Online Poker Chip Thief Gets Two Years In Jail 63
jhernik writes "A 29-year-old gambler from Paignton, Devon, has been sentenced to two years in jail after hacking into an online gambling site and stealing billions of poker chips. Ashley Mitchell admitted to hacking into the servers of American gaming company Zynga Corporation in 2009 and making off with $12 million (£7.5 million) worth of gambling chips."
Looks like he gambled his future. (Score:4, Funny)
And they'll be filling his 'slot' in prison. At least there'll be plenty of tables to play. If he plays his cards right, he'll probably get a shortened sentence. Maybe he can roll the dice and get in with a gang that will protect him.
Hopefully he'll be well behaved and won't end up in the pit.
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I would have just stolen a lot less.
That's one of the problems with greed ... when you're greedy you can never be greedy enough.
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That seems to be a constant with stories we hear about people trying to cheat the system.
There was a great series on TV called "breaking vegas" (not the documentary on the MIT blackjack team, but a series based off it) and this was a constant element. You may have a fool proof system, but even atop a pile of gold, if you steal millions, someone is going to notice.
Kind of makes you wonder how many (if any) smart criminals there are out there, stealing enough to live happily, but not enough to get noticed. Wh
Very misleading title (Score:3)
I literally laughed out loud when I read the bit about "Zynga" and "worth 12 million".
Just because they are trying to sell them for 12 million doesn't make them worth that.
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you make a good point. the zynga people are, in practice, printing money. the difference is that they built an "infrastructure" where people have fun after they give zynga real money. this guy did not have a contribution to the infrastructure, but he was still taking real money from the people having fun (or planning on doing it).
I can't honestly say who is the bad guy here. to put it bluntly, I can't say if either of them has a hint of "good guy" in them.
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It's not the same as manufacturing. Effort to create the chips (virtual currency) was made once - and that developer got paid long ago. This guy was sentenced for taking copies of an intangible item.
At most, this disturbed their accountant who noticed that the system had $12 million in chip distributions but no matching bank transactions. I'd bet they're planning on writing it off their taxes as a loss, along with the attorney fees and the cost for a developer to secure their system.
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It's not the same as manufacturing. Effort to create the chips (virtual currency) was made once - and that developer got paid long ago. This guy was sentenced for taking copies of an intangible item.
So if I hack into a bank and change the database to report that I have a million dollars in my account, are you saying that because this as an intangible electronic change that nothing illegal was done until I try and convert that into physical cash?
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I see where your error is. Someone should've explained to you that the word intangible [reference.com] is the exact opposite of the word physical [reference.com].
Certainly, the banks (fractional reserve banking [wikipedia.org]) and government have the ability to print more money, but there are costs involved. Not only the cost of the paper and ink and presses, but the value lost in the rest of the currency in circulation (inflation [wikipedia.org]).
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I see where your error is. Someone should've explained to you that the word intangible is the exact opposite of the word physical
Do you actually think that when your employer deposits money into your account of when you pay a bill from your account online that there is actual physical money being moved from one location to another? Hate to break it to you but those days are long over and it's all electronic now.
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You should try to put down your bong without spilling it and read my entire reply.
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I read it and it doesn't apply. Banks don't have the right to print money, and no one needs to print money to cover an electronic transaction. It just shows your ignorance of the topic you are responding to.
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Here's a little interview Ben Bernanke gave to 60 minutes where he discloses that they're printing money to monetize debt. The point where he admits printing money is around 8:20. And he's talking about doing it electronically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odPfHY4ekHA [youtube.com]
Enjoy
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federal reserve - a government entity
The US Court of Appeals has a different opinion.
Lewis v. United States, 680 F.2d 1239
From the decision:
The district court dismissed, holding that the Federal Reserve Bank is not a federal agency within the meaning of the Act and that the court therefore lacked subject matter jurisdiction. We affirm. ...
Each Federal Reserve Bank is a separate corporation owned by commercial banks in its region.
I can see that you're not interested in visiting my universe, where things aren't black and white. Maybe you'd be i
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For crying out loud - why dont you go down to your local bank and ask for a tour of their money printing facilities. Let me know when they start laughing at you.
Re:Very misleading title (Score:5, Insightful)
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Social Game Maker Zynga’s Market Valuation Tops $5.5B
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39869254/Social_Game_Maker_Zynga_s_Market_Valuation_Tops_5_5B [cnbc.com]
Who's laughing now?
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Punishment should match the crime.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Throw him in the worst virtual jail there is !! :\
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I'm sure something can be arranged in Second Life...
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Gang raped by furries ?
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he might like it.
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Yeah really! Make him use AOL.. on dial up.. at 14.4
Incredible.. we have gone completely bonkers
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You whippersnappers.. Some of us used 300 baud modems (not with AOL).
Regulate both sides please (Score:4, Insightful)
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Why do people buy play money chips? I don't know, why do people buy virtual cows? (OK, I do know the answer: e-peen)
Really stupid (Score:3)
As if they would not notice. This is a "currency" they
control. While the guy seems to have been at least somewhat capable for
being able to hack, I can see the risk analysis on the other side: "We can
track those in detail anyways, so if so somebody steals them, we will easily
identify the thief. No need to secure this better." I mean, how stupid can
you get? Obviously a person that cannot generalize or apply his intellect to
something not in his narrow vision.
In addition, he has a previous (suspended) sentence of 30 weeks for hacking.
Obviously also unable to learn.
When a former school-mate that is now a
police detective told me that they do not catch the really smart perpetrators, but
that there were plenty of dumb ones around of any level of intelligence, I
first did not believe him. By now I do. This is just one more data point.
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When a former school-mate that is now a police detective told me that they do not catch the really smart perpetrators, but that there were plenty of dumb ones around of any level of intelligence, I first did not believe him. By now I do. This is just one more data point.
To put it in a way that is easier to understand: Int: 18, Wis: dump stat.
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Indeed. I like to use the int/wisdom analogy myself.
53 minutes ago . like . share (Score:1)
you and 1337 others like this
He dumped the chips on his desktop into a folder.. (Score:4, Insightful)
I keep dreaming of a day when things like this will not be described at a grade 6 reading level. (Full blame on TFA in this case.)
- Chips were not stolen. A number in a database was forged.
- He did not "make off" with anything. Probably didn't leave his chair.
I like Tron and Ocean's Eleven too, but using these metaphors for real crime is just as goofy.
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I am reminded of how the fractional reserve system works:
A and B have balances of $0.
A deposits $10.
A has a balance of $10; B has a balance of $0.
B asks for a loan of $5; bank "uses" A's money.
A has a balance of $10; B has a balance of $5.
The house always wins.
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Who is the creditor for the bank's debt of $5?
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Didn't you ever wonder why the bank pays interest on savings accounts and CDs and such? It's because they're paying you to use your money for loans.
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Savings are only "used" in the sense that your money is duplicated, so what could be taken out by one person can now be taken out by two. Regulation stops an infinite amount of credit being created.
Zynga chips (Score:2)
What, are those zynga chips worth actual money? As far as I remember you got them for free all the time, removing the point of the whole game.
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In other news... (Score:3)
...the CFO of Parker Brothers was convicted of felony embezzlement when he tried to make off with 12 million pink Monopoly dollars.
Funny how my story sounds ridiculous yet 21st-Century funny money is a "crime".
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I'd be willing to pay a couple of bucks for 12 million pink Monopoly dollars.
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OK, then this guy stole the equivalent of $2 * $12 million = $24 trillion pink Monopoly dollars.
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72 trillion
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He should have made it legit... (Score:1)
By getting a business license, then he could steal like paypal and get away with it.
incredibly stupid (Score:3)
if you steal cash from a bank, the cash you have stolen is anonymous (well, it usually is): that is, there's no way to tell later if it is the same cash you stole from the bank
but this guy just moved around bits on someone's server. hey frank, the ton of chips with id #445566, where'd they go? hey jack, maybe its this guy here, with a ton of chips with id #445566?
i mean seriously: you're smart enough to hack a server, but not smart enough to play that scenario out?
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I know a guy that hacked into a bank and stole real money from someone's account and transferred it into HIS OWN PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT.
"Stupid is as stupid does" - Forest Gump
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Thief gets caught, goes to jail. There - fixed that for you.
Wow, I mean, wow. Trying to fit this into "news", "matters", "nerds", ......, nope, sorry, can't do it.
Just wait a while. Florian Mueller will spin it into a story about how Open Source == evil.
The house always wins... (Score:1)
HO-HO... (Score:1)