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Comment by hopelite | Hacker News Reader

Forget blackmail, people wildly overestimate the value of blackmail. Far more predictable and lucrative is just to use exploits for insider information, including as favors and bribes, and selling them to governments willing to pay immense amounts of money. Blackmail is far too messy. Grease works way better.

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Plata o plomo. Usually a combination of threats and bribery is most effective. The truly dangerous groups usually have the ability and willingness to pay well.

Sorry, that’s just not how it is practices and at least has not for a long time. You’ve heard the saying, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, right. If you have unlimited funds and you are the giver and bringer and provider, there is no need for blackmail. It’s just the nuclear option, so to say.

At the political level things don’t operate like some cartel, sort of certain places and certain rather narrow regions of the world where it may take some additional motivating to do the right thing for themselves.

"It's the implication"

Forget blackmail

Tell that to Epstein.

Ironically that actually applies to him too. Sure, he likely had all kinds of stuff on people, but frankly bribery still always works far more effectively unless you encounter some resistance. It’s a rather established practice. The “blackmail” material is really just an insurance, not actual leverage.

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