BBC are known for these kinda stunts, this was tame for the most part though. Not sure why the guys let them in.
the BBC arent totally blameless. Anarchists like Amir and Cody say things deliberately to maximise sensationalist headlines. cody's probably the worst.. he goes out of his way to make the press paint him as the devil incarnate. he wants 'cody's name in lights. maximum publicity, and the more cartoon character maniacally evil he sounds, the more press he will get. unfortunately for bitcoin, its bad press and paints bitcoin as the tool of criminals and terrorists. whats good for cody and amir isnt good for the rest of us who want bitcoin to be taken seriously and widely adopted, which just wont happen if 'the people' think its just a tool for criminals and terrorists to launder money.
and doing your interviews from a 'squat' doesnt help your credibility either (for those who dont know, a squat is a 'stolen' building occupied by people who dont own it). the uk has some archaic laws that give squatters certain rights that arent really appropriate in the modern age. protest, sure.. but taking over someone else's building and calling it your own and not allowing the owners back in, and then pretending thats somehow a good thing, just isnt seen as the right thing to do. bravo. anti capitalists who are somehow backing the ultimate capitalist currency. bit of an anathema. ok, it was far worse when they were 'squattng' into families' homes when they went on holiday and came back to find someone else had broken in and changed the locks.. but luckily thats now illegal - only recently (after hundreds of years of being a legal loophole!)... but there's still a loophole allowing squatters to take over empty commercial buildings. most likely this loophole will eventually get closed down, as that too cant possibly be seen as right. you cant just walk into someone else's empty property - change the locks, and suddenly its yours. makes a mockery of property ownership rights. and it doesnt make it somehow 'just' and 'fair' because its owned by a company and not a person. companies are still owned by shareholders. shareholders are still people. squatting is still stealing. even if the ultimate owner is a corporation and not a person.
Hi,
Not sure what you mean by "taken seriously" do you mean more guys in suits with frame glasses at really expensive conferences? I agree that some people give bold answers to the press and it could have to do with building their own media profile, but I cant say that was the real intention in this case.
I think it is good to have a discussion about squating, this squat in particular is owned by an education charity and basicly used as a tax write off (from what I understand) and in the context of the extremely rigged london real estate market , it has a different context. I think the whole "squating vs. property rights" discussion needs its own thread.
This is more about media spinnning things. We had a good discussion about it last night that you can watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rYXIwD3OE
Including a prediciton that was written into the blockchain on site as the BBC was doing the interview.
THIS!!! +10000