Normally I am a strict proponent of free speech. I have, in the past, defended political speech on these forums.
I support the forum moderators in the mechanisms that have been put in place in order to identify and rid the Bitcoin community of scammers. These mechanisms have made the Bitcoin Talk forums a much better place.
Now, however, I must ask the forum moderators to decide what I think is a somewhat novel case of someone who has attempted to abuse these mechanisms for his own potential commercial gain. Someone who has made unfounded accusations in an attempt to inject himself, as a middle-man, into business between other parties. Someone who elevated these libelous accusations to the level of a scammer request, in an attempt to force his position. And who has failed to retract these claims when they were revealed to be un-supported.
With the influx of moneyed investors to these forums, a new form of commercial speech has reared its ugly head. And it is one that, I believe, stands in direct opposition to the ideals that Bitcoin stands for and hopes to achieve.
It is that of the hyper-competitive investor, trolling the forum all day long in search of potential deals, and propagating fear, uncertainty and doubt in order to scuttle the business of his competitors, or even potential competitors.
This behaviour is a direct consequence of the system of centralized money-printing. It is just one means by which the force of inflationary theft is transmitted, used against and imposed upon those who would otherwise wish to have no part in such a system. This is especially applicable to the Bitcoin economy.
This crime has long been known in commercial law as "tortious interference," the act of attempting to gain commercial advantage by meddling in the business dealings of others.
This type of trolling, beyond just frustrating forum-goers, creates a toxic environment for legitimate Bitcoin businesses.
It would, in my opinion, be in the best interests of the forum and the entire Bitcoin community to be aware of, and vigilant against, such abuse.
So, unfortunately I must stand here today, asking that user 'franky1' be given a scammer tag or, preferrably, banned from the forums, for engaging in such behaviour. I think it is clear from the record
here,
here and
here what his intentions are. These false statements and accusations have already caused me and my projects much reputational damage.
If left to continue, malicious, intentional disruptions such as these have the potential to cause significant damage to the Bitcoin economy by striking at the very root of Bitcoin's economic independence. I hope that the moderators can be aware of this threat, and can take action or perhaps put some mechanism in place to counter it.
Thank you for your consideration.