[PhantomGremlin]

Hopefully, any that aren't already arrested are caught before they retaliate

Certainly they might try to retaliate, but that would be very foolish.

Many decades ago Don Lancaster said "don't fuck with the eagle". This was because the Federal government's resources are vast compared to any individual. The government has the resources to pay 100 people full-time just to take down a forum. That's probably what they just did with Darkode.

Many of those Federal agents are just 9-to-5 guys, probably not too bright, quite content to make a good middle class living. But there are also undoubtedly a number of smart, ambitious people, who are being paid quite well to pursue, capture, and convict the Darkode actors.

So, lets see, you can either roll over and beg for mercy, like one of Ross Ulbrict's henchmen, and get less than 2 years in jail, or you can be a delusional arrogant twit like "mastermind" Ross and get life in Federal prison, without parole.

The choice is simple.

[vonklaus]

> Many decades ago Don Lancaster said "don't fuck with the eagle"

I can't find record of this anywhere. Are you talking about Don Lancaster of DL's guru lair? The only hit's I am getting for your quote are from some very country tumblr blogs and song lyrics. I am curious about the context.

>Certainly they might try to retaliate, but that would be very foolish.

This wasn't your original assertion but you do go on to break down why the shouldn't. They won't. This was a business that got shut down, they aren't "after the man" except as a byproduct of running an illegal business and getting away with it.

They are going to disperse and either continue phishing, hacking and cracking regular users and programs anonymously or they will set up another market on tor.

[PhantomGremlin]

I can't find record of this anywhere.

I'm talking about Don Lancaster of TTL Cookbook fame, and yes of Guru's Lair.[1]

The quote, or perhaps the more PG version "don't mess with the eagle", appears in his later book The Incredible Secret Money Machine. That one is more of a philosophy of life book, it's much different than his technical books.

IIRC (it's been many decades since I read it) Don expounds on that theme, it's not just a random quote. E.g. a govt bureaucrat can make your life hell just for the lulz[2]. That's why it's dumb to do stupid things in a high profile manner.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Lancaster [2] ok, lulz wasn't a word in 1978, but work with me here. :-)

[vonklaus]

while i don't agree with your characterization of Ulbrict, Don Lancaster seems like an interesting thinker. Checked out his website earlier and I am now planning on checking out The Incredible Secret Money Machine. Do you have any recommendations for books/essays of his that are not technical manuals? Is this book worth a read/relevant as it was penned in the 70s/80s?

+1 Thanks.

[PhantomGremlin]

Sorry. It's been so long that I don't remember how relevant that book would be today. If pushed, I'd say don't go out of your way to find it. If I still have my copy it's in the garage, in a box that didn't get unpacked from a move a long time ago. But FWIW there are a few positive reviews of it on Amazon.

I am currently re-reading Taleb's Antifragile book[1] and I think it's better the second time thru. But it probably wouldn't be as interesting w/o Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan for background.

In Antifragile Taleb admires entrepreneurs and risk takers with skin in the game. He abhors bankers and politicians who benefit from the upside and pass the downside on to the taxpayers. But the book isn't for everyone. E.g. there's no chapter of "7 steps to building future wealth". It's more of a philosophy of life book.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile

[vonklaus]

I've read Black Swan and heard Antifragile was quite good as well think I'll pick that up instead. Liking these recommendations a lot. Here are a few that are "similar" since I asked you for some recommendations.

I really enjoyed The 48 Laws of Power and a few other titles by Greene. Some of Malcolm Gladwell's books are interesting although they are a tad popsci. Recently finished Zero to One which was good, but if you listen to Thiel often there wasn't much new material. Lords of Finance is a NYTBS that is really well done and reminiscent of Taleb so you might like that.

Thanks.

[bpodgursky]

> Many of those Federal agents are just 9-to-5 guys, probably not too bright, quite content to make a good middle class living.

I'm sure there are also a lot of very bright 9-to-5 guys as well. Just saying...

[pc86]

Read the very next sentence after the one you quoted.

[bpodgursky]

That's my point. Lumping 9-5 in with "not too bright" gives the false association of "working normal hours" with "not being productive". There are plenty of ambitious, bright workers who manage to get it done in normal hours.

[kbenson]

In this context, 9-to-5 most likely means "stops thinking about the job when not on work hours". I doubt it's meant to imply they aren't smart, but they aren't necessarily as ambitious and motivated (or they've determined the cost-benefit ratio of out of work hours work is not worth it). People that go above and beyond in an organization are really who you need to worry about if that organization is your enemy, as they are harder to predict.

[PhantomGremlin]

Yes, exactly what I meant. You said it better than I did!

In retrospect I shouldn't have used the words "not too bright".

[celticninja]

One of my first bosses once told me that if you have to be in early and stay late more often than not, you are doing something wrong.

[Nadya]

And depending who you work for - working for the government has just landed any close relatives (parents, children, spouse) on a hitlist. You'll be "spared" of course; so you can suffer the rest of your days knowing your decision is what led to your family being killed.

This is the threat many drug rings give dealer who get caught. You do your 10 years and you do not provide the feds with any information or everyone you love will be offed. It's a threat that is very effective at keeping mouths shut.

So the choice isn't always clear-cut "take the government and their protection and work for them".

[rm_-rf_slash]

That is a very good point. A lot of Americans have this romanticized notion of fighting the man, but at the end of the day, our nation's wealth and power (and the stability they require) simply wouldn't be there if our government wasn't so committed to keeping things under its control.

[reviseddamage]

>Many of those Federal agents are just 9-to-5 guys, probably not too bright, quite content to make a good middle class living.

That is not true. I've worked with a few of them, and they are more intelligent than you think. Most of them work 70-80 hours a week, have difficult times with their families ( high divorce rate). They just happen to work for superiors that care for "cases closed" and the cosmetic appearance and the applause from politicians of a case being closed.

[rndmind]

Actually the choice is more ambiguous than you make it sound.