Topic: jgarzik goes berzerk in #bitcoin-dev, wtf? - page 12. (Read 29037 times)

This is a crazy theory that has no basis in fact OR law.  You have no idea what you're saying.  The algorithm isn't even patented or copyrighted -- when the U.S. government produces any intellectual inventions, they are not property of anyone.  Read the law before talking nonsense.

The guy was kicked out because he was supposedly promoting illegal activity, not because he was off-topic. I was wondering if Jeff Garzik did anything regarding illegal activities I listed above. I hope he comes here and help us understand what happened, and more importantly what will be happening in the future regarding his involvement with Bitcoin and people in Iran.

This is a lie -- in fact, it was the lie that was used to cage von NotHaus.  Liberty Dollars looked nothing like U.S. dollars -- the prosecution made the whole thing up to have an excuse to put von NotHaus in a cage.

I'm talking about everything he did in the Nazi Germany. Don't get distracted.

All of these are off-topic for #bitcoin-dev and I would expect persistence in discussing them after being asked not to would probably be met with similar results.

So would an in-depth discussion of the latest episode of Honey Boo Boo, or whether Anderson Cooper is gay, or the requirements to get into medical school.

I'm talking about the coup d'etat, and the prison sentence Hitler got as a result.

He died.

Why did he go to prison?

I am late to this party, but in case anyone is still reading, here are my thoughts:

Regarding legality of what was said in IRC - discussions of this kind are perfectly legal in the US, Finland, and I am pretty sure in Iran, too. Regarding legality of providing Bitcoin software to individuals in Iran - I am not a lawyer, but even a lawyer would admit it's a complex issue depending on your jurisdiction and your specific actions.

Everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal. Everyone should think about this for a moment.

Finally, and most importantly, there is the issue of hypocrisy: if my reactions to illegal actions are selective, I am a hypocrite. Specifically, if Jeff Garzik considers provisioning of open-source Bitcoin software to people in Iran to be illegal, and acts to prevent this from happening or even being discussed, he should be prepared to act in similar fashion when other illegal activities take place. For example, war crimes committed by the individuals in US forces or the government. What has he done about it? Dropping bombs and depleted uranium on the civilians?  Executives of Bayer who knowingly sold for profit HIV-infected materials, and FDA agents who were compliant?  Executives and workers of Trafigura, who knowingly and for profits dumped tons of toxic waste on people of Ivory Cost? Blackwater employees murdering civilians indiscriminately? Madeleine Albright, who claimed "the price was worth it" when asked about tens of thousands of children who died directly as a consequence of the US trade sanctions? The doctor behind MKULTRA experiments jn the US and Canada?  The Bush Five? Oliver North?

what an awesome idea

+ 1

Not saying anything about the wisdom of the sanctions, but know that doing business with anyone in Iran may land U.S. citizens in jail. None of the arguments that I see here would hold up as a defense. Your best bet would be a guilty plea in the hope that the court would go easy on you. 

You're probably right.  I never really understood why anyone would think embargoes do anything but hurt the people and make the sanctioned government stronger. Sadly, for any major politician to suggest its a bad idea would quickly find themselves voted out for being "weak" on whatever. 

As for languages, I don't think the gov't would really care about just straight up translation.  There are plenty of people outside Iran who speak Farsi.

Wouldn't surreptitiously "infecting" Iran with Bitcoin be considered an act of terrorism by the Iranian government and could help liberate the country and the whole region?  However the US or others might get a little peeved and go after anyone connected with the project after they start translating it to the languages of sanctioned countries?

The embargo on Iran is actually pretty international in scope, and while I doubt there is any piece of documentation regarding the embargo that specifically names bitcoin there are many many restrictions of sending money/gold.

But it's "illegal" only for USA. And anyway are we sure it's "illegal"?

Heh, fair enough.

I think that is kind of the grey-scale debate here.  Does a dev himself talking about (and implied approval of) the illegal uses of BTC on a recorded chat matter?  I think it does.

We all know what the goals of BTC are and I think we should all appreciate the delicate situation that those who are really putting themselves out there are in.

It's page 8, the probability was almost 1 anyway  and what we are doing is not a secret, everything is open

That's a half-way-there analogy.  Let's say you were doing work that undermined the dictatorship and were secretly helping people out of Nazi Germany...and then everyone got mad at you that you didn't go out on the street and announce what you were doing.

Are you mad that the people who were housing Jews in their attic didn't go up to some SS dudes and said, "hey bro, we're hiding some Jews"?

Nice Godwinning btw.

What happened is like banning someone because he is saying the racial laws are wrong during the hitler dictatorship, because otherwise the regime would go after you...