The Bureau of Industry and Security recently issued a $750,000 fine against Intel subsidiary Wind River Systems for the unlawful exportation of software products that enable encryption. This is a sharp departure from BIS’s historical practice and suggests the agency may take a tougher stance on such violations in the future. Among restricted foreign government end-users and organizations on the BIS Entity List, Wind River Systems shipped to China, Russia, Israel, Hong Kong, South Africa, and South Korea. Continue reading
Category Archives: The Law
Spain to Issue More Online Gambling Licenses
With Spain's Gaming industry facing declining fortunes, regulators seek to issue more online gambling licenses. Spain notably has the highest tax on Gross Gaming Revenue in Europe and a number of established online betting operations in Spain have been relinquishing their licenses due to cost. El Ministerio de Hacienda y Administraciones Publicas has ruled in that past that they suppose online gambling operations in Bitcoin ought to apply for licenses when they operate in Spain.
Vietnam: Prosecutors Reject Charging Bitcoin Traders
Thanh Nien News reports that three individuals arrested in Khanh Hoa Province for buying and selling Bitcoins have been released without charges on the order of local prosecutors. Police plan to continue pursuing the case by appealing to the Supreme People’s Procuracy to continue the prosecution. In the course of the arrest nearly 500 million Vietnamese Dong were seized along with computers and documents. According to the deputy head of the local prosecution unit "the three did not engage in an illegal transaction since Bitcoins are not a recognized currency or commodity in Vietnam and therefore cannot be considered a banned item."
Labor Party Australia: Can't Ignore Bitcoin
Australian Labor senator Sam Dastyari has told the Australian banking sector that they cannot ignore Bitcoin simply by sticking their heads in the sand" and that it is headed their way because it's the future. Continue reading
Unofficial IS Site Shut Down, Seeks Bitcoin Donations
Khilafah.is, an unofficial IS website, which was used to publish "an alternative narrative of the events happening in IQ & SY"1 has been shut down. Continue reading
Iraq and Syria. ↩
Butterfly Labs Seek To Have FTC Complaint Dismissed
James Humphrey1, an attorney representing BFL in the case that the FTC brought forward last month, has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. He stated that for the state to argue for deceptive representations, the FTC would need to allege facts that established BFL made a representation that was material and likely to mislead customers.
Polsinelli PC. ↩
Regulating Bitcoin and Block Chain Derivatives By Houman B Shadab
Houman B. Shadab, who recently appeared at the CFTC meeting which focused on issues related to clearing Non-Deliverable Forwards (NDFs) and the digital currency bitcoin, has released a paper titled Regulating Bitcoin and Block Chain Derivatives. Continue reading
Coinbase Retains Government Insider
The New York Times reports that Coinbase has hired former adviser to the US Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee John Collins. Coinbase is a California based business that "hosts" wallets on the behalf of users while also serving as a payment processor and online retail counter for exchanging between Bitcoin and United States dollars in a time insensitive manner. Among users Coinbase is notable for its inquiries into user activities and blocking gambling related transactions without regard for their actual legality in the user's jurisdiction.
Judge Forrest Rejects Illegal Search Defense In Ulbricht Case
Ulbricht's lawyers defense that the FBI illegally collected evidence in the case against him has been rejected by Judge Katherine Forrest on the grounds that Ulbricht insufficiently established that the server searched was his. Wired describes the ruling as based on a technicality. Some reactions to the ruling: Continue reading
Andreas Antonopolous Testifies Before Canadian Senate Committee
On Wednesday, October 8, Bitcoin advocate Andreas Antonopolous testified before the Canadian Senate Committee on Banking, Trade, and Commerce on the subject of digital currencies and regulation. The meeting was the one in a series of eleven scheduled by the Senate Committee on the subject of the “Study on the use of digital currency.” Previous meetings featured presentations by representatives from Visa and Mastercard; the Bitcoin Embassy, the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada, and the Bitcoin Foundation; BitPay and PayPal; the Canada Revenue Agency; CAVirtEx, the Bitcoin Strategy Group and Bit Access; and the Bank of Canada, among others. Continue reading