Paranoia was correct, e-gold raided by Gov.
A good bit of commentary at FinancialCryptography
interesting to give some general backgrounding to it all. But if your like me you will want to know two things, why did they take the entire customer history, and what prompted it.
Of course there are two quasi answers that are really just one.
1. Money laundering terrorists, drug dealers and child pornographers.
2. They wanted it so they invented 1. (My theory, read on...)
Now while there seem many possabilities for a court order to suspend, or obtain records for an account, grabbing the whole shebang seems outside of the normal court warrants. So what was soo bad that this should happen?
A pretend terrorist organisation funnelling funds to obtain secret intelligence and targeting information against the U.S.A. I say pretend because, well if it were real it wouldn't have ended with this sort of raid.
So then where do you get such secret data in exchange for money? Well you could do it by setting up a company that gets military contracts and just walks out with it. Hmm wait been done, no one cared (much, do some searches on theChinese)
It also does not get the whole terrorist feel right, so make some sizeable payment to a place that shows declassified and freedom of information stuff along with plenty of pictures and open criticisim of Government secrecy. Make the payment in gold, hype everything up a bit and you get two results.
1. A good excuse to spy on all of e-gold's transactions.
2. A good excuse to make life miserable for websites that don't like to be censored.
1. has happened, I'm betting 2 will follow.
Which site? I think it is Cryptome , Sept 12 (Hmm, interesting date) 2005 cryptome recieved $11,800 out of the blue from a nice fresh high numbered account, much bigger than normal donations, naturaly he was suspicious.
From reading the general slant he has taken, I don't think he realises yet just how big a knock on the door he may receive. In fact my paranioa seems woefully inadeqaute even in anticipating a knock on *my* door, given some of the places I have sent money, all I can say is I am thankful I am not inside the U.S. I don't for a minute think it will save me from being grilled and hassled.
How many people will get caught up in a dragnet of following associations. We all know of the six degrees of seperation. Apply that to your money. bank/gold anything traceable.
I don't know Ossama's e-dinar account number, but does someone I paid? I am betting its less than six payments from anyone.
