Bitcoin Forum

As Bitcoin continues to grow and challenge the status-quo, a growing threat looms over the horizon; corporatists and the state at large will want Bitcoin's growth to be retarded through any means necessary, whether it be legal prohibition or the further dissolution of our civil liberties. It is time for our interests to be represented in this legal game. It is time for Bitcoin to have a slice of the legal pie whether it be in the US
Congress or the Senate. The men who are instilled by our supposed democracy shall be held accountable to our individual interests, which include the legal preservation of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin. The people shall be able trade with Bitcoin with ease and convenience -- but this will only be assured if their interests are heard.

That's why I must demand we start a Bitcoin lobbying firm. All money donated to this thread will go towards a valid entity that wishes to start the requested venture. I swear on my integrity and life that this money will be used only towards said cause.

Here's the address: 1JiXHdnA4uRKoRsWe2M5oCVUSjHwgVtBTM

The money will be stored on my computer and will be backed up consistently with every donation.

Godspeed and thank you for your consideration.

I will start the bounty off with 2 Bitcoins. If you donate, please state your pledge below.

Donors:

AtlasLGo: 2 BTC
PlasticLiving: 1 BTC
gwfds123: 1 BTC

Reserved.

A excellent idea!

Donated 1BTC.

perhaps you should set up a Tor hidden service to coordinate this effort and to drive the statists crazy.

If anyone is willing to help me with such a thing, PM me.

Politics is a total waste of time and resources. We'll never beat the banksters through lobbying. I'm not telling you what to do, just telling you what will happen.

But even if it were possible I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty with the bribes we'd need to pay.

We'll have to rise through this endeavor or die trying. I think we can hit sympathies and the public through this venture.

2 people have donated thus far.

We the people all have a  vested interest. I doubt a lobbyist firm can achieve much more than we can individually unless you have access to insane levels of BTC...

We're working on that as we speak.

Do you have a web site? Any papers filed for tax-exempt status? Do we even know your real name? It's nice that you're willing to swear on your "integrity and life," but that doesn't mean much to me. You will need to do some legwork for me (and, I suspect, others) to find you credible and trustworthy.

EDIT: I don't mean for this to sound rude, it's just all very suspect. If you're serious about this you should work on giving people reasons to trust you.

atlas has a reputation around here so you are kind of off base.

I do though, think it's a good idea to pgp-sign your posts when collecting money like this.

Now.

I will have to retrieve my PGP signature from storage. I should mention that I have borrowed over 200 BTC for a month and paid it back in full. Said credit is on my PGP key on the Bitcoin OTC and BiddingPond.com

You expect to operate a lobbying organization and never once deal with US currency? How do you see that working?

I have verified this by comparing it to my trading records with him.

Well, I only wish to retain vision. The actual operation may or may not be ran by me. It will depend on my commitments in the future. All I am currently commited to is building the incentive for such an organization. The conversion of BTC to USD currency will be necessary but will not necessarily be done on my part. When viable funding is collected, said conversion will take place with valid methods. A legal consultant will most certainly be contracted.

Have you talked to anyone at the EFF? They're not exactly lobbyists, but they're in a similar class (it's a 501(c)(3) org) and have similar goals. Their advice would probably be useful. Their methods (i.e., fighting unjust laws and regulations in the courts) might be a more effective way to protect rights relating to Bitcoin.

Since witnessing their abandonment of Bitcoin donations and practically stating that using 'legal tender' is the best way to defend online liberty, I believe we are in a league of our own in philosophy and what we specifically wish to defend.

I believe they have decided to eschew bitcoin, however.

Atlas,

I think your time would be better spent on agorist projects.  The great thing about bitcoins is that they don't need the state's permission for just about anything.

"Asking" politicians for permission is how we got to where we are now.

Maybe you can set up a gambling site where people can place bets on what will happen to the first politician who bans bitcoins.  I suspect that would be much more effective than any lobbying group.

Doesnt the EFF already do this sort of thing?

I must agree with MemoryDealers, lobbying is amoral and slow. Better spend the bounty money on building the economy; "attack is the best form of defence" and so forth…

I am planning to start a website with a tor hidden service. Hit me up if you are interested.

I must disagree and say keeping Bitcoin legal has a notable amount of value.

I agree that it is a good thing to keep Bitcoin legal,  but lobbying won't do anything at all.  The politicians always do whatever they want anyhow.  Remember how many people were against the bailouts?
The most lobbying the USA has ever seen didn't stop them.  The same will be true for Bitcoins.

I will look into this further.

A Bitcoin legal defense fund is a better place to start.  Your OP addresses people's right to use their computers to participate in the bitcoin network, a la possessing, transferring, and mining bitcoin.  That right is not under any sort of imminent threat of regulation, so no lobbying is necessary. 

There soon will be a "poster child" case made out by a U.S. attorney or state D.A. somewhere when some stupid college kid buys an ounce of coke with bitcoin and gets busted.  A Legal defense fund could help pay for his defense.  But the mainstream public face of the bitcoin community will be "Hang him high"  :'( because it is in the best interest of bitcoin's survival in the mainstream as a real currency to appear cooperative with law enforcement.

However, lobbying certainly makes sense for a business like mtgox (Japanese-owned currency exchange) or silkroad that deals with exchanging bitcoin for other goods, services.  Now that the "press" has "hit the fan" and the word "Bitcoin" has publicly passed a prominent senator's lips, scrutiny and potential regulation will fall on these two organizations first.  These companies would do well to spend a significant portion of their profits on a lobbying firm to prevent legislation that would cripple their business model.

I think Mt Gox and the like should spend some money on incorporating and getting a financial license if it already doesn't. Then get some Terms of
Service on the site. Sacrificing a bit of anonymity might be necessary to protect BitCoin.

Posting their source code on the internet in an encrypted file would be a good idea.
Then, if anything ever happens to them,  they can post the password,  so a bunch more exchanges can start up using their software.

I like this idea.  I really suspect that tradehill is using mtgox's codebase.

I hope it's true; at this point having more competitors is good for mtgox.  He already has the first mover advantage, and right now he is a huge target for any government intervention.  With a bunch of medium strength competitors there is less incentive for the government to attack him directly.

Seriously? I was not aware of this. Have they at least tried explaining this contradictory positon of theirs?
It's quite weird. They were among the first to accept bitcoin donations, back when bitcoins weren't worth that much, and now that it has proven its value, they don't want anymore?

I was thinking on suggesting the same thing. :D

Exchange owners, please, do this Wikileaks-like insurance!

Seems like our elected officials only listen to two words; votes and money. I think Atlas has a good idea who's time will come. But for the short term, how can we show politicians that there are votes on the line and donation money to be made.
Instead of asking them why they are so F%$#ing stupid? Ask them where their BTC address for donations is? Tell them about the bright spot in our otherwise crappy economy. About how JOBS are being created.  

Senator, your not going to kill my job are you? >:(

bump

Also, donors feel free to ask for your money back at any time.