Topic: Should drugs be listed at bitcoin.it? - page 7. (Read 15368 times)

to me, the question is: how much are we willing to compromise in order to make bitcoins popular?

It seems to me that almost everybody here agrees that governments have no business in regulating what substances a person can or cannot eat/chew/smoke/drink/etc... But still a lot of us agree on removing the drug listing from the wiki in order to not attract negative attention from people who have the opposite opinion about drugs.

I think it could be removed from the wiki, or listed in a generic name (something like 'free markets'). But that's just how far we should go on compromising.

No it should not be listed at bitcoin.it. The offical stance of the bitcoin community should be one that is not drug-friendly. A very brief risk vs benefit analysis that it would be disadvantageous.
benefit:
Accelerated bitcoin economy with capital and interest of the drug industry
Risk:
delegitimization of the Bit Coin currency (Reputation will be in taters)
Governments who have strong drug policies will take notice to Bit Coin's new reputation (Their stance will most likely be aggressive)
*Important note that the subsequent effects of the two will mean that Bit Coin may never be mainstream in global financial industries
Strong risk that bit coins may in turn accelerate the growth drug industry
*Subsequent effect may be that drug cartels will have found a new medium to abuse
Likelihood of social issues due to improved drug economy from the new medium is possible
*If needed you may ask for a full analysis of this

At this point of time we should ask if the benefits of creating a relationship between Bit Coins and Drugs outweigh the advantages.
This is left to the interpretation of the community and i do understand these are not all the factors and everything i listed can be expanded into a more detailed analysis.
My opinion is that although there is a prospect of money in the big picture there could be many societial effects that may result from this. Even if you wanted to be greedy, be smart about it and think about the long-term so you don't screw yourself as well as others.

If the server is in a jurisdiction where linking to drug websites is illegal, then it may be a good idea I would hate for the administration of this site to get in trouble over some bogus law. In the USA, linking to drug vendors is a crime under the Ryan Haight act since about two years ago. If it isn't illegal where the forum is hosted, then no absolutely not. I say link to it even if it is illegal because fuck the law, but if the server is in USA I would move it some other place maybe Netherlands where there is no such law and then who gives a flying fuck what the government wants. An even better idea would be to make a bitcoin hidden service.

Maybe someday, but it's too soon... Bitcoin is still too easy for governments to crush.

I keep seeing the wiki battle it out but wanted to see a quick survey of the community.