No they won't, and this was obvious from the very beginning.

ASIC being deployed = huge jump in difficulty. Nowadays, if your miner takes more than 45 days to breakeven it will probably never pay itself back. USB miners b/e point was way more than 45 days to b/e from the very beginning, so it was obvious they wouldn't pay for themselves. They have quite an appeal as a novelty product, I would even say that conceptually its a revolutionary product, and that's what people payed for.

Hoping ROI for those was delusional, or pure ignorance.

“Bitcoin is the biggest invention since the internet,” Pamir Gelenbe, Partner at Hummingbird Ventures, asserted in a chat last Thursday.

To explore the future of this controversial digital crypto-currency, Gelenbe is launching a one-day, invitation-only conference in London next week that will bring together leading members of the Bitcoin community to discuss its viability and ability to transform global finance as we know it. (Register here).

The panels will range from legal issues to investment opportunities, and even the possibility of whether Iceland should adopt Bitcoin as its national currency.

Thank you. I have read the two whitepapers and many publications which are free. I was looking for paid-for research reports on the companies in the space, the markets, exchanges, technical and economic analysis, etc.

A-

Federal auditors are recommending that the Internal Revenue Service not issue regulations for taxpayers on filing returns for the money earned through the exchange of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoins.

The tax agency has neither the money nor the time to craft compliance rules for the emerging market, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Bitcoins -- which are not government-backed -- can be traded for real products and services or traditional currency, including dollars.

GAO officials acknowledged the government might be missing out on tax revenue as a result of not publishing Bitcoin-specific rules, but it is unclear how much. “Given the uncertain extent of noncompliance with virtual currency transactions, formal guidance, such as regulations, may not be warranted," the auditors concluded.

The tax agency has not provided taxpayers with information on virtual currencies “because of other priorities, resource constraints, and the need to consider the use of these recently-developed currencies," GAO officials explained.

Instead, for the time being, the IRS has agreed to post information on its websites linking to existing guidelines on bartering, gambling and hobby income, agency officials wrote in a May 3 letter responding to a draft report.

Steven Miller, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, stated: The IRS "is aware of the potential tax compliance risks posed by off-shore and anonymous electronic payment systems, and we are working to address these risks.”

Discussions with other federal agencies, new training for IRS professionals, and the creation of questionnaires for agents examining returns are under way, Miller added.

Bitcoin trades, which are hard to trace online, have come under scrutiny at other regulatory agencies, such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which looks for signs of money-laundering.

Guys, a lot of these questions can be answered by simply reading the FAQ on Terrahash.com

They will ship to Europe, but customs is your responsibility, IE if it gets tied up, its on you.  You need to know your nation's customs policies.  (FWIW the power bricks have been an issue for people shipping internationally).

The BTC price is now pegged to the USD, so whatever the value of BTC/USD at the time of ordering is what you will owe.  

Another important question I've not found the answer to yet...how do we split billing b/w paypal and BTC, or can a user have more than one order per account?  Limits on purchases?  Oh, and proof of Avalon chip order (which would be, again, absurdly easy to prove).

TerraHash will provide hosting service for TerraHash equipment. When you buy our products, we can host them locally for Bitcoin mining, instead of shipping them to you. We will charge a nominal fee for the service. The fee rate is give below. For the DX Large and Mini, we will put them in a temperature controlled environment. We will hook multiple DXs to a single host using USB hubs. The modular boards (both 4.5GH and 18GH) will be installed in enclosures with proper power supplies and cooling systems. These enclosures will be put in a temperature controlled environment too. We are in talks with a few datacenters in Santa Clara.

If you decide to host your TerraHash products with us, you can ask to have them shipped back to you anytime. We will provide free service/replacement for any defective parts of the equipment hosted with us.

Any Bitcoins mined from the hosted equipment will be divided according to the hash power owned by each individual, and deposited into their Bitcoin Address every 2-3 days.

The hosting charges are as follows:

4.5 GHash modular boards: $3.00 per month per board.
18 GHash modular boards: $10.00 per month per board.
TerraHash DX Mini: $30.00 per month/unit.
TerraHash DX Large: $50.00 per month/unit.

The charges for the modular boards are slightly higher because we have to arrange enclosures, power supplies and fans for them, whereas, the DX Mini and Large already come with these.

Works fine for me

I think its very relevant to bitcoin - an internet currency - when a project that can provide wireless to nearly anywhere on the globe is being developed. You realize these things ride on air currents? And they're working on how to steer using the opposing jets at different altitudes?

Even if it doesn't have bitcoin in the text, it still is interesting to me - thanks for posting it.