2012-10-19 heise.de - Legal aspects of e-payment / Rechtliche Aspekt - In German

[Akka]

An article over Legal aspects in Germany, including a chapter about bitcoin:

Headline

Payments over the Internet can pose unknown banking license issues. In addition to electronic currencies like Bitcoin these days are also platform providers such as eBay & Co. in the sights of government supervision.

Bitcoin:

For example, the legal treatment of Bitcoins, an early 2009 introduced independent "currency" that ultimately consist of transfers by public and private keys in a decentralized system, is unclear. Bottom line, it is a sort of barter system, in which the participants mutually confirm each specific transactions, and these will be stored historically, in order to prevent abuse. E-money in the legal sense but that is not the opinion of many, for the owner of Bitcoins has no claim against a particular point on exchange into real money. Maximum could swap meets, where Bitcoins can be exchanged for real money, subject to approval.

However, the BaFin Bitcoins sees as a "unit of account", which is regulated by the Banking Act (KWG). After that, anyone who wishes to provide certain professional services in connection with Bitcoins, first has to obtain a license from BaFin. Ultimately, the Bitcoin system is a multilateral trading system that requires such a permit. So it looks anyway for the BaFin. The more difficult it would be to identify in a decentralized system like Bitcoin, the responsible persons must apply for the relevant banking licenses. The developers of the idea and the software behind Bitcoins are the providers and do not necessarily.

Currency risk for monopoly

The state's interest to a controlling access to tools such as Bitcoin is understandable. Because in addition to the prevention of money laundering states must also prevent the stability of state currencies is not undermined by those same currencies. In the past, there was, for example, Bitcoins to theft and fraud. Hereinbefore have a working system can also provide sufficient protection. It must be tamper-proof and convertible and especially provide a solution to the double-spending problem, ie the prevention of double output by the same amount.

Without clear central government requirements to the security and integrity of electronic money is not possible. The Federal Association of the Digital Economy (BVDW) has even explicitly warned of lack of government control before use of Bitcoins. You have "the potential of the whole society (...) hurt by tax evasion, money laundering or other illegal businesses in the future," says the press release. Bitcoins by the government economic policy is undermined. The BVDW assumes that the legislature will ban such "substitute currency" sooner or later.

All Quotes Machine translated, if something is really not understandable, don't hesitate to ask.

Full Article (Google Translate):

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fix%2Fartikel%2FWaehrungsrisiken-1723975.html&act=url

Original (German):

http://www.heise.de/ix/artikel/Waehrungsrisiken-1723975.html

[1714827131]

1714827131

[giszmo]

Super negative FUD article. No counter arguments to claims that bitcoin might have a double spending issue blablabla. I only read paragraphs with "bitcoin" in them in German without verifying the whole translation but this paragraph is translated more or less accurately:

However, the BaFin Bitcoins sees Bitcons as a "unit of account", which is regulated by the Banking Act (KWG). After that, anyone who wishes to provide certain professional services in connection with Bitcoins, first has to obtain a license from BaFin.

[Wekkel]

It seems the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) fears it a lot.

Ohne klare zentrale, staatliche Vorgaben an die Sicherheit und Integrität von elektronischem Geld ist das nicht möglich. Der Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) hat sogar wegen mangelnder staatlicher Kontrolle ausdrücklich vor einer Nutzung von Bitcoins gewarnt. Sie haben „das Potenzial, der gesamten Gesellschaft (…) durch Steuerhinterziehung, Geldwäsche oder andere illegale Geschäfte nachhaltig zu schaden“, so die Presserklärung. Auch werde durch Bitcoins die staatliche Konjunkturpolitik unterminiert. Der BVDW geht davon aus, dass der Gesetzgeber solche „Ersatzwährungen“ über kurz oder lang verbieten wird.

In essence, they think Bitcoin may have the potential to harm society due to tax evasion, money laundering and other criminal activities. It seems very narrow minded to me, but with a slogan "Wir sind das Netz" one could imagine anything 

[Akka]

In essence, they think Bitcoin may have the potential to harm society due to tax evasion, money laundering and other criminal activities. It seems very narrow minded to me, but with a slogan "Wir sind das Netz" one could imagine anything 

Yup, if it would be up to them, then "They are the Web" you get caught in.

If you can speak German, you should watch the BTC Article on Arte. It's the same there, they show up and just throw some homicide arguments in the camera, without doing any explaining.

[Spekulatius]

The main point of the whole articel (which is not bitcoin!) is new ruling that shakes up various servise providers, like ebay, that offer escrow or any other way hold money from customers and transfer it to other customers/retailers/sellers. For that falls under the definition of a financial services business, they need a license to do so. Ebay in that regard does not possess such license yet and therefore has to delay a scheduled escrow system for some month in order to receive such license first to comply with law.
Bitcoin is also mentioned in that regard with emphasis on various legal uncertainties that go with it.
Besides that a lot of questionalble and misleading assumptions and statements in there.