MIndark the JEC,IRS,CIA and you?

[saintvio]

Originally Posted by Hardicus

I've always wondered, if you can pay tax on your gains from EU, can you also claim rebates on your losses?

i dont know tax law in the uk but in the usa you would be able to claim any expenditures you made in deriving the income from the venture, so you could claim your losses against any income from EU, but not against income from any other source.


saint

[dub]

What else to deduct against these so-called earnings?

My PCs, bi-annual video card upgrades, internet connection, rent for home office, Herman Miller office furniture, cell phone charges to sweden, broken mouses (is it mice?), 3rd party software, skype fees, backup gold card readers, electricity, red bull, meals & entertainment, avatar purchases, airfare to vegas, airfare to sweden, strippers in your shower... What am I forgetting?

[Traf Rellik]

There's nothing inherently suspicious about talks with various groups, including the CIA.

Of course, that doesn't mean the talks were innocuous either. If your level of paranoia is high enough, you could probably envision several deals made to prevent "interruption" with MA's business model. The coercive methods used by the U.S. government have likely been perfected through careful analysis of organized crime syndicates throughout the ages. They are just much better at it.

On a slightly more serious note: I doubt MindArk was water-boarded, if that's any relief.

[Nighthawk]

There seem to be alot of buzz in the newspapers about terrorists in games nowadays

[Dorsai]

Terrorists? In EU?

What are they goping to do?

Blow up Neverdie's bank, with the "warped thinking" that blowing up a virtual pawn shop/bank will stop people using one? (And they can't do it anyway!)

Use chat to recruit new members? "Hi there! Fancy blowing yourself up & killing a load of innocent women and children to prove that <guess the religion name> is a religion of peace as claimed." No ta, I'll let others prove by their actions that their words are false. (I suspect there are far easier and less monitored ways to hold such conversations anyway, together with more "fertile" chatting grounds.)


Transfer funds? Possibly, but I suspect MA might notice if someone put 1Million peds onto a new avis' card, and gave it away to another avi half an hour later, who tried to withdraw it half an hour after the trade.

If i remember correctly bank transfers in the USA over a set amount are automatically reported to one of the authorities, so that patterns can be noted and investigated for "suspicious" activity. I am guessing that MA were just showing that they do the same.

OC, conspiracy theorists will read the meeting to be as important as the "bill of rights" and as lengthy as "War and Peace", when the truth was that it was as deep and meaningful as an episode of friends, and about as long.

[Traf Rellik]

Yes, AML policies would indeed catch most terrorist activities involving money transfers, besides it's easier to profit on drugs if you are operating lawlessly (and how better to poison your enemy, too). Plot talks would be far easier on other mediums, and recruiting within a game like EU is much like trying to recruit priests from local bars.

But that doesn't mean there aren't other "less than legit" organizations that view EU as an opportunity -- and thus a need for scrutiny beyond the normal AML baselines (which are very minimal, btw). On the other hand, the "terrorist" rules are very likely used much like "national security" is bandied about whenever they want to avoid inconvenient questions about their actions.

I don't want to turn this into a political thread, I'm just saying that convenient excuses tend to be abused, expecially in the absence of proper oversight. What that means to EU is that there is a fairly good chance that transactions and chat logs are "voluntarily" made available when certain (loose) criteria are met.

I'm okay with that (I'm not as okay with some of the other things done by my beloved government, but that's outside of this discussion and against forum policy to discuss). It would actually be nice to see some legal action arise from those suspected backdoor deals. Perhaps those "hate-crime" groups could be put on a watch list, or other organized crime fall-out. I doubt we'll see that, but who knows.

So, the on-topic summary: it's at least possible that some backdoor deals were discussed as part of his visit, but more likely he was just answering questions so threats could be assessed and EU be better targeted by future laws (like taxes).

[Vap0r]

Working in the banking industry, I can testify to measures are already in place to prevent laundering from any source that sends monies into the states, to a regular checking or savings account. Mindark was most likely just trying to get on board and be compliant to ensure they were not breaking any laws or opening up look holes. OFAC (google it! is just the first in many checks that are done long before your money is made available
As far as taxing goes, thats between you, your conscious and your lawyer

[Jane QPO Doe]

In a dutch newspaper today;

De CIA jaagt nu op gamers - vrijdag 29 februari 2008 - DePers.nl
In the washington post

Spies' Battleground Turns Virtual

For a translation of the dutch article us an online translater im too lazy

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by junkyard

what does the CIA have with EU?

Originally Posted by Coop_

well, lots of money can be moved through EU. Guess maybe that interests them.

The Cocaine Import Agency have their own methods of fund transfers and money making that are far bigger than anything EU can offer. Allegedly.

[gekkegerrit]

The project has a name.

The US government has begun a project to develop ways to spot terrorists who are using virtual worlds.
Codenamed Reynard it aims to recognise "normal" behaviour in online worlds and home in on anomalous activity.