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Author Topic: Bitcointalk.org Extorting Users Privacy for Profit  (Read 1019 times)
Coolstoryteller (OP)
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July 02, 2014, 10:48:30 PM
Last edit: July 02, 2014, 11:29:46 PM by Coolstoryteller
 #1

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone here know that this forum is extorting users who prefer to browse in privacy. I fired up my TOR browser instead of using my I2P connection and immediately got a message saying that I had 50 units of evil that I must atone for.. which amounted to roughly $2.00USD. It isn't so much the amount more than the principal behind it. A really interesting business model - branding privacy evil and measuring it in units for profit. Last time I checked the forum has plenty of ADs, resorting to privacy extortion is the lowest of lows.

This forum is only here because we keep coming here. If they don't give 2 cents about our privacy why should we keep coming here? The hypocritical thing is that the forum is sponsored by https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/ an advocate for private browsing.. Lulz.


Anyone else interested in moving away from this forum, let this be the exodus thread. I'll invest the time and energy to create a privacy friendly forum for cryptocurrencies if there isn't one already. AFAIK https://cryptocointalk.com/ doesn't charge users for using TOR or a VPN.


UPDATE: https://cryptocointalk.com/ does not charge users for using TOR/I2P/VPN. Anyone looking for an alternative privacy-oriented cryptocurrency forum? I'd suggest signing up there for an account.

"Buy, sell, trade, chat. Leave nothing but a Shadow." - www.shadow.cash
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pedrog
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July 02, 2014, 10:54:56 PM
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BTCtalk.org redirects to a bter.com referral link...

SirChiko
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July 02, 2014, 10:57:27 PM
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BTCtalk.org redirects to a bter.com referral link...
So is this just a referal link spam and he gets money from it?

The only online casino on which i won something. I made 17mBTC from 1mBTC in like 15 minutes.  This is not paid AD!

▀Check it out yourself▀
Coolstoryteller (OP)
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July 02, 2014, 11:24:46 PM
 #4

BTCtalk.org redirects to a bter.com referral link...
So is this just a referal link spam and he gets money from it?

Lol. I'm talking about this forum. I'll change the headline. Thx for the heads up

"Buy, sell, trade, chat. Leave nothing but a Shadow." - www.shadow.cash
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July 02, 2014, 11:51:18 PM
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BTCtalk.org redirects to a bter.com referral link...
So is this just a referal link spam and he gets money from it?

Lol. I'm talking about this forum. I'll change the headline. Thx for the heads up
This thread has 250+ views so you've made some money to that guy who has this referal link. Also you're in wrong subforum.

The only online casino on which i won something. I made 17mBTC from 1mBTC in like 15 minutes.  This is not paid AD!

▀Check it out yourself▀
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July 06, 2014, 04:32:35 AM
 #6

Theymos has already mentioned that this is to prevent spammers from coming back as well as ban evaders. Plus, think about it, the forum already makes well over the thousands a month. Do you really think they would care at all for $2 extra on profit? It is also much lower for others.

The signature campaign posters adding useless redundant fluff to their posts to reach their minimum word count are lowering my IQ.
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July 06, 2014, 10:52:39 AM
 #7

The units of evil are accumulated by IP bans. That exit node was probably used by multiple nuked spammers thus it accumulated this fee. There's nothing else to do but try reconnecting or pay the fee.

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July 06, 2014, 05:59:18 PM
Last edit: July 06, 2014, 06:14:17 PM by theymos
 #8

The units of evil are accumulated by IP bans. That exit node was probably used by multiple nuked spammers thus it accumulated this fee. There's nothing else to do but try reconnecting or pay the fee.

The evil associated with an IP also decays over time. So even regularly-abused IPs such as Tor exit nodes shouldn't have super high fees (>$10) unless they were abused recently. However, once you've registered an account, your evil score will not decrease, and you must pay, be whitelisted, or abandon the account.

Fees are often less than $1 (see the inputs of this transaction), but they can be more if the particular IP you're using was banned fairly recently.

The forum makes more money from 2 hours of advertising than from a whole month of registration fees. It's just an anti-spam measure.

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