Tokyo Court: Bitcoin Not "Subject to Ownership"

[OmegaStarScream]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

[dreamspark]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

If you look into it thats not really what it says. What it really means is that because bitcoin is fungable you can't lay claim to any particular btc. Likely ruled to help the Japanese bankruptcy official able to liquidate holdings to JPY and pay out that way.

[commandrix]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

Whaaaaa? If "reliance on third parties" is a major factor in the ruling, the same should go triple for fiat currencies that rely on banks and governments to make them valid mediums of exchange.

[AgentofCoin]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

I would like to also add that the Plaintiff represented himself in this case. I do not know if he is a lawyer.
It is possible in other related cases, with a proper lawyer and proper argument, this decision can be contradicted.
It will not become precedent, because how do people (who had theft or other) recover losses from property or assets then?

[ashour]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

If you look into it thats not really what it says. What it really means is that because bitcoin is fungable you can't lay claim to any particular btc. Likely ruled to help the Japanese bankruptcy official able to liquidate holdings to JPY and pay out that way.

Yes but you could technically claim ownership of the private key which holds the bitcoin. I think that the judge doesn't know much about bitcoin and how it works.

[Snorek]

Oh yea? And how we can claim ownership of the fiat? Say I steal some money from someone, there is no proof that he owned that money too. In bitcoin everything is in blockchain we have a private address.
This sentence is just not exactly something I would expect from japanese court it puts Bitcoins even deeper part of gray area of financial world. But Mark is gonna be very happy about it.

[Jace]

Does that same judge hereby also dictate that Japanese Yens are not subject to ownership, for the exact same reasons? (even more so, as far as 3rd party dependency is concerned)

[anderson00673]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

If you look into it thats not really what it says. What it really means is that because bitcoin is fungable you can't lay claim to any particular btc. Likely ruled to help the Japanese bankruptcy official able to liquidate holdings to JPY and pay out that way.

Ah, I see.  I did not read it that way.  I read it as "yay now every software program is free because it is intangible and not subject to ownership."  Of course such an interpretation is absurd, which is why I was slightly concerned.

[bitcoinmasterlord]

Tokyo's District Court has ruled that bitcoin is "not subject to ownership", with a judge informing a plaintiff he could not claim for bitcoins lost in the Mt Gox collapse.
Judge Masumi Kurachi stated that, due to their intangible nature and reliance on third parties, bitcoins cannot be covered under existing law.

Mark ... this kind of crap that kills Bitcoin . just like Silk road or any other Darknet market

Check more and read fully here : http://www.coindesk.com/tokyo-court-bitcoin-not-subject-to-ownership-2/

What does this mean now? Mark Kapelles did nothing wrong and he can go home instead into jail?

Well that would be great of course... at least for him... and his cat...