I'm of the camp that feels engaging Washington and regulators is an important thing to do. I also feel that Jim Harper is brilliant and highly effective...and he knows how the game is played. He is a huge asset to the Bitcoin community.
That said, just like Gavin used to keep backups of the bitcointalk forum on his pc, he's shed some hats as things progressed. A year ago, we didn't have Coin Center or the digital chamber of commerce. The foundation tried to do it all...and it was critical at that time to do so...
But now things have grown and it's not possible to (affordably) do all things well. If the foundation had to pick one thing to work on, I agree it's the core. Could the foundation someday grow into a huge organization with every possible type of specialist (programmers, lawyers, policy wonks, marketers, educators, etc)...maybe, but I don't know that that's really wise...having separate organizations for separate tasks makes for a more resilient system.
Making regulation today is premature. No matter how brilliant Harper is, whatever rules they can come up with today won't be sensible very soon. The whole thing will look very different in 12 months. It is just too early. That said, just like Gavin used to keep backups of the bitcointalk forum on his pc, he's shed some hats as things progressed. A year ago, we didn't have Coin Center or the digital chamber of commerce. The foundation tried to do it all...and it was critical at that time to do so...
But now things have grown and it's not possible to (affordably) do all things well. If the foundation had to pick one thing to work on, I agree it's the core. Could the foundation someday grow into a huge organization with every possible type of specialist (programmers, lawyers, policy wonks, marketers, educators, etc)...maybe, but I don't know that that's really wise...having separate organizations for separate tasks makes for a more resilient system.
We have great laws already. Fraud is fraud - no matter the currency. Use those laws to get the bad guys. In about 5 years, bitcoin will be in a good state for regulators to make some very nice and useful rules. Today, let anyone do what they do without hindrance unless they are flat out thieves. Even idiots like Karpeles should be able to make new bitcoin businesses... until someone proves he flatout stole something. Too many cops and rules will crush startups.
I can't breath!
