
Chief Executive and Associates Indicted for Conspiring with Drug Traffickers - tastroder
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/chief-executive-and-four-associates-indicted-conspiring-global-drug-traffickers
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zaroth
I’m failing to see in this press release what set Phantom Secure apart from,
say, iMessage?

I remember in the past reading about them, and as I recall they were marketing
way too specifically to the criminal element and had direct knowledge and
support of specific illegal acts.

There’s providing cryptography services, and then there’s becoming the IT arm
of the cartel. I suspect they leaned too far toward the latter, but this press
release doesn’t really explain it.

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anbop
These guys were actually shipping phones to cartel bosses. It’s a bit
different than just offering a phone in a general purpose retail store.

~~~
A2017U1
The case looks terrible on paper and they obviously knew who their clients
were to the point of interacting with them, but what's the difference between
knowingly selling those same mob bosses a car which they go commit crimes in?
There's numerous businesses who know that their customers are unsavory types
and face no such punishments.

It all reeks of cryptowars when you read through the law enforcement
statements.

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anbop
Sure there is selective enforcement. But selling a car to someone you know
will commit a crime with it is a crime itself:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Holle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Holle)

~~~
A2017U1
That link doesn't seem to be making the case, for me at least. It seems like a
horrendous injustice. 25 years in prison for drunkenly loaning your car to a
person who then committed crimes with it? That's insane.

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A2017U1
> charges that they knowingly and intentionally participated in a criminal
> enterprise that facilitated the transnational importation and distribution
> of narcotics through the sale and service of encrypted communications

> Maximum Penalty: Life in prison

Welp. Guess the issue here is _knowingly_ , do apple execs think all sorts of
crimes aren't committed with their products?

~~~
Kalium
Apple executives presumably don't have specific, detailed knowledge of crimes
that will perpetuated with iMessage. They have a general and broad knowledge
that some unspecified people will.

