A man who blamed his girlfriend's five-year-old son for making loss-making trades in expensive natural resources through his online betting account is not bound by a term he agreed to on the bookmaker's website, the High Court has ruled. The term stated that an accountholder is deemed to have authorised all trading made under his or her account number.

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Spreadex based its claim on a clause in its contract which meant Cochrane would be "deemed to have authorised all trading under [his] account number," a report by legal information service Lawtel said.

However, in rejecting Spreadex's bid for a summary judgment, the High Court said that the clause was not legally binding because it didn't form part of a binding contract and was "unfair". Spreadex was not able to show that Cochrane entered into a separate contract for each trade made via his account and as such the company's general contract applied.

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This is an odd case," gambling law expert Susan Biddle of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said.

"It is hard to see how companies can incorporate general terms into future contracts with consumers – unless this case can be distinguished on the basis that the problem here arose because of the total exclusion of Spreadex’s liability in contrast to the consumer’s unlimited liability. If Spreadex had accepted some liability and/or capped the consumer’s liability the contract may have been deemed binding," she said.

"I would not advise businesses to purse summary judgment applications where contract terms are disputed as unfair and the reasonableness of them is at issue, especially when it involves a consumer," Biddle added.

But is it actually a currency? Kenneth Bromberg, lead programmer of Bloomberg's foreign exchange platform, will explain what actually makes something a "currency", why Bitcoin doesn't fit that definition, and why it therefore doesn't trade on the global currency exchanges.

Nerds LOVE Bitcoin. It's technologically and cryptographically fascinating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

But is it actually a currency? Kenneth Bromberg, lead programmer of Bloomberg's foreign exchange platform, will explain what actually makes something a "currency", why Bitcoin doesn't fit that definition, and why it therefore doesn't trade on the global currency exchanges.

During this meeting WRIGHT and BAXTER talked about getting the Anarchist Cookbook but that they have not downloaded it because they do not want to be tracked online. The group then talked about a computer program you can buy for fifteen dollars a month that keeps people from tracking you on the Internet. They discussed using pre-paid debit cards or anonymous online accounts that use alternate currencies as a proxy for real dollars like "bitcoin" accounts to buy the program without leaving a traceable financial trail. BAXTER explained that he has a friend who is a hacker and can transfer paper money to bitcoins. He stated that you need some proxy to do it and both BAXTER and WRIGHT tried to explain how the bitcoin system works

"Frankly, it makes no sense to me. But that doesn't mean its wrong, just that it makes no sense to me." wrote Ronald J. Mann, a law professor at Columbia University and an expert in payment systems, in a Wednesday e-mail sent to Ars. "The idea that they're going to get a VC-like return in bitcoin-based projects [is ludicrous]."

Michal Kisiel ‏ @finnovation
Got surprising message - European Commission Payments Committee asks for opinion on regulating #bitcoin

I don't know in what jurisdiction you live, but in my country, this man has every right to say abso-fucking-lutely whatever he wants.

.............another larger portion by Silk Road, and the rest (people actually paying for their goods/services) would be a very small portion. Like a hand full of transactions.

Conceptually, money can exist without a central authority. The United States only got a central bank in 1913, and we were a country with a functioning economy before 1913. There are also private issuers of things that function very much like money—think about Crimson Cash here at Harvard, or American Express traveler's checks.

Bitcoin is one of many innovative technologies that are going to seek to take friction out and provide services to people. You can make a priori arguments about how it will work very well, and you can also raise concerns a priori. And I think if we know anything about new technologies, you just have to wait and see what happens in the marketplace. Everyone thought New Coke would be better than old Coca-Cola and take things by storm, and [former IBM CEO] Tom Watson thought there was only demand in the world for 10 or 12 computers. And so I think history teaches that you can't really forecast which kinds of innovations will ultimately become networked and get to scale.

A University of Ottawa student was found guilty Monday of escaping lawful custody in April after he ran away from campus security guards onto an OC Transpo bus while handcuffed

He was charged with mischief, breaching the peace and escaping lawful custody, but the first two charges were dropped, he said.

The judge in his trial heard about his “Blinky Blinkies” — a form of currency similar to the Internet-based currency Bitcoin — because security guards testified that he was throwing them to a crowd of students when he was arrested.