The Internet Is Making It Hard To Be A Gangster

from the take-the-cannolis dept

Tue, Jan 15th 2008 10:49am — Dennis Yang

One of the Sicilian Mafia's oldest and most steady revenue streams, protection money, called "pizzo" in Italian, is now at risk a new website that now provides extorted businessmen the support with which to stand up to the mob. Traditionally considered a death sentence to stand up to the Sicilian Mafia, Addiopizzo.org, which means "Goodbye Pizzo," voluntarily lists 230 businesses who openly defy the payment to the Mafia. There is safety in numbers, and the tide of pizzo payments is indeed starting to turn. Perhaps what the website organizers should offer next is the ability for the pizzo-paying business owners to list what they are each paying for "protection." That way, perhaps they can lend some transparency to the Mafia's business. After all, why pay 500 euros a month if your neighbor is only paying 100 euros a month for his "I-hope-nothing-bad-happens-to-you" policy? Or, perhaps, once again, the web has brought an end to an outdated business model, and the Sicilian Mafia needs to adapt with the times. From spam to porn to gambling, the Internet is rife with shady schemes in which the well-organized gangster can participate.

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Filed Under: crime, internet, mafia

23 Comments

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lavi d (profile), 15 Jan 2008 @ 11:06am

Suggestion...
How about an AudioPizzo to keep track of the people who pay "protection" to the RIAA upon receipt of file-sharing subpoenas?
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Shun, 15 Jan 2008 @ 11:20am

It's called recording industry vs. the people
Ray Beckerman's site lists most of the on-going litigation in this field. Check groklaw, as well. #1 beat me to it, but I was going to say:

The gangsters are leaving the mafia and joining the MAFIAA.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2008 @ 11:21am

Old news.
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Dave, 15 Jan 2008 @ 11:32am

An updated business model
Old: Pay up or we will trash your store.

New: Pay up or we will trash your web site.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2008 @ 11:43am

What happens when quite a few of these 230 businessmen start turning up in the obituary page of the local newspaper?
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Monarch, 15 Jan 2008 @ 12:02pm

Is that site for businesses in Europe or the United States? From what I read of the article the businesses were in the U.S.A..
Now if that is the case, why would we have an analogy based on the Euro instead of the Dollar? Has the U.S. Dollar fallen so much that the Euro is completely taking over as the dominant currency in the World?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2008 @ 12:03pm

Re:
My guess is that their local mafia members will be questioned, as this would be a fairly obvious link between the 230 people. Ain't data mining grand?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2008 @ 12:41pm

My money is on the gangsters. They can pay some 'smart kid' to figure out the 'web thingy' for them, and I'm going to have to agree with post number five for the rest.

I know I'd be pulling my name from the list if my neighbors (who were also on the list) started suffering from their sudden lack of protection.
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Sea Man, 15 Jan 2008 @ 12:50pm

Fuck the mafia
"Fuck the mafia"

'cuz I can safely say that here ;-)
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Danny, 15 Jan 2008 @ 2:13pm

i don't get it
What I don't understand, from the Mafia's point of view, is why don't they just kill a couple of the people at the top of the list? Wouldn't that scare others to drop their names off the list? [I note that this, of course, is not ethical - but it is what the Mafia does.]

That is to say, why in this case does the Internet make the Mafia's protection racket an outdated business model?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2008 @ 2:15pm

Re: i don't get it
The FBI.
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DittoBox, 15 Jan 2008 @ 2:23pm

Re: It's called recording industry vs. the people
As much as I hate to say this (and I'm not defending the MAFIAA) the MAFIAA does not threaten your life or the lives of your children.

Monetary and financial extortion is terrible, yes, but extortion with the threat of physical violence is that much worse. Don't confuse the two.
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Captain Nemo, 15 Jan 2008 @ 2:45pm

Even the mafia has honor- The MAFIAA, although it isn't killing people, is specifically NOT killing old ladies and children, if you catch my drift.
Also, Anon... Why don't you make up a tag? Right now, I don't know how many people you are. :-(
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Nick, 15 Jan 2008 @ 3:23pm

The Russian Mafia
The Russian mafia has actually been engaging in online protection rackets for quite some time-they will hack eCommerce sites and force the owners to pay protection or release the compromised information (usually credit card numbers), or they will denial of service attack websites who do not pay.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Past-News/Russian-Mafia-Net-Threat/
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dorpass, 15 Jan 2008 @ 4:11pm

Re:
Which part of "strength in number" was confusing to you?
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awlzac, 15 Jan 2008 @ 5:42pm

"Has the U.S. Dollar fallen so much that the Euro is completely taking over as the dominant currency in the World?"

...yeah, basically.
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paroch, 16 Jan 2008 @ 3:14am

@Monarch
Mate, the article specifically listed the Sicilian Mafia...
I mean, i know that most of the world is "Here there be dragons" for people in the US, but still...

For americans - Sicily is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, part of Italy, which is a country in Europe.
Italy is part of the EU, and so it's monetary unit is the "Euro".
That's where the analogy comes from.

Also, yeah, the euro has pretty much replaced the dollar as the "strongest" currency for quite a few years now.
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Texpatriate, 16 Jan 2008 @ 5:55am

@paroch
The "mafia" - in the usually accepted sense of the term - in the United States consists mainly of Sicilian immigrants and their descendants. Therefore, the "Sicilian" Mafia could apply here. Thank you, though, for the geography and economics lesson, even if not all of us needed it.

That being said, if anyone bothered to visit the website, which is multilingual (even though following the link takes you to the *English* version), it clearly states that it all began in Palermo.
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Danny, 17 Jan 2008 @ 5:55am

Lawsuit
The mafia will just pull an RIAA (now those are real gangsters) and suit that site for copyright infringment. Infringing how you ask? Since when do gangsters need a real reason to bully people?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Nov 2009 @ 6:45pm

Re:
The local authririty know where to look !!!
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Nov 2009 @ 6:53pm

Do you guys not realize that by even searching and looking at this website/blog you will be tracked by the authorities. !!!
I dont giv a shit i dont hav nout to hide !!!

Im guessing real gangsters are too busy robbing/raping/stealing/extornating/etc/ect to even notice about my bad spelling !!! Before u all comment HA HA
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Antonio, 3 Sep 2017 @ 9:16am

Re: Re: It's called recording industry vs. the people
Not true. The mafia practice of collecting pizzo has completely crippled the economy in southern Italy. People remain poor with no hope of improving their standards. Should they try to fight it, they die. I'm currently living in southern Italy. There is a mafia war happening right now. 18 people have died since January. Just 4 days ago 2 innocent people were murdered because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Do what we say, or we'll kill you" may not seem like a direct threat to your livelyhood, but it certainly does to many peolpe who are powerless to stop it. The stigma of the mafia being an "honorable" organization is a myth. last month, two little boys bodies were found dissolving in acid because their father refused to pay. It's sickening
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Antonio, 3 Sep 2017 @ 9:46am

Re: Re: Re: It's called recording industry vs. the people
oops. Completely out of my element. Sorry for the misinformed comment. I didn't understand what the conversation was about obviously. Please excuse me.
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