Dave Emory’s entire lifetime of work is available on a flash drive that can be obtained here. (The flash drive includes the anti-fascist books available on this site.)
COMMENT: If you thought that campaign finance had become a sticky wicket in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions, you might be bitterly amused by the latest development in the lubrication of the wheels of democracy.
The Federal Election Commission has given the nod to accepting Bitcoins as campaign contributions.
(We have done four programs to date on Bitcoin: FTR #‘s 760, 764, 770, 785.)
The available evidence suggests that Bitcoin is probably an Underground Reich “op” with roots in the cyber-fascistic libertarian milieu.
Fans of Citizens United and McCutcheon will be thrilled to know that the top tenth of one percent of Bitcoin owners control 50% of the total of the currency in existence.
Long live the Republic!
“Politics Jumps on Bitcoin Wagon” by Fredreka Schouten; USA Today; 5/9–11/2014.
EXCERPT: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously approved its use as a political donation Thursday. Commissioners imposed several conditions. Among them: No anonymous bitcoin contributions will be allowed, and campaign treasurers must scrutinize the donations for “evidence of illegality.”
Jim Harper of the industry’s Bitcoin Foundation, said the FEC’s move lends further legitimacy to thecurrency. “It’s another part of the growing body of regulation that establishes bitcoin as a co-equal part of the financial services system,” he said.
Rep. Jared Polis, a liberal Democrat from Colorado, immediately announced his campaign would begin accepting the digital money. He praised the FEC for its “forward-looking stance” to recognize “the rights of individuals seeking alternatives to government-backed currencies to participate in our democratic political process.”
It’s not clear how quickly the currency will spread through the election landscape. Officials with the committee working to elect House Democrats said they had no immediate plans to accept bitcoins.
Even without the formal approval of regulators, the Libertarian Party began accepting Bitcoin about a year ago and has collected the equivalent of about $10,000, Executive Director Wes Benedict said.
http://dish.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=851093
May 29, 2014
DISH to Accept Bitcoin
Bitcoin acceptance begins Q3 for pay-TV subscription service
Largest company to-date and first pay-TV provider to accept “cryptocurrency”
Coinbase selected as payment processor
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– DISH today announced that it will become the largest company to accept bitcoin. As the first subscription model pay-TV provider to make this move, DISH will begin accepting bitcoin payments from customers starting in the third quarter. DISH Network L.L.C. is a wholly owned subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH).
“We always want to deliver choice and convenience for our customers and that includes the method they use to pay their bills,” said Bernie Han, DISH executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Bitcoin is becoming a preferred way for some people to transact and we want to accommodate those individuals.”
DISH has selected Coinbase as the payment processor for bitcoin transactions with customers who choose to pay their bill online with the bitcoin wallet of their choice. DISH will use Coinbase’s Instant Exchange™ feature to exchange bitcoin payments to U.S. dollars at the moment of the transaction.
“We’re excited to support DISH and their current and new subscribers for their bitcoin transactions,” said Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. “This is a large step forward in the growing momentum of customers paying companies in bitcoin for things we do every day, like watching premium TV.”
“As a bitcoin payment processor, Coinbase will help DISH make the payment experience easy for our customers and make it easy for DISH to receive immediate credit in dollars, at an attractive cost for DISH,” added Han.
The bitcoin payment option will be available for DISH customers choosing to make one-time payments on mydish.com starting in the third quarter. Customers will still have the option to make any payment online via credit card, debit card or bank account.
About DISH
DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), through its subsidiaries, provides approximately 14.097 million pay-TV subscribers, as of March 31, 2014, with the highest quality programming and technology with the most choices at the best value. Subscribers enjoy a high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels, and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 200 company. Visit http://www.dish.com.
About Coinbase
Coinbase is a bitcoin consumer wallet and merchant payment processing platform that, founded in June 2012, now powers 1.3 million consumer wallets and supports 31,000 merchants. Funded with $31 million from top venture investors, Coinbase strives to make it easy to buy and sell bitcoin, securely store bitcoin in the cloud, and accept bitcoin as payment and receive funds in U.S. dollars. Learn more at http://www.coinbase.com
This is interesting: It’s currently technically illegal to develop alternative currencies, including cryptocurrencies, in California so all the Bitcoin and other altcoin developers are breaking the law. But that’s about to change:
You have to wonder what this new law will mean for the development of non-crypto alternative currencies (and the art of money-laundering).
In related news...
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12732907/1/bitcoin-reels-in-dish-network-ebay-with-more-big-fish-to-follow.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOONEW YORK
“(TheStreet) — While the rest of the world may be wary of bitcoin, Dish Network (DISH_) and eBay (EBAY_) have already embraced it.
A couple of days ago, eBay chief John Donahoe championed bitcoin on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’. The CEO sees bitcoin playing an integral role in the future of online payments. As you know, eBay owns Paypal.”
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http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2014/06/03/bitcoin-coming-soon-to-iphone-near/
“Bitcoin: Coming Soon to an iPhone Near You
Apple (AAPL) has paved the way for digital currencies to be transacted on iPhones and iPads.”