If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/12/do-not-pay/#fair-debt-collection-practices-act

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The vast majority of America's debt collection targets $500-2,000 credit card debts. It is a filthy business, operated by lawless firms who hire unskilled workers drawn from the same economic background as their targets, who routinely and grotesquely flout the law, but only when it comes to the people with the *least* ability to pay.

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nostr:npub1pfk6mwzf9vcfct5066gn277mu9us53hp82lg87dt37vwxkwe2v3shunelt It's Caesar's security

nostr:npub1lkr5z02gdf4s5tyfj7z5ctgljja6pxv34luw2p6z4jdg5f0467lse8hl0k I was the one who asked about whether the attack was targeted or opportunistic! Great talk .

Tactical centurion #Defcon31

If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🌍". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!

Subscribe here: https://mail.flarn.com/mailman/listinfo/plura-list/

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If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🌍". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!

Subscribe here: https://mail.flarn.com/mailman/listinfo/plura-list/

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Recent appearances:

* New Books Network

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-internet-con

* #HauntedMansion #GhostPost Panel Live From #MidsummerScream

https://dizneycoasttocoast.libsyn.com/haunted-mansion-ghost-post-panel-live-from-midsummer-scream-disney-podcast-episode-1027

* how big tech makes the internet worse (What's Gonna Happen)

https://www.stitcher.com/show/what-s-gonna-happen/episode/how-big-tech-makes-the-internet-worse-with-cory-doctorow-305645071

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My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."

https://craphound.com/shop/

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My latest book is Red Team Blues, available wherever books are sold!

Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US):

https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2873/Wed%2C_Apr_26th_6pm%3A_Red_Team_Blues%3A_A_Martin_Hench_Novel_HB.html#/

and Forbidden Planet (UK):

https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/

--

My latest nonfiction book is Chokepoint Capitalism (with Rebecca Giblin), nonfiction about monopoly and fairness in creative labor markets.

https://chokepointcapitalism.com

Signed copies available from Book Soup:

https://www.booksoup.com/book/9780807007068

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Yesterday's threads: The long bezzle; and more!

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/110866812454870687

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#15yrsago Y: The Last Man, the triumphal last volume of a fantastic graphic novel https://memex.craphound.com/2008/08/11/y-the-last-man-the-triumphal-last-volume-of-a-fantastic-graphic-novel/

#10yrsago How the #DailyMail invented Britain’s bungling-est spy-agency https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/entries/3662a707-0af9-3149-963f-47bea720b460

#1yrago A dark money group is lying about #Medicare cut https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/11/rope-a-dope/#cowards-and-lies

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Hey look at this

* @TheNib magazines are free to download! https://membership.thenib.com/donate-free-pdf-downloads (h/t Waxy)

* MiB: @GretchenMorgenson on @PrivateEquity https://ritholtz.com/2023/06/mib-gretchen-morgenson/

* Hackers Rig Casino Card-Shuffling Machines for ‘Full Control’ Cheating https://www.wired.com/story/card-shuffler-hack/

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The Sacklers woulda gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darned meddling feds: A Supreme Court surprise might spell the end of one of the worst forms of elite impunity.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/110871809620506093

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Going to #Defcon this weekend? I'm giving a keynote, "An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet's Enshittification and Throw it Into Reverse," tomorrow (Aug 12) at 12:30pm, followed by a book signing at the No Starch Press booth at 2:30pm!

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=50826

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Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The Sacklers woulda gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darned meddling feds; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/

#Pluralistic

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Now the Supremes have hit pause on the bankruptcy the Second Circuit approved, and will hear the case themselves. It's only one step on a long road, but it's an unprecedented one. Some of the country's filthiest fortunes are riding on the outcome.

--

Image:

Edwardx (modified)

CC BY-SA 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

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PE companies helped the Sacklers design their own bankruptcy strategy, and it was a standout, even by the standards of Bob Drain and his kangaroo bankruptcy court. But now, the Supreme Court has pumped the brakes on the whole enterprise.

The judges ruled that the exceptions the Sacklers took advantage of were intended for bankrupts in "financial distress" - not billionaires with vast fortunes hidden overseas.

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For the wealthy, bankruptcy is the sport of kings, a way to skip out on consequences. For the poor, bankruptcy is an anchor – or a noose. This is by design: judges who preside over elite bankruptcies speak of their protagonists as heroic "risk takers" and tiptoe around any consequences, lest these titans be chained to a mortal's fate, costing us all the benefits of their entrepreneurial genius.

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Slattery defrauded Medicare and Medicaid for millions, borrowed $1.8 billion (Slattery got $1.3 billion of that). He eventually walked away from this fraud after paying a mere $256m to settle all claims, and kept a fortune in assets, including the 40 vintage planes his private company ("Pissed Away LLC" - I am not making this up) owned:

https://prospect.org/justice/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-the-sacklers-purdue-pharma-bankruptcy/

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