Mark Wetjen, Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission otherwise known as the CFTC, has penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he states that the CFTC could have authority to bring enforcement action against anyone manipulating Bitcoin. Continue reading
Category Archives: The Law
Disney Patents "Piracy Free" Search Engine
Disney has been awarded a patent on a "piracy free" search engine technology according to Torrent Freak. The patent was originally filed in April of 2012and describes a mechanism based on "authenticity metrics" relative to a search term that is used to rank results. The presumption is that emphasizing "authenticity" of in presenting search results would diminish opportunities for content unfavorable to the "authoritative" arbiters of "authenticity" to be presented to users of the search engine. Continue reading
Australian Silk Road Merchant Sentenced To 11 Years Jail, Loses 24,500 Bitcoin To Boot
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that 24,500 bitcoins, which were seized during a search of a property in December 2012, will soon go to auction after a 28 day appeal period has expired. At the current bitcoin price, the State of Victoria will pocket around AUD $9.6 million or USD 8.4 million. As is typical in Australia, the proceeds of crime are sold via what is known colloquially as a police auction. It's unknown what date the auction has been set for. Continue reading
FinCEN: Payment Processors, Others may be Regulated Money Transmitters
FinCEN issued two administrative rulings in regards to "Virtual Currency." The first concerns "exchanges" and supposes they may be regulated as Money Transmitters under the Banking Secrecy Act. The second though supposes that payment processors like BitPay may similarly fall under their purview. This shift comes contrary to the expectations BitPay had disclosed anticipating from FinCEN.
PDFs of the rulings are available here: ruling 1, ruling 2. Extracted plaintext is available below. Continue reading
Blackmailers: Pay Us One Million Euro In Bitcoin Or We Will Spread Ebola
The AFP today report that an individual or group are threatening to release Ebola1 throughout the Czech Republic unless the equivalent of one million Euros in bitcoin is paid to them from the Czech Republic government. Continue reading
Good luck, Ebola-chan! ↩
DailyDot: What Happened to the Ulbricht Murder Charges?
The DailyDot has a story about the disappearance of the murder charges which notably were used to deny Ulbricht bail in the Silk Road case. Of the original six murder charges five indictments have quietly disappeared uncharged, while the sixth indictment remains on file in Maryland as opposed to New York, where the drug trafficking trial is occurring. The five uncharged allegations have been reduced to overt acts under the trafficking charge allowing prosecutors to use them against Ulbricht at trial without proving them to the jury. The sixth indictment in Maryland sets Ulbricht up for a potential second trial in that jurisdiction later.
Woman Uses Stomach Wallet Instead Of Brain Wallet
A woman flying from Brussels to the Dominican Republic has been arrested under suspicion of money smuggling. In an attempt to transfer USD $139,000 into the country, the 40 year old woman opted to swallow 16 capsules carrying a total of $70,000 while the remaining $69,000 was hidden inside her suitcase. Continue reading
Cryptsy and Shavers Sued by Victims
Silver Law Group has filed two lawsuits: one against Paul Vernon, CEO of Cryptsy a cryptocoin to cryptocoin exchange, and Trendon Shavers, also known as "pirateat40", operator of a ponzi scheme, Bitcoin Savings and Trust. Many of Cryptsy's customers have been disappointed with the service, as complaints of users missing coins have surfaced. These complaints became so numerous, the company sent out a blanket email to their users addressing the issue: Continue reading
Swedish Enforcement Agency To Look If Debtors Own Bitcoin
The Swedish Enforcement Authority, which is a government agency that enforces judgements both public and private, has announced it will begin investigating whether debtors have stashed away or hidden bitcoins. Continue reading
AFP's Lulzsec Leader merely naughty, avoids prison
Matthew Flannery, who according to the Australian Federal Police was a leader in Lulz Security or LulzSec, has been sentenced by a local magistrate to 15 months of home detention. LulzSec notably included FBI Informant Hector Xavier Monsegur, also known as Sabu, among its founding members.