reddit nixes new subreddit advertising high-end counterfeit US dollars

$225 in bitcoins buys you $500 in rare supernotes made by one "Willy.clock."

Read the whole story

 

[speedemon105]

Have to say, my first thought when reading that is if anyone did bother to do it, they'd likely get some bills made by cheap-o copy machine on plain printer paper. The whole thing just seems like a scam (regardless of the fact that they're advertising illegal merchandise) to me.

 

[Andara]

It's worth noting that the reason they took it down was because it was "full of spam" and not because it was an ad to trade in illegal merchandise.

 

[Korpo]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":3e7uuir8]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

 

[AdamM]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":rm0sy3y3]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

I don't understand the scare quotes around free speech.

Is free speech only free when it is sanitized by governmental standards and doesn't offend you?

 

[AndreaFaulds]

Korpo[/url]":3as5j0vj]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":3as5j0vj]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

I wasn't moaning about their lack of 'free speech', I was complaining about the fact that reddit's admins frequently use 'free speech' as a pretext for allowing the conducting of illegal (and often also immoral, but that's another matter) activities and not enforcing its own user agreements. The jailbait subreddit, which took literally years to be banned, is a good example of this.

 

[rain shadow]

high denominations are scrutinized fairly carefully. my guess is that most of the counterfeit USD is ones and fives.

one night at a club i got change from the bartender and one of the notes ($1 denomination) glowed under some UV light aimed at the bar, plus the note felt like copier paper. i handed it back to him and he said "looks fine to me" so i put it in his tip jar.

 

[fic]

I thought North Korea was the number one producer of super notes. And, pretty much their only export.

 

[y*!|$7v0Qn]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":20p21opx]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

 

[AndreaFaulds]

CQLanik[/url]":16nq1lqm]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":16nq1lqm]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

Jailbait and the like violate reddit's user agreement, and have done so for years, as does brigading. However, the admins are rather selective in their enforcement of it.

Also, for what it's worth, jailbait and brigading are actually of questionable legality.

 

[AndreaFaulds]

orchunter[/url]":1ltq8xm8]Why is every single comment on this article down voted to hell ? Some actually made sense !!!

People tend to downvote opinions they disagree with.

 

[y*!|$7v0Qn]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":3kxixvqj]

CQLanik[/url]":3kxixvqj]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":3kxixvqj]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

Jailbait and the like violate reddit's user agreement, and have done so for years, as does brigading. However, the admins are rather selective in their enforcement of it.

Which they're allowed to do.

 

[Korpo]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":2qxgpy9y]

Korpo[/url]":2qxgpy9y]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":2qxgpy9y]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

I wasn't moaning about their lack of 'free speech', I was complaining about the fact that reddit's admins frequently use 'free speech' as a pretext for allowing the conducting of illegal (and often also immoral, but that's another matter) activities and not enforcing its own user agreements. The jailbait subreddit, which took literally years to be banned, is a good example of this.

I didn't say you were moaning about their lack of free speech, I said you were moaning that they were applying the principles of free speech to speech you didn't agree with.

 

[AndreaFaulds]

Korpo[/url]":28q76p0z]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":28q76p0z]

Korpo[/url]":28q76p0z]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":28q76p0z]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

I wasn't moaning about their lack of 'free speech', I was complaining about the fact that reddit's admins frequently use 'free speech' as a pretext for allowing the conducting of illegal (and often also immoral, but that's another matter) activities and not enforcing its own user agreements. The jailbait subreddit, which took literally years to be banned, is a good example of this.

I didn't say you were moaning about their lack of free speech, I said you were moaning that they were applying the principles of free speech to speech you didn't agree with.

Free speech always has reasonable limits. At the very least reddit should operate within the law rather than cry 'free speech' when informed of illegal activity, and perhaps try to respect privacy.

 

[Korpo]

orchunter[/url]":3g2x2ku7]Why is every single comment on this article down voted to hell ? Some actually made sense !!!

Because Ars comment threads are echo chambers most of the time.

 

[Korpo]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":2bcft0bk]

Korpo[/url]":2bcft0bk]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":2bcft0bk]

Korpo[/url]":2bcft0bk]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":2bcft0bk]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

I wasn't moaning about their lack of 'free speech', I was complaining about the fact that reddit's admins frequently use 'free speech' as a pretext for allowing the conducting of illegal (and often also immoral, but that's another matter) activities and not enforcing its own user agreements. The jailbait subreddit, which took literally years to be banned, is a good example of this.

I didn't say you were moaning about their lack of free speech, I said you were moaning that they were applying the principles of free speech to speech you didn't agree with.

Free speech always has reasonable limits. At the very least reddit should operate within the law rather than cry 'free speech' when informed of illegal activity, and perhaps try to respect privacy.

If there's illegal activity, and it's not being dealt with, then we have police and whatever to deal with that.

Everything else just boils down to "speech I don't agree with", which is fine, don't agree with it, and go visit a place that has speech you agree with. I'm sure it's no skin off Reddit's nose.

 

[orangpelupa]

They did not afraid to get DMCA take down by using Disney name? O_O

 

[The User]

Wow, you mean I can go through the effort of spending counterfeit money while I risk being caught and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison? For only $225? Where do I sign up?

/sarcasm

 

[Xavin]

high denominations are scrutinized fairly carefully. my guess is that most of the counterfeit USD is ones and fives.

I doubt it. Making a believable counterfeit note is not cheap, and it's not easy to move large quantities of ones and fives. If someone is taking the risk to counterfeit, they aren't going to go for the low margin denominations.

 

[Hinton]

fic[/url]":18inms4z]I thought North Korea was the number one producer of super notes. And, pretty much their only export.

They export drugs, nuclear power, rockets, repairing Soviet Union tech, you get the picture.

 

[rain shadow]

Xavin[/url]":1f31lasu]

high denominations are scrutinized fairly carefully. my guess is that most of the counterfeit USD is ones and fives.

I doubt it. Making a believable counterfeit note is not cheap, and it's not easy to move large quantities of ones and fives. If someone is taking the risk to counterfeit, they aren't going to go for the low margin denominations.

I am thinking there is a divergence. International counterfeiters and drug organizations are probably going to do hundreds and higher. Opportunistic idiots based in the US can just carry 1's, 5's, and 10's around and use them for small transactions. I think there are more of the latter, but the influence of these notes is obviously smaller so maybe it's a wash. A lot of smaller fakes are probably quickly intercepted by banks processing daily business receipts so they don't stay in circulation long, whereas people will sit on $100 bills for a while.

The secret service probably keeps close track of the issue.

 

[x75]

Xavin[/url]":2n8jzbte]

high denominations are scrutinized fairly carefully. my guess is that most of the counterfeit USD is ones and fives.

I doubt it. Making a believable counterfeit note is not cheap, and it's not easy to move large quantities of ones and fives. If someone is taking the risk to counterfeit, they aren't going to go for the low margin denominations.

Yes, but consider that the EURion Constellation isn't printed on $1's and $5's in the US, making those bill significantly easier to counterfeit using commercial hardware/software.

 

[Zyrxil]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":29pumwl8]

CQLanik[/url]":29pumwl8]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":29pumwl8]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

Jailbait and the like violate reddit's user agreement, and have done so for years, as does brigading. However, the admins are rather selective in their enforcement of it.

Also, for what it's worth, jailbait and brigading are actually of questionable legality.

What definitions of those words are you using? The Reddit drama I remember was about people posting pictures of teenagers in yoga pants, which while creepy, is a far cry from porn or anything illegal. 'Brigading' is a term for Reddit users organizing other Reddit users for the sake of mass downvoting or upvoting something specific on Reddit, which again has absolutely nothing to do with illegal anything. If you actually meant Doxing, the revealing of real life information about someone on the internet, that for the third time is not illegal and is done in meatspace all the time. Please reveal what criteria you have been using this entire time to decide everything you found objectionable on Reddit was actually unlawful.

 

[Smeghead]

A 2010 paper authored by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said that counterfeiting is extremely rare. “In particular, we find that an upper bound on the stock of counterfeit currency in circulation, as a share of genuine, would still be less than 3 in 10,000,” the authors wrote.

Compare that with the mess the pound coin finds itself in back home. When discussing the new version to be introduced in a few years' time, the BBC quoted the Chancellor in stating that over 3% of all such coins in circulation are forgeries:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26632863

 

[MiscJohnBob]

fic[/url]":y2nye89p]I thought North Korea was the number one producer of super notes. And, pretty much their only export.

Planet Money did an interesting article/show on how North Korea makes money. They certainly counterfeit $100 bills but they do other surprising things too.

Drug Dealing, Counterfeiting, Smuggling: How North Korea Makes Money

 

[flunk]

Smeghead[/url]":3ly59iil]

A 2010 paper authored by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said that counterfeiting is extremely rare. “In particular, we find that an upper bound on the stock of counterfeit currency in circulation, as a share of genuine, would still be less than 3 in 10,000,” the authors wrote.

Compare that with the mess the pound coin finds itself in back home. When discussing the new version to be introduced in a few years' time, the BBC quoted the Chancellor in stating that over 3% of all such coins in circulation are forgeries:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26632863

I'm amazed anyone would bother counterfeiting a 1 pound coin, I would have thought the cost of the molds and the work necessary to get the scult right combined with the (fairly) expensive materials would put people off that.

 

[The User]

flunk[/url]":18udoo72]

Smeghead[/url]":18udoo72]

A 2010 paper authored by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said that counterfeiting is extremely rare. “In particular, we find that an upper bound on the stock of counterfeit currency in circulation, as a share of genuine, would still be less than 3 in 10,000,” the authors wrote.

Compare that with the mess the pound coin finds itself in back home. When discussing the new version to be introduced in a few years' time, the BBC quoted the Chancellor in stating that over 3% of all such coins in circulation are forgeries:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26632863

I'm amazed anyone would bother counterfeiting a 1 pound coin, I would have thought the cost of the molds and the work necessary to get the scult right combined with the (fairly) expensive materials would put people off that.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/curr ... de-of.html

Not only does one have to get blanks that are produced using an alloy with the proper electrical properties, one would also have to counterfeit a die and strike the coins. This is a process that has taken years to refine and perfect, so I cannot see how one could actually profit much by counterfeiting. That is unless a state actor or well organized criminal network with industrial scale resources is behind the counterfeits. Perhaps North Korea sharing the love with our friends across the ocean?

 

[The User]

According to Krebs, the mouse is for real: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/08/coun ... me-forums/. Apparently he's targeting the old 1996 series, which I think was one of the first designed to combat state level actors. Doesn't exactly sound like super note quality, but well beyond your typical clerk pay grade. Of course, by going on reddit he's called out the secret service, so he better hope he's in a country that won't extradite. And he'd better not travel anywhere that will extradite.

 

[Bearologist]

CQLanik[/url]"u265tq1]

AndreaFaulds[/url]"u265tq1]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

I'm pretty sure that taking pictures of underage girls for the purpose of sexual arousal, often without their consent, is actually very much illegal.

 

[y*!|$7v0Qn]

Bearologist[/url]":31hljtet]

CQLanik[/url]":31hljtet]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":31hljtet]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

All of those things are completely legal, while transactions for counterfeit goods are not. Reddit would be within their rights to shut down such subreddits, but as a fan of free expression, I'm rather glad that they don't, even if I don't want to visit such places.

I'm pretty sure that taking pictures of underage girls for the purpose of sexual arousal, often without their consent, is actually very much illegal.

Generally not, actually. If they are out in public, then taking pictures of anyone is legal. If they were not fully clothed, that might be another matter given child pornography laws, but anything else is generally fair game. The intent of the photographer would have little bearing unless there were allegations of stalking.

 

[C Boy]

The User[/url]":379benhl]

flunk[/url]":379benhl]

Smeghead[/url]":379benhl]

A 2010 paper authored by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said that counterfeiting is extremely rare. “In particular, we find that an upper bound on the stock of counterfeit currency in circulation, as a share of genuine, would still be less than 3 in 10,000,” the authors wrote.

Compare that with the mess the pound coin finds itself in back home. When discussing the new version to be introduced in a few years' time, the BBC quoted the Chancellor in stating that over 3% of all such coins in circulation are forgeries:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26632863

I'm amazed anyone would bother counterfeiting a 1 pound coin, I would have thought the cost of the molds and the work necessary to get the scult right combined with the (fairly) expensive materials would put people off that.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/curr ... de-of.html

Not only does one have to get blanks that are produced using an alloy with the proper electrical properties, one would also have to counterfeit a die and strike the coins. This is a process that has taken years to refine and perfect, so I cannot see how one could actually profit much by counterfeiting. That is unless a state actor or well organized criminal network with industrial scale resources is behind the counterfeits. Perhaps North Korea sharing the love with our friends across the ocean?

 

[Vidi Vici Veni]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":36dmtn8z]

Korpo[/url]":36dmtn8z]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":36dmtn8z]

Korpo[/url]":36dmtn8z]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":36dmtn8z]Now that they're taking down counterfeiting subreddits, how about the subreddits for jailbait, brigading and rape apologia?

Oh right, 'free speech'.

Unless something has changed recently, Reddit isn't an arm of the federal government, and is under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. Unless something different has changed though, they're a private company with no obligation to only provide content you personally approve of.

It's a big world out there--parts of it won't be to your liking. I suggest avoiding those parts.

I wasn't moaning about their lack of 'free speech', I was complaining about the fact that reddit's admins frequently use 'free speech' as a pretext for allowing the conducting of illegal (and often also immoral, but that's another matter) activities and not enforcing its own user agreements. The jailbait subreddit, which took literally years to be banned, is a good example of this.

I didn't say you were moaning about their lack of free speech, I said you were moaning that they were applying the principles of free speech to speech you didn't agree with.

Free speech always has reasonable limits. At the very least reddit should operate within the law rather than cry 'free speech' when informed of illegal activity, and perhaps try to respect privacy.

I was going to let this lie but on the offchance there's a teachable moment here, there is a difference between conducting illegal activity and speech about illegal activity. It's illegal in the US to print counterfeit US currency. It's not illegal to talk about it. It's also not, as far as I'm aware, illegal to provide support to people who wish to talk about illegal activity. You are correct that free speech has reasonable limits. They are strict limits however and I would doubt a sub-reddit about counterfeit currency would rise to the same standard as shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre (the usual example of prohibited speech). This would be true even though the sub-reddit was created by someone for the 'allegedly' express purpose of selling counterfeit currency. You see, until there is an actual exchange, no laws have been broken. This isn't something worth getting worked up over. The entire thing was likely a hoax because I can pretty much guarantee that one of the first batches of customers would have been the secret service.

 

[Andara]

Vidi Vici Veni[/url]":2h87fu12]This would be true even though the sub-reddit was created by someone for the 'allegedly' express purpose of selling counterfeit currency. You see, until there is an actual exchange, no laws have been broken.

This may or may not be true, actually. There are actually quite a number of crimes in the US that are based on attempts to commit crimes. After all, you don't actually have to pay a prostitute to be arrested for soliciting; you merely have to discuss terms enough to establish that you sincerely intended to hire one.