[we try very hard to keep EFF from becoming the actual subject of those fights or issues. Since there is no caselaw on this topic, and the legal implications are still very unclear, we worry that our acceptance of Bitcoins may move us into the possible subject role.]

here is a link to their full statement:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/06/eff-and-bitcoin

1. We don't fully understand the complex legal issues involved with creating a new currency system. Bitcoin raises untested legal concerns related to securities law, the Stamp Payments Act, tax evasion, consumer protection and money laundering, among others. And that’s just in the U.S. While EFF is often the defender of people ensnared in legal issues arising from new technologies, we try very hard to keep EFF from becoming the actual subject of those fights or issues. Since there is no caselaw on this topic, and the legal implications are still very unclear, we worry that our acceptance of Bitcoins may move us into the possible subject role.

[emphasis mine]

from their perspective it makes sense i suppose.

under the circumstances, i was pleased to see no mention of instability or suchlike.

still, a pity.

[1.)]

well lemme see here.

1.)  i think the first thing i'd do, if i wanted to destroy Bitcoin (now who would want to do such a thing?), would be to buy a bunch of them.  i would buy those Bitcoin at times calculated to drive the market up fairly quickly.  i might play a little bit with creating noticeable patterns in the markets, for cover.

all i'd need for that would be some money.  it's a thin market - i wouldn't need that much, if i were one of the players who is spooked by the idea of Bitcoin.

2.)  i would invest in massive amounts of mining hardware, and bring it into the network gradually.  why?  follow along...

3.)  then i would avail myself of some blogging software (which i have posted about elsewhere - "online personna management" software, here:
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=13344.0 ).  i would create many new personnas here, and on other forums that have impact on Bitcoin.  i would not neglect various open news forums like yahoo, etc.  i would begin to snipe at Bitcoin wherever a mention of it appeared.

i would create polarization.

4.)  i would enlist the aid of various political and news figures to begin a campaign against Bitcoin.  that's certainly a well-established infrastructure...

5.) after that - and in concert with my turning up the volume on the blogging personnas i was using to disparage Bitcoin - i would start a sell-off calculated to drive the price down massively.  by then i would have enough Bitcoin, acquired slowly so as to appear as in keeping with the rapid rise of the currency.

6.)  as soon as it appeared confidence in Bitcoin was permanently eroding, i would begin to pull all the hashing power off the network - "oh no!" people (and especially my blogging surrogates) would say: "it's the end!  all the miners are leaving, and the network will be insecure!"

7.)  at that point i would wait for a perfect moment, and execute an attack on the network to fork, or in some way harm, the blockchain - putting back all the hashing power i'd pulled off, and adding a ton more i'd had held in reserve.

i think that's called strategy.

and it might be what's happening now.

just a thought...

is it just me and my evil comcast ISP - or is this system getting overloaded?

i'm not really sure which forum this belongs on - if there were a "Bitcoin & Politics" forum, that would probably be perfect.

my point in posting this is to offer something to think about as to where the latest crop of trolls could be coming from.  you know the ones i mean - well-rehearsed and well-informed, with the tools of the professional blogger in place.  they sow doubt and reap anger.  every incremental step is like the tiniest tap of a dwarven hammer on the walls of the Bitcoin mine...

i wear no tinfoil hat - yet it is clear that blog warfare is becoming a major part of the government's arsenal.  just because there has been no announcement of their engagement with their economic 'enemies', as there has been (see my link) with their military enemies, it doesn't mean that they are not now engaging.  and possibly, i am prepared to believe, here.

here is a starting point for those with interest, who may not already have heard of the US government "online persona management" software:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

and for a more in-depth analysis, try the DailyKos (like them or not, they're good at this...):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/16/945768/-UPDATED:-The-HB-Gary-Email-That-Should-Concern-Us-All

*************

i just kind of get the feel of this, lately...

y'know, try as i might, i'm unable to find anywhere on the forum where i can put in an order for a chinese student... 

need data...

1.) the two biggest pools go down.
    a.) were any of the other pools affected?

2.) i couldn't start a local Bitcoin client on any of my miners for the period of the outtage.  did anyone else have that problem?


has anyone noticed any communication difficulties on 8332, or 8337?

that was weird.  and short.  it didn't appear to be localized.

comments?