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Comment by obsession | Hacker News Reader

Even if you were a shady drug dealer, revenge doesn't get your money back.

The reason I trust normal contracts to work is that I pay for guys with guns to enforce them. I call them "police", and my payments "tax". But if you are doing deals that are illegal, you have to provide your own enforcement.

The rational interest of a criminal here wouldn't be revenge. It would be reputation maintenance. The reason mafia loan sharks are known for breaking kneecaps isn't that they're personally upset, or that they can't afford the loss. It's that they can't afford anybody else thinking that their loans are something they can walk away from.

That's the theory, anyway. Let me know how it actually goes when you get defrauded and see if that super-reliable infrastructure has your back, or if your case is too small for them to care about.

"The government provides protections" != I can completely trust my contracts to work because of it".

I didn't say it was super-reliable. Or that I trust my contracts to work. But it certainly has been enough for my needs. Despite a lot of years in business, I've never felt a need for extra-judicial enforcement.

Sorry, I just didn't see anything in your original post that reflect the actual reality of what law enforcement does when you really get defrauded.

Oops! Editing error. Above I mean "to work perfectly".

It's not about the money. It's about sending a message.

Oh, come now. Bits don't burn.

Though the idea of making a pile of hard drives and setting that on fire sort of intrigues me...

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