searching. Yum…yum…yum…and yumm! Put the private stuff on a thumb drive, not the cloud.
I'm a huge fan or you Dr. North. Have happily attended a few of your lectures in the past and look forward to more in the future. But you are dead wrong on bitcoin.
Where we agree: the photos are stolen &private property. The pursuit of those is wrong. Where we disagree: bitcoin is far more than a currency – it's a digital trust network. It's decentralizing and empowering people. The possibilities for individual freedom, escrow, & remittance are too numerous to mention here.
The net worth of bitcoin users is not relevant. Are you positing that people with high net worth are more "moral?" You don't know the net worth of the bitcoin users, so I won't belabor the point.
You imply that bitcoin users are an amoral bunch, but should we give up the current currency favored by criminals, the US$? Please point me to a currency/metal that is untainted by criminal activity.
I respect you and your volume of work.
I'm a huge fan or you Dr. North. Have happily attended a few of your lectures in the past and look forward to more in the future. But you are dead wrong on bitcoin.
We might also mention that receiving or buying stolen goods is also a crime – felonies depending on the value of the items stolen – and those nude photos probably carry high price-tags in the real world.
I do not see why you take naked pictures to start with but IF you do why have them anywhere you can loose them??? I have heard that these "lost" pics. were not really lost but leaked!!! I guess if you value publicity more than privacy you get what you have coming to you !!!!!!
The pictures were taken on cellphones, and most people don't realize those pics get immediately uploaded into the "cloud" where it is stored on remote servers. Yes, Apple will keep all the photos you ever take on your iphone, even if you delete them.
Young women take selfies of themselves all the time, including when they are undressed.
electronic issue and control is a definite loser for many reasons. It will only work as long as the illusions are working? And that is only happening because of a supply of greater fools .
Why do you continue to state completely wrong information on BTC? Clearly you have no first-hand knowledge on BTC, or else you wouldn't keep writing such ignorant nonsense. Your statement "To buy non-digital goods, you must convert your Bitcoins into real money: bank-created money" is completely untrue. I know this to be a fact because I have made many real (i.e., non-digital) perfectly legal purchases in BTC without ever converting it to bank-created money. In fact the items were priced in BTC. Either learn about BTC first-hand or stop spreading false information on it. I typically respect your opinions, but your ignorance on BTC makes it difficult for me to even read your columns anymore.
Lois Lerner has a way that known one could every find your pictures or emails. She can make all things disappear,well almost!
Lets see. A politician from NY sends pic of himself (raunchy) and gets in trouble for porn.
These 'beauties' take or allow nude pic of themselves and we are just horrified that they were hacked. Why no mention of the fact that they are porn as well. Why are they not referred to as porn stars not poor ripped off victims?
Ed
Useful information on this article, and I agree with you ! Something has to be done in this situation, or in other way the things stolen and sold in this method would appear in an increasingly manner.