January 2023 - cypherpunks@lists.ogf.org

ADAM Back as Nazbol Turd
by professor rat 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

Perhaps a consensus might form that regards Adam as representing the worst of suitworld and the worst of Maxi. So long as he supports Camp Assange he remains a Nazbol. If Austro-Libertarianism is a ’ Marxism of the Right " as described by some conservatives then Adam Back’s status represents a classic case of ’ Doublethink ". " . . . Back is a respected figure in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry . . . ’ That should put him in good with the Maxi’s https://cointelegraph.com/news/7-people-who-could-be-bitcoin-creator-satosh… Reposts not Bitcoin not Crypto

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Happy United Nations Education Day!
by Gunnar Larson 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnzWB0NMCrV/?igshid=NjcyZGVjMzk= Gunnar

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Advisory board goal for Post Office scandal victims to be returned to rightful financial position
by Gunnar Larson 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252529287/Advisory-board-goal-for-Post-… The board set up to monitor the compensation scheme for Post Office scandal victims agrees goal of returning them to the financial position they would be in had the scandal never happened Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 18 Jan 2023 12:15 The advisory board set up to oversee compensation awards to 555 victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal has agreed a goal of returning them to the financial position they would have been in had the scandal not happened. Thousands of former subpostmasters were blamed for accounting shortfalls caused by errors in the Post Office accounting software. They were forced to repay huge sums, and were often bankrupted as a result. Many were prosecuted and sent to prison. The scandal destroyed the lives and livelihoods of the former subpostmasters and their families for decades, with many suffering stress-related illness. Suicides have been linked with the scandal. In its first meeting, the GLO Compensation Scheme Advisory Board met representatives of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The board agreed: “As with the general law, the goal should be to restore the claimants to the position that they would have been in if the scandal had not happened.” The 555 former subpostmasters and Post Office branch workers were part of a Group Litigation Order (GLO), which in 2019 proved that the software used by Post Office branches, known as Horizon, was causing the unexplained shortfalls they were blamed for. They proved the software, from Fujitsu, was to blame, and forced the Post Office to admit this was the case after nearly 20 years of denying it. The Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance The victory for the 555 subpostmasters in the High Court, all part of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA), were awarded £58m in damages, but after their legal costs – provided by a litigation funder that requires repayment with interest – were taken out, they were left with just £11m to share. This left people that had lost homes, businesses and huge sums of money with an average of a few thousand pounds each. The judgements in the High Court case, which was paid for by the victims, also triggered the unravelling of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history. So far, more than 80 former subpostmasters have had wrongful convictions for theft and fraud overturned. The court ruling also forced the Post Office to set up a compensation scheme for any subpostmaster affected by the Horizon errors. But the Post Office and its government backer did not allow any of the 555 that took part in the court action to apply, citing that the compensation that was already paid was “full and final”. Alan Bates, the former subpostmaster who set up the JFSA in 2009 and has chaired it since, wrote to the government after the court victory, demanding it paid the legal costs to leave JFSA members with fairer compensation, but the government refused. But Bates and JFSA members kept pushing the government for justice, and through generating public pressure and instigating a judicial review forced the government to set up a statutory public inquiry into the Horizon scandal, which is ongoing. Although compensation was initially left out of the terms of reference of the public inquiry, the JFSA and its supporters forced the government to include an examination of compensation. Fair compensation The JFSA kept fighting for fair compensation, just as they had fought for justice for over a decade, and in June, the government was forced to agree to pay it. The GLO Compensation Scheme Advisory Board, set up to oversee the JFSA compensation scheme, is made up of University of Oxford professor Christopher Hodges, who is chair, peer James Arbuthnot and MP Kevan Jones, who have supported and campaigned for justice for victims of the Horizon scandal for two decades. Arbuthnot said he was encouraged by the first meeting of the board with BIES representatives. “Two key principles – the need for the goal to be to restore the claimants to the position that they would have been in if the scandal had not happened, and the imperative of speed of compensation – were agreed,” he said. “Now we need to ensure that both are carried out.” Jones said: “Good progress was made during the first meeting of the GLO Compensation Scheme Advisory Board, including the parameters of the scheme. The next meeting will be in February, where we will discuss setting up the scheme as soon as possible.” JFSA chair Bates said: “An oversight board was something very much missing in previous schemes and it offers reassurance to the scheme that people that have been so supportive over the years are involved. It also provides some transparency.” In 2009, Computer Weekly told the stories of seven subpostmasters affected by the problems (see timeline of Computer Weekly articles below). Read all Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009 May 2009: Bankruptcy, prosecution and disrupted livelihoods – postmasters tell their story. September 2009: Postmasters form action group after accounts shortfall. November 2009: Post Office theft case deferred over IT questions. May 2010: A pilot of the new Horizon Online system at Royal Mail has been scaled back after connectivity problems and outages. February 2011: Post Office faces legal action over alleged accounting system failures. October 2011: 85 subpostmasters seek legal support in claims against Post Office computer system. June 2012: Post Office launches external review of system at centre of legal disputes. January 2013: Post Office admits Horizon system needs more investigation. January 2013: Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence. January 2013: Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations. June 2013: Investigation into Post Office accounting system to drill down on strongest cases. July 2013: Post Office Horizon system investigation reveals concerns. October 2013: End in sight for subpostmaster claims against Post Office’s Horizon accounting system. October 2013: Former Lord Justice of Appeal Hooper joins Post Office Horizon investigation. November 2013: 150 subpostmasters file claims over “faulty” Horizon accounting system. September 2014: Fresh questions raised over Post Office IT system’s role in fraud cases. December 2014: MPs blast Post Office over IT system investigation and remove backing. December 2014: Why MPs lost faith in the Post Office’s IT investigation, but vowed to fight on. December 2014: MPs to debate subpostmaster IT injustice claims. December 2014: MP accuses Post Office of acting ‘duplicitously’ in IT investigation. January 2015: MPs force inquiry into Post Office subpostmaster mediation scheme. January 2015: Post Office faces grilling by MPs over Horizon accounting system. February 2015: Post Office CIO will talk to any subpostmaster about IT problems, promises CEO. March 2015: Post Office ends working group for IT system investigation day before potentially damaging report. March 2015: MPs seek reassurance over Post Office mediation scheme. March 2015: Retiring MP aims to uncover truth of alleged Post Office computer system problems. April 2015: Post Office failed to investigate account shortfalls before legal action, report claims. April 2015: Criminal Courts Review Commission set to review subpostmasters’ claims of wrongful prosecution. June 2015: Post Office looking to replace controversial Horizon system with IBM, says MP. July 2015: Campaigners call for independent inquiry into Post Office Horizon IT system dispute. October 2015: James Arbuthnot takes Post Office IT fight to House of Lords. November 2015: The union that represents Post Office subpostmasters has warned of a problem with the Horizon accounting system. November 2015: An email from Post Office IT support reveals a problem with the Horizon system and supporting processes that could lead to accounting errors. November 2015: Group litigation against Post Office being prepared in Horizon dispute. February 2016: Post Office faces group litigation over Horizon IT as subpostmasters fund class action. June 2016: Post Office chairman Tim Parker says there would be “considerable risk” associated with changing its Horizon computer system. November 2016: The legal team hired by a group of subpostmasters will take their case to the next stage. January 2017: The group action against the Post Office that alleges subpostmasters have been wrongly punished for accounting errors gets green light from the High Court of Justice. March 2017: 1,000 subpostmasters apply to join IT-related group litigation against Post Office. April 2017: Investigation into claims of miscarriages of justice in relation to a Post Office accounting system has appointed a forensic accountant firm. May 2017: Hundreds of subpostmasters have applied to join IT-related legal action since March. July 2017: Post Office defence in computer system legal case due this week. August 2017: Campaigners submit initial evidence in group litigation against Post Office over controversial Horizon IT system. October 2017: Subpostmasters’ group action against the Post Office reaches an important milestone. November 2017: An end is in sight for subpostmasters’ campaign against alleged wrongful prosecution, which they blame on a faulty computer system. November 2017: The High Court judge managing the subpostmasters versus Post Office legal case over an allegedly faulty computer system tells legal teams to cooperate. January 2018: Forensic investigation into Post Office IT system at centre of legal case nears completion. April 2018: Criminal Cases Review Commission forensic examination of the IT system at the centre of a legal case against the Post Office has raised further questions. May 2018: Post Office branches unable to connect to Horizon computer system for several hours after morning opening time. October 2018: After over a decade of controversy, next week marks the beginning of a court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office. November 2018: Case against Post Office in relation to allegedly faulty computer system begins in High Court. November 2018: High Court case in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has revealed a known problem with a computer system at the core of the dispute. November 2018: A High Court trial, where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office for damages caused by an allegedly faulty IT system, ends second week. November 2018: Post Office director admits to Horizon errors and not sharing details with subpostmaster network. November 2018: The High Court trial in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has reached an important stage. December 2018: CCRC may hold off subpostmaster decision until after Post Office Horizon trial. December 2018: Court case where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office set to span at least four trials and extend into 2020. January 2019: Subpostmasters’ campaign group attacks Post Office CEO Paula Vennells’ New Year honour amid ongoing court case. January 2019: Thousands of known errors on controversial Post Office computer system to be revealed. March 2019: Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post Office trial. March 2019: Post Office considered Horizon IT system “high-risk”, court told. March 2019: CCRC watching Post Office Horizon trial closely. March 2019: Judge rules that Post Office showed “oppressive behaviour” in response to claimants accused of accounting errors they blamed on Horizon IT system. March 2019: Post Office “lacked humanity” in the treatment of subpostmasters, says peer. March 2019: A High Court judge heard that the Post Office did not investigate a computer system error that could cause losses, despite being offered evidence. March 2019: The Post Office legal team in the case brought by more than 500 subpostmasters has called for the judge to be recused after questioning his impartiality. March 2019: A senior civil servant asked the Post Office to repay public money it had wrongly allocated to paying legal costs. April 2019: Subpostmaster claimants’ legal team makes application for the Post Office to pay millions of pounds of costs associated with trial. April 2019: Post Office to appeal judgment from first Horizon trial. April 2019: The Post Office’s claim that the judge overseeing the case concerning its controversial Horizon IT system was biased has been dismissed. April 2019: MP questions government over Post Office Horizon case. April 2019: Government says no conflict of interest in trial despite Post Office chairman’s dual role. May 2019: The Court of Appeal has refused the Post Office’s application to appeal a major decision in the Horizon IT trial. May 2019: The Post Office has applied for permission to appeal judgments from the first trial in its IT-related legal battle with subpostmasters. May 2019: The judge in the Post Office Horizon trial has ordered the organisation to pay the legal costs of its courtroom adversaries, and refused to give permission to appeal a major judgment. June 2019: Post Office asks Court of Appeal for permission to appeal judgment in first Horizon trial. July 2019: The Post Office has admitted that some subpostmasters are at risk of accounts not balancing due to an error it does not understand. July 2019: Problem revealed during High Court trial left subpostmaster with £18,000 surplus after IT system failed to register full amount of cash scanned in. August 2019: Subpostmasters suffering slow running and frozen terminals while Post Office searches for a fix to issues apparently caused by a software update. August 2019: The Post Office has fixed the latest problems with its Horizon system, affecting hundreds of branches. October 2019: A High Court judgment for a trial that focused on the Post Office’s IT system at the centre of a multimillion-pound litigation will be announced early next month. November 2019: The Court of Appeal has rejected a Post Office application to appeal judgments made in its multimillion-pound battle with subpostmasters over IT system failures. November 2019: Peer calls for clear-out of Post Office board after Court of Appeal confirms major court defeat. December 2019: The Post Office has settled its long-running legal dispute with subpostmasters, and will pay £57.75m in damages. December 2019: Subpostmansters ended their legal battle with the Post Office at the optimal time, according to the lawyer that managed the High Court action. December 2019: Subpostmansters proved right on IT system failures as calls for full public inquiry mount. December 2019: Criminal Courts Review Commission to review Horizon judgment “swiftly”. December 2019: National Federation of Subpostmasters cries foul after court ruling on controversial computer system. December 2019: Former Post Office CEO apologises to subpostmasters over Horizon scandal. December 2019: Call for former Post Office CEO to step down from public roles after IT court battle lost. January 2020: Fujitsu must face scrutiny following Post Office Horizon trial judgment. January 2020: Subpostmaster group calls for government to pay legal costs for Horizon trial. January 2020: Why subpostmasters are calling on the government to pay Horizon trial costs. January 2020: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy says it did not make decisions in the Post Office’s recent court battle. January 2020: Government should not be allowed to dismiss subpostmasters’ claims over Horizon IT scandal. January 2020: Police sent information about potential Fujitsu staff perjury in subpostmaster prosecutions. January 2020: Prosecutions are a significant step closer to being sent to the Court of Appeal as Criminal Courts Review Commission forms a group of commissioners to review them. January 2020: Alan Bates: The “details man” the Post Office paid the price for ignoring. February 2020: The government has refused to pay the huge legal costs subpostmasters incurred in their battle with the government-owned Post Office, which they won. February 2020: Members of Parliament seeking a public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal face huge challenges, but pressure and time could force justice. February 2020: Calls for inquiry into Post Office IT scandal increase in Parliament, with cross-party support. February 2020: Care Quality Commission to review concerns over Paula Vennells’ appointment after they were raised by a former NHS consultant psychiatrist. February 2020: Government admits it was too passive managing Post Office as parliamentary pressure builds. February 2020: Minister says Post Office IT experts misled the government when it asked questions about subpostmasters’ concerns over Horizon IT system. March 2020: Boris Johnson commits to “getting to the bottom of” Post Office Horizon IT scandal. March 2020: Boris Johnson’s commitment to inquiry into Post Office scandal in doubt. March 2020: MPs call on PM to commit to full public inquiry into Post Office Horizon IT scandal. March 2020: Those who did not play by the rules in Post Office Horizon scandal “should face prosecution”. March 2020: MPs told to hold to account those responsible for Post Office Horizon IT scandal. March 2020: The Post Office has sparked anger with secret settlements with subpostmasters outside the recent legal action against it. March 2020: Labour MP Karl Turner tells Computer Weekly that the Post Office Horizon scandal is the most grotesque version of predatory capitalism he has ever seen. March 2020: MP Kevan Jones has warned a government minister not to repeat the mistakes of predecessors in relation to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. March 2020: Criminal Cases Review Commission to use Microsoft Teams to ensure review of subpostmaster prosecutions is held on time. March 2020: Post Office postpones subpostmaster compensation scheme amid Covid-19 crisis. March 2020: Meeting reviewing subpostmaster applications to appeal criminal prosecutions moves into second day. March 2020: Subpostmaster prosecutions to be considered by Court of Appeal for miscarriages of justice. March 2020: How subpostmasters made legal history with biggest referral of potential miscarriages of justice. April 2020: Met Police examines information about evidence given in court by Fujitsu staff on the Horizon IT system. May 2020: Subpostmasters who had their lives ruined by the Post Office’s faulty IT system have received their damages after a High Court victory. May 2020: A senior Post Office executive at the centre of an IT scandal, who tried to mislead a High Court judge in relation to it, has left the organisation without fanfare despite many years of service. May 2020: Post Office re-examines hundreds of prosecutions that could have resulted from faults in Horizon IT system. June 2020: A campaign group representing subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft and false accounting by the Post Office is raising money to help clear the names of victims of the scandal. June 2020: Subpostmasters to force scrutiny of government’s role in Post Office IT scandal. June 2020: The Criminal Cases Review Commission sends 47 more subpostmaster cases to Court of Appeal and asks government to review private prosecution powers. June 2020: Select committee chair writes to former Post Office CEO demanding answers over her role in IT scandal. June 2020: The government has been accused of launching a review that fails in getting to the bottom of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history. June 2020: Subpostmasters will not cooperate with government review into IT scandal. June 2020: The government’s proposed review of the Post Office IT scandal has received a further setback as forensic accountants join subpostmasters in refusing to back it. June 2020: Call for government review of Post Office Horizon scandal to have the power to force individuals to give evidence under oath. June 2020: Subpostmasters seeking justice in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal are regaining momentum in Parliament. June 2020: Healthcare regulator will be discussing concerns about former NHS boss chairing an NHS trust at an upcoming meeting. June 2020: Second Sight is working with law firm in appeals by subpostmasters against criminal convictions in Horizon IT scandal. June 2020: Post Office and Fujitsu blame each other for many of the failings in the Horizon IT scandal that wrecked lives. June 2020: Parliamentary Justice Committee to hold short inquiry into the rules and regulations surrounding private organisations’ ability to initiate criminal proceedings. July 2020: Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal need to raise thousands of pounds in a week or those responsible for their suffering will avoid scrutiny. July 2020: The government is set to face scrutiny over its involvement in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in modern UK history. September 2020: The government repeats that it won’t pay victims’ legal costs and confirms review into the scandal will not have the power to call witnesses. September 2020: Subpostmasters still not being told about all the known errors in the controversial Post Office branch accounting and retail system that they use. October 2020: The Post Office has chosen not to contest 44 out of 47 appeals, meaning most are likely to have their names cleared, but others still face a Court of Appeal battle for justice. October 2020: MPs are demanding the government holds a full statutory public inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal. October 2020: NHS regulator continues enquiries about the appointment of former Post Office CEO at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as more damning details emerge. October 2020: Government minister met with former subpostmaster online in an attempt to get victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal involved in government review. October 2020: The Post Office is focusing urgently on fixing an IT error suffered by a subpostmaster amid the ongoing IT scandal. October 2020: Labour politicians are calling for the government to give the Post Office Horizon scandal inquiry the power to force witnesses to give evidence if they don’t cooperate. October 2020: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has asked for external review of its process when appointing controversial executive. November 2020: Government faces scrutiny of its handling of the Post Office IT scandal that destroyed subpostmasters’ lives and livelihoods. November 2020: Post Office branches offline during busy business hours after suffering an IT error that the Post Office said related to IT from supplier Fujitsu. November 2020: Fujitsu is refusing to explain what caused a national system outage in Post Office branches last week, despite the Post Office confirming the issue was the fault of the supplier. November 2020: The Metropolitan Police opens criminal investigation into Fujitsu staff who gave evidence in trials of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted and even imprisoned for financial crimes. November 2020: Post Office criticised over vagueness of its explanation of the cause of a UK-wide IT failure that saw subpostmasters unable to do business. November 2020: Post Office says planned firmware update caused the problem that left branches unable to do business for 90 minutes. November 2020: Court documents reveal the names of the Fujitsu employees under investigation for potentially providing misleading information in criminal trials. November 2020: The government allowed the Post Office to ‘run amok’ and destroy lives, says complaint to Parliamentary Ombudsman. November 2020: Campaigning politician demands access to documents that could prove that the Post Office lied. December 2020: Government denies responsibility for the abuse inflicted on subpostmasters by the Post Office over faulty IT system. December 2020: CEO at the centre of the scandal that saw innocent people bankrupted and some sent to prison steps down from NHS role as pressure for her resignation grows. December 2020: History made as subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted in Horizon IT scandal have convictions quashed. December 2020: The appointment of a former Post Office executive, who tried to mislead a judge, in the Football Association of Wales has been questioned by an MP. December 2020: Court of Appeal indicates subpostmasters can pursue appeal route that could do more damage to Post Office’s reputation. January 2021: NHS trust defends its director appointment process following an external review of its recruitment of former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells. January 2021: Lawyers call for changes to digital evidence rule that made it easier for the Post Office to ‘bamboozle courts’ and make subpostmasters pay a heavy price for its IT failings. January 2021: The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred four more subpostmasters’ criminal convictions to appeal, as part of the biggest miscarriage of justice in modern UK history. February 2021: A former senior developer who worked for Fujitsu on the Post Office IT system that led to subpostmasters being falsely accused of fraud, has claimed bosses knew of fundamental flaws before going live. February 2021: Subpostmasters call for Boris Johnson to pause and reshape the government’s Horizon inquiry. February 2021: Vote of no confidence in Football Association of Wales boss triggered by recruitment of former Post Office executive who tried to mislead a judge in IT trial. March 2021: Government agrees to change private prosecution rules that were abused by the Post Office in its pursuit of subpostmasters wrongly accused of financial crimes. March 2021: Subpostmaster victims who have spent millions bringing the Post Office IT scandal to light have received no reply to their concerns from Boris Johnson. March 2021: MP condemns department’s ‘bizarre’ rejection of freedom of information request linked to Post Office IT scandal. March 2021: Football Association Wales boss steps down after losing confidence motion triggered by appointment of an executive involved in the Post Office IT scandal. March 2021: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is reviewing five cases of potential miscarriage of justice in relation to subpostmaster prosecutions. March 2021: Subpostmasters heading to Court of Appeal to clear their names in what is potentially the biggest miscarriage of justice in English legal history. March 2021: The Post Office does not have enough money to pay compensation to the subpostmasters it wrongfully prosecuted. March 2021: Angela van den Bogerd has left her role at the Football Association of Wales, following criticism of her part in Post Office IT scandal. March 2021: Court of Appeal hearing reveals Post Office instructed employees to destroy documents that undermined an insistence that its Horizon computer system was robust. March 2021: The Post Office was warned that a former Fujitsu employee had misled courts when giving evidence on its behalf. March 2021: Boris Johnson agrees with MP that those responsible for the Post Office Horizon scandal should be brought to book. March 2021: Former Post Office chief was paid over £400,000 when she left despite the organisation being involved in what would become the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history. April 2021: The UK government faces a potential judicial review over its Post Office Horizon IT scandal inquiry, after subpostmasters formally wrote to the government seeking one. April 2021: The government is listening to calls for changes in how digital evidence is considered in court, as Post Office IT scandal spells out current rule’s inadequacy. April 2021: The Post Office's controversial contract with Fujitsu has been extended another year to help the organisation manage its exit. April 2021: The Post Office is to move work done by Fujitsu in-house when its outsourcing contract ends, and is already recruiting IT experts. April 2021: The Post Office has revealed the end to its controversial Horizon IT system which, through its errors and the Post Office's denial of them, caused huge suffering. April 2021: The UK government is the only block to fair compensation for subpostmasters who were wrongly punished for accounting shortfalls. April 2021: The Court of Appeal has overturned the criminal convictions of 39 subpostmasters who were blamed and punished for accounting shortfalls caused by computer errors. April 2021: Former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells has left roles in the church, Morrisons and Dunelm after postmasters’ convictions were overturned in the Court of Appeal. April 2021: The biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history is set to get bigger as more subpostmasters take their cases to the Court of Appeal. May 2021: Post Office IT scandal CEO has no excuse for her inaction in preventing the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history, says Criminal Cases Review Commission chairperson. May 2021: Subpostmasters, MPs and the public call for a full statutory judge-led public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal, following another damning court judgment. May 2021: Government says it wants to ensure a fair pay-out for the 555 subpostmasters who defeated the Post Office in a legal battle. May 2021: The Post Office has contacted hundreds of people it might have wrongly prosecuted for financial crimes. May 2021: The miscarriages of justice involving subpostmasters are the most disturbing element of the Post Office Horizon scandal – but it goes much deeper. May 2021: The supplier at the centre of the Post Office Horizon scandal has so far escaped the ramifications of its role in the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history. May 2021: Another two former subpostmasters have had their convictions for financial crimes overturned, following a hearing in Southwark Crown Court. May 2021: The government inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal is set to be made statutory with the power to compel witnesses and evidence. May 2021: The government confirmed that the inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal will be given statutory status and wider scope. May 2021: The Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance has agreed to meet the former judge heading up the inquiry into the Post Office scandal that ruined the lives of hundreds of subpostmasters. May 2021: Criminal Cases Review Commission will not allow pressure on its resources to prevent subpostmasters seeking a review of their criminal convictions. May 2021: Professional IT body wants changes to how computer evidence is used in court in the wake of the Post Office case. June 2021: The Post Office Horizon scandal inquiry begins with subpostmaster campaign group waiting for full details before committing its support. June 2021: Whatever the Post Office told government about its decision to sack investigators examining subpostmaster prosecutions for theft could identify if the government was part of a cover-up. June 2021: The Post Office has so far compensated about 400 subpostmasters who suffered losses as a result of computer errors that they were wrongly blamed for. July 2021: Another 10 subpostmasters are set to have their criminal convictions quashed as part of one of the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. July 2021: The government has made no contact with subpostmasters two months after it said it would work with them to ensure they get speedy and fair compensation. July 2021: The cost of a scheme set up to compensate subpostmasters who were victims of the Horizon IT scandal will exceed £300m. July 2021: The government will pay interim compensation within weeks to subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of crimes due to computer errors. August 2021: A further four subpostmasters are set to have their wrongful convictions overturned in the latest development in the Post Office Horizon scandal. August 2021: The government has failed to provide fair compensation to the subpostmasters who exposed the full extent of the Horizon scandal to the world. August 2021: Subpostmasters demand more clarity on Horizon public inquiry before committing their support. September 2021: Six more subpostmaster convictions referred for appeal in Post Office IT scandal. September 2021: Government minister holds secret meeting with Post Office Horizon scandal victims. October 2021: The public inquiry into a scandal that saw subpostmasters imprisoned after being blamed for accounting shortfalls will hold its first public hearing early next month. October 2021: A government minister investigating the controversial Horizon IT project in 2000 described the Post Office board of directors as ‘appalling, short-sighted and partisan’. November 2021: The behaviour of Post Office senior management during the Horizon scandal was so egregious that the supplier of the faulty software has escaped a large financial penalty. November 2021: Former Fujitsu staff who gave evidence in subpostmaster trials have been questioned by police for a second time. November 2021: Former subpostmasters convicted of crimes based on data from error-prone Post Office computer system continue to embark on appeals. November 2021: The first hearing in the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry hears why victims should be paid compensation immediately. November 2021:The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is investigating eight potential miscarriages of justice linked with faulty Post Office IT system. November 2021: The Post Office will waive professional legal privilege for documents relating to legal advice it received regarding subpostmaster prosecutions. November 2021 A total number of 65 subpostmasters have now had criminal convictions overturned in Post Office Horizon scandal. November 2021 Subpostmasters asked to withdraw support for Post Office scandal inquiry. November 2021: Seven more subpostmasters have been cleared after the Post Office charged them for crimes caused by its faulty Horizon software. November 2021: The Post Office made clear its support for a change in UK law regarding computer evidence that was making prosecution ‘onerous’ – a change which later helped to wrongfully convict subpostmasters. November 2021: The chair of the Post Office scandal public inquiry has confirmed the compensation of a group of subpostmasters will be revisited. December 2021: Government must go further after agreeing to pay compensation for wrongly convicted subpostmasters. December 2021: Pressure on government to pay fair compensation to subpostmasters left out of current schemes. January 2022: Almost 100 MPs have backed a call for the government to reverse its decision to exclude 555 subpostmasters from fair compensation. January 2022: A parliamentary select committee was told that the Post Office is unable to access information to accurately calculate compensation for some Horizon scandal victims. January 2022: The Post Office received subsidies worth over £1bn last year, including a £685m payment just last month, in a scheme labelled Post Office Historical Matters Compensation. January 2022: Government widens subpostmaster miscarriage of justice compensation scheme in Horizon scandal. January 2022: Government officials are open to finding a way to properly compensate victims of the Horizon scandal without setting a dangerous legal precedent. January 2022: The subpostmaster campaign group responsible for exposing the Post Office Horizon scandal is to meet with the government to discuss fair compensation for their suffering. January 2022: Fujitsu cannot hide away as taxpayers pick up the bill for the Post Office scandal triggered by its IT system, say peers. February 2022: Victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal are being denied the millions of pounds they are owed as the government delays compensation resolution. February 2022: Victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal are due to tell their devastating stories to the statutory inquiry. February 2022: MPs are demanding urgent action by the government to provide full compensation to a group of 555 Post Office Horizon scandal victims who have so far been left out. February 2022: Victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal have been suffering in silence for many years, but the current public inquiry is giving them a voice, and people are listening. February 2022: Horizon inquiry questioning raises hopes of fair compensation for victims so far left out. February 2022: Government set to backtrack on untenable position on subpostmaster compensation. March 2022: The Post Office and Fujitsu failed to alert subpostmasters to a software error that caused them to be wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls. March 2022: Horizon inquiry hearing sheds light on subpostmaster federation’s role in hushing up IT problems. March 2022: 555 subpostmasters to get fair compensation after government U-turn on its stance on High Court settlement. March 2022: Compensation goal finally in sight for 555 Post Office scandal victims, after 13 year campaign. April 2022: Fujitsu bags £430m government contracts despite rising cost of Post Office Horizon scandal. April 2022: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission expects more subpostmasters with potential wrongful convictions to come forward. April 2022: Former subpostmasters who were wrongfully convicted and punished for crimes have not yet received full compensation over a year after their convictions were overturned. April 2022: A former Fujitsu worker has been questioned under caution for the third time as police investigate potential perjury in trials of subpostmasters wrongfully convicted of financial crimes. May 2022: Paula Vennells could be stripped of her CBE as the Honours Forfeiture Committee commits to reconsider its award in the light of the Post Office Horizon scandal. May 2022: Lawyer negotiating compensation for victims of Post Office scandal says the two sides are ‘poles apart’ on valuations. May 2022: Inquiry into Post Office scandal moves to Scotland, with differences in English and Scottish law raising further serious questions about subpostmaster prosecutions. May 2022: The chair of the Post Office Horizon scandal inquiry has brought forward hearings about compensation as victims warn that at this rate “people will die” before they get anything. May 2022: The Criminal Cases Review Commission is to contact 88 more potentially wrongfully convicted Post Office workers. May 2022: The Post Office Horizon IT system at the centre of a national scandal will be replaced by 2025, with a supplier expected to be named in August. May 2022: Victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal in Scotland raise further questions about Post Office and government conduct. May 2022: Government accused of ‘passing the buck’ and ‘not knowing what it is talking about’ after stating it has no plans to review court rules on computer evidence. May 2022: Computer Weekly spoke to the barristers at Henderson Chambers that fought the Post Office in the High Court to expose the widest miscarriage of justice in UK history. June 2022: Two more Post Office Horizon scandal victims have had their wrongful convictions overturned. June 2022: The 555 subpostmasters who exposed the depth of the Post Office Horizon scandal could finally be fairly compensated. June 2022: Forensic accounting firm that ‘knows where the bodies are buried’ will be released from confidentiality obligations by the Post Office to give evidence to public inquiry. June 2022: Lawyers negotiating the compensation valuations for former subpostmasters who suffered wrongful convictions have brought in independent judicial scrutiny to break an impasse. June 2022: Subpostmaster campaign group is a step closer to achieving what it was originally set up to do as government launches compensation scheme for its members who did not receive fair payouts. July 2022: More former subpostmasters have their wrongful convictions for theft and fraud overturned in the Court of Appeal. July 2022: When the Post Office’s lie about the Horizon system failed to silence subpostmaster critics, it took more extreme measures, say victims of the scandal. September 2022: The Met Police have interviewed a former subpostmaster as part of an investigation into potential perjury by former Fujitsu staff. September 2022: Chair of statutory public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal has aired his disappointment over the slow progress in making interim payments to victims. October 2022: The public inquiry into the Post Office scandal has begun phase two with a request for adjournment amid allegations that the Post Office is failing to disclose relevant documents. October 2022: Victims demand that the perpetrators of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal face the public inquiry. October 2022: Fujitsu’s part in causing the extreme suffering of subpostmasters will be made clear as the IT supplier begins giving evidence at a statutory inquiry. October 2022: A dereliction of duty saw subpostmaster federation ignore its members when IT problems hit and allowed the Post Office destroy their lives. October 2022: Politicians are keeping up the pressure to block government contracts being awarded to Fujitsu because of its role in the Post Office Horizon scandal. October 2022: Problems reported with the Post Office’s Horizon IT system before its roll-out should have been regarded as a “show-stopper”. October 2022: Horizon system code writers lacked basic programming skills, according to the task force set up to investigate reported problems with the controversial software. October 2022: Trials of the Horizon computer system in Post Office branches in 1999 led to a warning from subpostmasters that software problems meant “a tragedy was not far away”. November 2022: ‘Hardball’ negotiations between the government, the Post Office and ICL meant subpostmasters were ignored and thrown into a tragedy that could have been averted. November 2022: Post Office investigators were so convinced that subpostmasters were cooking the books that they failed to investigate alleged IT problems, a public inquiry has been told. November 2022: SCCRC has referred six cases of potential wrongful convictions of subpostmasters to the High Court of Justiciary. November 2022: A former Fujitsu technology expert who defended the Horizon system’s robustness in court was unhappy after being ‘manoeuvred’ into acting as an expert witness. November 2022: Insider tells public inquiry that the Post Office continued to roll out the controversial Horizon system despite a ‘considerable’ number of errors, because it was too committed. November 2022: Former members of the ICL team developing software for the Post Office Horizon EPOSS system were unqualified and engaged in poor software development practices. November 2022: The Post Office IT scandal inquiry’s appointed expert IT witness was “troubled” by the lack of integrity of data from the Horizon system that was used to send people to prison. November 2022: Telegram from British Embassy in Tokyo to UK government reveals pressure on ministers to sign off controversial contract. November 2022: The National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) deliberately kept stories of Horizon errors quiet because it “did not want to kill the project”. December 2022: The Post Office was ‘keen’ to make subpostmasters cover unexplained accounting shortfall as its business struggled, public inquiry hears. December 2022: The second phase of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal raised more questions over who did what, when and where, with shocking revelations at every turn. December 2022: The Criminal Cases Review Commission wants former subpostmasters to come forward if they think they were prosecuted by the Post Office based on data from the Horizon computer system. January 2023: Alan Bates, who fought for decades to expose the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, says it would be inappropriate to accept an OBE when former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells holds

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Cryptocurrency: Miners to Build New Clean Safe Nuclear Power Plants Soon, Solar, Geothermal, Etc
by grarpamp 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

Nuclear-Powered Crypto-Mining To Begin In Pennsylvania Next Year Amid the heated debate over Bitcoin's environmental impact in the mining space, nuclear power could be the perfect renewable energy source to power mining operations. It's no secret that bitcoin mining takes a massive amount of electricity. It's estimated that energy consumption exceeds the power consumption of countries like the Netherlands and the UAE. With the push towards ESG-Friendly bitcoin mining operations, US power company Talen Energy has been given the green light to mine cryptocurrencies using nuclear power from Susquehanna Steam Electric Station based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to Datacenter Dynamics. A spokesperson for Talen said Cumulus, a subsidiary of Talen Energy, has two separate businesses: Cumulus Data, focused on hyperscale data center; and Cumulus Coin, focused on digital currency mining. "As the demand for energy increases among data center and cryptocurrency processing clients, so does the call for decarbonizing these energy sources. Talen Energy is constructing a hyperscale data center campus adjacent to its Susquehanna nuclear generation facility," read a company presentation. "It will provide low-cost, reliable, carbon-free power to the data center clients on campus. This allows clients to benefit from carbon-free, 24/7 power being supplied directly to the campus, without the intermittency that renewable energy can experience, or requiring fossil fuels." Here's the layout of the nuclear-powered cryptomining facility adjacent to the power plant. The mining facility could be open as early as the first half of 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been at the forefront of pushing mining operations into using "renewable energy" instead of fossil fuels. The issue behind crypto space is that computational power available to mine requires an enormous amount of energy. Days ago, a historic hydroelectric plant near Albany, New York, decided to begin cryptomining than selling its power to the grid because it could make more money. El Salvador has pitched miners of the world to flood the Central American country to embrace "cheap 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions" energy from a state-owned geothermal electric company that is powered by a volcano. The "greening" of Bitcoin also comes amid China's crackdown on miners, resulting in the hash rate —the computational power available to mine the cryptocurrency, reflecting the efficiency of the bitcoin blockchain network, plunging since mid-May. Nuclear-powered cryptomining could be the top "ESG-friendly" energy source that the crypto community and tech billionaires have been searching for. This could be a positive for uranium stocks.

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Cryptocurrency: CT Fools Cheer IMF's Anarcho-Coin Regulatory Shutdown Scheme
by grarpamp 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

https://cryptopotato.com/imf-recommends-5-point-crypto-regulation-scheme/ "core financial system... concerns about systemic risk and financial stability" 1) License, register, and authorize crypto asset providers. 3) Apply strong, bank-type regulation to stablecoin issuers. 4) Impose clear requirements on traditional financial institutions for exposure or engagement with crypto. 5) Create a consistent global approach to crypto regulation and oversight. Why can't CT read between the loopholed lines of Globo IMF's real intent and self-granted scheme to shutdown Anarcho-Coins and to launch and entrench CBDC's over everyone. Regulators pose a "systemic risk" to the growing "financial stability" of the Anarcho-Coin ecosystem. Until these regulators correctly separate the definition of GovCorpCBDC Shitcoins, from Anarcho-Coins, you can bet that anytime they use words like "regulation", their intent is ultimately to shutdown all Anarcho-Coins. Given that Anarcho-Coins and P2P-Fi marketplaces are now becoming direct competitors and threats to the IMF, is it not obvious what their words mean in reality... 1) Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Monero, Zcash, and a hundred more newer legit non-Incorporated, P2P created, distributed, private, Anarcho-Cryptocurrencies are "providers of crypto assets", as are their miners, stakers, relayers, user barterers, etc. 3) Anarcho-Stablecoins exist. 4) That means being prohibited from doing business with all Anarcho-Coins. 5) That means you're all Instantly Fucked, Globally, Digitally, by whatever the next Tyrannical Rules are rolled out. IMF Recommends 5-Point Crypto Regulation Scheme Author: Wesley Messamore Last Updated Jan 23, 2023 @ 14:56 The International Monetary Fund issued a five-point cryptocurrency recommendation scheme. As global influencers rubbed elbows at Davos, the IMF issued recommendations for crypto to global regulators. Depending on who you ask, crypto regulation could hurt the industry or open up vast new markets for normie investors. In a note published over the week, the International Monetary Fund wrote: "During times of stress, we’ve seen market failures of stablecoins, crypto-focused hedge funds, and crypto exchanges, which in turn raised serious concerns about market integrity and user protection. And with growing and deeper links with the core financial system, there could also be concerns about systemic risk and financial stability in the near future." The IMF's preferred approach to counter these concerns is increasing global crypto regulation: "Many of these concerns can be addressed by strengthening financial regulation and supervision, and by developing global standards that can be implemented consistently by national regulatory authorities." The recommendations are: 1) License, register, and authorize crypto asset providers. 2) Prohibit crypto entities from carrying out multiple functions in one business that create conflicts of interest. 3) Apply strong, bank-type regulation to stablecoin issuers. 4) Impose clear requirements on traditional financial institutions for exposure or engagement with crypto. 5) Create a consistent global approach to crypto regulation and oversight. Posing a Threat? While it seems unlikely that the entire world could agree on crypto regulations, the possibility of a global regulatory regime seems stifling. After all, Bitcoin was invented in the first place to side-step the global financial system. In the view of Bitcoin's creators and earliest adopters, it was the global financial system that was the contagion with spillover risk. Regulations did nothing to stop a financial downturn much bigger than the crypto winter from shocking global markets in 2008. In fact, it's even possible that financial regulations are what led to the 2008 financial crisis. The central bank's regulation of the money supply was dovish in the years leading up to that. This encouraged rampant speculation in exotic instruments with borrowed money at low-interest rates. For Better or Worse? As the money velocity of the economy churned and revalued each dollar according to the constantly growing new supply of USD, the same thing happened to Wall Street that happened to Alameda-FTX. They were holding on to all these assets that weren't really worth what they said on paper. A global regulatory regime with inflexible, one-size-fits-all rules put together by committees could easily squash a project as important as Bitcoin before it has a chance to get started. Or perhaps just as easily inspire one and cede control to an ecosystem of peer-to-peer network governance cobbled together ad hoc by developers, entrepreneurs, and the markets they serve.

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Cryptocurrency: Solves Globally Bankrupt Social Security and Pensions
by grarpamp 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

Billion of people around the world, hundred Million in USA, will soon learn hard that they themselves would have been better managing hodlers of what was stolen from their paychecks, and better donors suppliers and uplifters to local charity care for the local needy, than their corrupt wasteful bloated DemSoc Govts. Social Security Will Be Bankrupt By 2033 On Current Trajectory: CBO Report https://www.theepochtimes.com/social-security-will-be-bankrupt-by-2033-on-c… https://www.theepochtimes.com/social-security-announces-biggest-payment-hik… https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-12/58564-Social-Security.pdf A recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that two major Social Security funds in the United States will dry out in the coming decades, with one of them running out within the next 10 years as younger members in the programs are set to lose more than older members. “If the gap between the trust funds’ outlays and income occurs as CBO projects, then the balance in the trust funds will decline to zero in 2033 and the Social Security Administration will no longer be able to pay full benefits when they are due,” the CBO stated in its report, published in December (pdf). The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2033 and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2048, the agency said. If the trust funds are combined, the money will be gone by 2033. The CBO expects spending on Social Security to increase to 7 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2096, up from 5 percent of the GDP in 2022. During this period, revenues are only expected to remain at 4.6 percent of GDP, resulting in an ongoing deficit. If Social Security outlays were limited to what is payable from annual tax revenues, the benefit payments would be roughly 23 percent smaller than originally scheduled by 2034. By 2096, the benefit payments would be 35 percent smaller, with the gap remaining stable from then on. In such a situation, the younger cohort born in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s would see their initial benefits reduced by 24, 27, and 28 percent respectively. Their lifetime benefits would be reduced by 26, 27, and 27 percent, respectively. For older beneficiaries born in the 1950s and 60s, initial benefits would not be affected too much. Their lifetime benefits would be reduced by 9 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Protecting Social Security of Senior Citizens In 2021, Social Security amounted to 17 percent of federal spending, according to the CBO. Lawmakers are currently debating how to address America’s debt ceiling issue, with some proposing cuts to Social Security. The United States officially hit its debt limit on Thursday. In a video message, former President Donald Trump called on GOP members to not compromise on Social Security. “Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security to help pay for Joe Biden’s reckless spending spree, which is more reckless than anybody’s ever done or had in the history of our country,” Trump said in the statement posted to Truth Social on Friday. “Do not cut the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives,” he said. “Save Social Security. Don’t destroy it.” The CBO projections come as Social Security benefits are set to increase by 8.7 percent in 2023, which is the biggest boost in four decades. In 2022, benefit payments were increased by 5.9 percent. Despite the record increase in benefit payments this year, there are concerns about whether it will be enough to keep up with decades-high inflation.

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PSA: tor 0.4.5.10 and Its v2 Onion Users and Apps Resist Arbitrary CensorBan by TPO's "EOL"
by grarpamp 24 Jan '23

24 Jan '23

On 1/23/23, A Tor Minion <atorminion(a)torproject.org> wrote: > In case it affects you as you are still running your relay or bridge on > Tor 0.4.5.x: the 0.4.5 series is going EOL Yet still no one bothers to talk about what the censorban effects of that would be upon the current use, and the future development and use, of some P2P and other types of applications and protocols over tor's onions, and thus upon the users and future users of them. > currently still 760 relays [running 0.4.5.x] Notably, ~64% [~493] of those 760 are running 0.4.5.10 or prior, and ~77% [~382] of those 493 are running exactly 0.4.5.10. Thus clearly there is a movement to continue support v2 onions in as much of an up to date with tor fashion as they can while still preserving v2 capability. v2 flags can be broken down similarly. Omg, gasp, how can it be, such Valiant Rebels against Authority! "We" must Smash them!, says the Tor Project Incorporated. Well, pehaps those 493 relays may be freely, even rightly, choosing to resist, by continuing their support for v2 onions and all its applications for users, including bidirectional 1:1 IPv6 mapped transport (UDP, TCP, bittorrent, chats, P2P, cryptocurrencies, voice/video protocols, file and storage clouds, etc) over tor OnionLand, via the amazing OnionCat plugin as needed, and by continuing to run v2 HSDIR servers, and by being brave DirAuths against such Authority that they will continue to sign over v2 capable relays, so as to let them live freely without such arbitrary persecution, even perhaps moreso in the case of the v2 capable non-exit cloud. As searchable by "OnionCat" on lists... TPO's arbitrary and unecessary ripping v2 function out of tor versions newer than 4.5.10 would permanently disenfranchise users from running the entire universe of all the IPv6 capable applications [1] over tor onions that depend on v2+OnionCat to run. And it will permanently prevent anyone from developing or porting any such novel and interesting applications for and to tor onions in the future. That's bad, and is especially harmful to such potentials considering how the Internet is now tending and preferring to develop decentralized P2P applications to help resist, route around, and extinct central tyrannies... some of those apps would certainly not be able to run over tor unless plugged into v2+OnionCat. The world has not, is not, and won't be solely unidirectional TCP... the bidirectional, mesh, UDP, broadcast, IPv6, embeds, etc still do and will exist, and apps do and will depend on them. Does Tor Project Incorporated really desire to foreclose on some such interesting possibilities over tor's onions. Also bad is Tor Project's blanket "security" claim FUD as an excuse to remove v2, when it is properly users that should get to decide whether the actual differences between v2 and v3 onions features really apply to their use cases, threat models, and acceptable tradeoffs for the apps they choose to run over tor's onions in OnionLand. Note clearly that Tor Project still refused to post an unbiased technical comparison table wiki between v2 and v3 and OnionCat for the benefit of users to consult, nor did they post such on a blog or forum or list, nor speak on the application-limiting future that v3 would represent, they just handwaved "new" and "security" memes, and claimed "support cost" when in reality TPO gets paid $Millions to support users and applications. As before, Tor should have, and still should, modularize the functionality for v2 onions HSDIRs relays and clients, and then push that out to the community to enable, support, and operate that module option as they so choose... a dedicated v2 cloud of sorts. For the Valiant Rebels, and should Tor still refuse to modularize, 4.5.10 would be the last of their official releases to support v2. It's also an opensource software, protocol, and operation that can be freely forked into a new project that may also venture to address Tor's other big problems as well. After 25 years of the Tor elephant, it's time for all sorts of new projects to compete in the overlay space anyway. For one, did you know that you can overlay the GNURadioRF space with encrypted random transports... have phun :) "Tor Stinks -- NSA, known since before 2012" https://github.com/rahra/onioncat/ https://www.onioncat.org/ https://dist.torproject.org/tor-0.4.5.10.tar.gz https://dist.torproject.org/tor-0.4.5.10.tar.gz.asc https://gitweb.torproject.org/tor.git/tag/?h=tor-0.4.5.10 30b10a30ced563382c09bb290d0568932ca98b03 cached-consensus:client-versions 0.4.5.10 cached-consensus:server-versions 0.4.5.10 May all do well in countering the various adversaries of freedom. #FreeAssange [1] And today's IPv4 applications that also depend on v2+OnionCat transport features, since the world is porting them to IPv6 and soon abandoning IPv4. [CC's for inclusion, censors abound]

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Bankruptcy Judge in Manhattan Rules that Crypto Customers Lost Ownership of $4.2 Billion When They Deposited It into “Earn” Accounts
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/01/bankruptcy-judge-in-manhattan-rules-… "By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: January 23, 2023 ~ Customers of bankrupt crypto platforms who have been locked out of withdrawing from their accounts for months, are learning the hard way that U.S. bankruptcy court judges in New York and Delaware have little sympathy for their plight. Instead, there has been an uncanny propensity to side with big corporate law firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Sullivan & Cromwell. A December 11, 2019 report from the Congressional Research Service cited a study that found that “60% of large business debtors filed for bankruptcy” in just two venues – the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York – despite the fact that the businesses did not maintain their principal place of business there. The report further notes that “when debtors have substantial flexibility to choose the jurisdiction in which they file for bankruptcy, self-interest encourages those debtors to file in courts that favor debtors and their attorneys to the detriment of creditors and other stakeholders.” This month we’ve witnessed two shocking examples of what appears to be judge bias favoring the debtors and their Big Law attorneys. Last Friday, despite a mountain of conflicts of interest involving pre-bankruptcy-petition work performed by law firm Sullivan & Cromwell for collapsed crypto firm, FTX, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge, John Dorsey, signed a ruling granting Sullivan & Cromwell’s aggressive desire to be named lead counsel in the matter. The more than two dozen conflicts belatedly admitted to by the law firm – only after prodding by the U.S. Trustee — included having previously provided personal legal representation to the company’s indicted CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. The personal legal representation involved Bankman-Fried’s purchase of half a billion dollars in stock in the discount brokerage firm, Robinhood. The Department of Justice seized those shares this month. According to Congressional testimony by the newly appointed CEO of FTX, more than $8 billion of customer funds are missing. Equally stunning, Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Martin Glenn, issued an opinion on January 4 in the bankruptcy proceedings of another crypto exchange, Celsius, that found that customers did not own their own deposits that had been made into an interest-earning program called “Earn.” The Judge wrote: “…the Court concludes, based on Celsius’s unambiguous Terms of Use, and subject to any reserved defenses, that when the cryptocurrency assets (including stablecoins, discussed in detail below) were deposited in Earn Accounts, the cryptocurrency assets became Celsius’s property; and the cryptocurrency assets remaining in the Earn Accounts on the Petition Date became property of the Debtors’ bankruptcy estates (the ‘Estates’).” Glenn’s opinion sided with Big Law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, which is representing the debtors estate, and is a devastating development to the approximate 600,000 account holders in the Earn program. The combined value of those accounts was roughly $4.2 billion shortly before the Celsius bankruptcy filing in July. Instead of getting the contents of their accounts returned, the opinion means that these customers become unsecured creditors along with a multitude of others. Judge Glenn pointed to the Terms of Use that customers click on when they open an “Earn” account with an app. The most recent version 8 of the Celsius Terms read as follows, according to the Judge: “In consideration for the Rewards payable to you on the Eligible Digital Assets using the Earn Service . . . and the use of our Services, you grant Celsius . . . all right and title to such Eligible Digital Assets, including ownership rights, and the right, without further notice to you, to hold such Digital Assets in Celsius’ own Virtual Wallet or elsewhere, and to pledge, re-pledge, hypothecate, rehypothecate, sell, lend, or otherwise transfer or use any amount of such Digital Assets, separately or together with other property, with all attendant rights of ownership, and for any period of time, and without retaining in Celsius’ possession and/or control a like amount of Digital Assets or any other monies or assets, and to use or invest such Digital Assets in Celsius’ full discretion. You acknowledge that with respect to Digital Assets used by Celsius pursuant to this paragraph: You will not be able to exercise rights of ownership; Celsius may receive compensation in connection with lending or otherwise using Digital Assets in its business to which you have no claim or entitlement; and In the event that Celsius becomes bankrupt, enters liquidation or is otherwise unable to repay its obligations, any Eligible Digital Assets used in the Earn Service or as collateral under the Borrow Service may not be recoverable, and you may not have any legal remedies or rights in connection with Celsius’ obligations to you other than your rights as a creditor of Celsius under any applicable laws.” State securities regulators in numerous states filed objections in advance of the opinion being handed down. The State of New Jersey argued that Celsius was operating in violation of New Jersey’s securities laws by selling unregulated securities. It noted that an investigation by the official Examiner had yet to be concluded, thus any such ruling by the court was premature. The State takes the position that the assets in the Earn accounts are the property of the customers. Other objectors noted that the Celsius Terms of Use had also used the term “loan” to describe what would be happening with customer deposits. The Judge dismissed that premise."

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Re: FOIL Request No. 2022-092267 - Larson
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Hello there: Okay, thank you for looking into the role at the advisory council role at the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. "Here, the Department is withholding the personal information mentioned above because the interest of keeping that information private outweighs the competing interest of providing public access to that information. Such information about private citizens is of a personal nature and disclosure of the information would not serve any governmental purpose consistent with the intent of FOIL. See Goyer v. New York State Dep’t of Envtl. Conservation, 12 Misc.3d 261 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County 2005). Consequently, the Department is not disclosing that information pursuant to Public Officers Law § 87(2)(b)." Thank you, Gunnar Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 646-454-9107 On Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 9:50 AM JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) < Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> wrote: > Good Morning: > > > > Please see the attached determination in response to your FOIL request. > Thank you. > > > > >

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Re: FOIL Request No. 2022-089773 - Larson
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Hello there: Okay, no problem. Have a great day! Thank you, Gunnar Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 646-454-9107 On Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 9:51 AM JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) < Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> wrote: > Good Morning: > > > > Please see the attached determination in response to your FOIL request. > Thank you. > > > > > > >

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