Free Republic

Bitcoin is coming soon to a town near you. Or, more likely, it's already there. The five-year-old digital currency is increasingly being adopted by brick-and mortar businesses, including dentists, pet boutiques -- even a small honey business in Utah. In 2012, about 1,000 businesses used BitPay, the largest processor of Bitcoin payments. Today, more than 26,000 businesses worldwide use BitPay, said Tony Gallippi, its cofounder and CEO. The majority of those firms are small businesses -- about half are in the U.S. and the rest are international. And while a majority are online sellers, Gallippi said 20% are merchants with...

N.Korea Opens Online Shopping Mall North Korea has opened its first internet shopping mall and is now selling hundreds of items online. An "e-shop" section was added to North Korea's official business information site Chollima (www.dprk-economy.com/en/Shop/index.php). The shop's 14 product categories include machinery, building materials, vehicles, industrial art objects, foodstuffs, daily necessities, stamps, artworks, movies and software. The website even says it accepts credit cards. The government in Pyongyang recently launched the site in a joint venture with a company in Shenyang, China. After selecting items and clicking the "order" button, customers can enter their e-mail address or other contact...

BISMARCK, N.D. Oct 10, 2005 — To sell things over eBay, Mark Nichols may be required to take instruction in rapid-fire speaking, breathing control and reading hand gestures, even though the transactions are done by computer keyboard and mouse. North Dakota's Public Service Commission is exploring whether people like Nichols, who runs a small consignment store in Crosby, must obtain auctioneer licenses before they can legally use eBay to sell merchandise for others. To get a North Dakota auctioneer's license, applicants must pay a $35 fee, obtain a $5,000 surety bond and undergo training at one of eight approved auction...

A Russian computer hacker was sentenced to four years in federal prison for running a fraud and extortion ring that victimized a New Jersey financial services company, among others. Aleksey V. Ivanov was arrested with an accomplice after being lured to the United States by the FBI in 2000. An indictment accused them of hacking into dozens of U.S. banks and e-commerce sites, and then demanding money for not publicizing the break-ins. Ivanov, 23, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, Conn., following a joint investigation by federal prosecutors in Hartford, Newark,...