would you return found money to the proven original owner who lost it?

[niko]

The poll is (almost) totally anonymous - no need to pretend. What would you do? Would your answer change in case of 0.9 or 9000 coins? If you returned the funds, would you expect a tip? Or would you take the tip upfront? Would you publicize your decision, whatever it may be?

[Luke-Jr]

The poll is (almost) totally anonymous - no need to pretend. What would you do? Would your answer change in case of 0.9 or 9000 coins? If you returned the funds, would you expect a tip? Or would you take the tip upfront? Would you publicize your decision, whatever it may be?

I would expect a tip if it was troublesome to return. For example, we are discussing a "mistaken fee policy" for Eligius and I suggested that we have a 5 BTC recovery fee to deal with cleaning up the pool/reward/payout end of the equation (and a side effect of discouraging phony claims and neglegence).

[Mike Christ]

I'd keep some for the fee and for good Samaritan tax   But I'd send the rest back to him.

[Nesetalis]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

[Digigami]

For everyone's benefit the Bitcoin community (here and abroad) would do well with more honesty. I would return the full amount of the coins which do not belong to me, my only request or stipulation would be a signed message from the address (or the largest contributing when many inputs spent) from the rightful owner so that I am sure it was a mistake, and the right person is receiving their money back. In the case the coins came from a public address or they can not prove control of the private keys, then I would probably be hesitant to send it back.

I would send the entire amount back, and not expect or require any compensation but I would always encourage rewarding peoples honesty.

[niko]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

Interesting point. Let's say it turns out money belonged to a CEO of a corporation you disliked (Monsanto if you are a typical guy) - would you just keep quiet, or would you make it public that you are keeping the coins because he is such an asshole?

[niko]

The poll is (almost) totally anonymous - no need to pretend. What would you do? Would your answer change in case of 0.9 or 9000 coins? If you returned the funds, would you expect a tip? Or would you take the tip upfront? Would you publicize your decision, whatever it may be?

I would expect a tip if it was troublesome to return. For example, we are discussing a "mistaken fee policy" for Eligius and I suggested that we have a 5 BTC recovery fee to deal with cleaning up the pool/reward/payout end of the equation (and a side effect of discouraging phony claims and neglegence).

This is reasonable.

[niko]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

Interesting point. Let's say it turns out money belonged to a CEO of a corporation you disliked (Monsanto if you are a typical guy) - would you just keep quiet, or would you make it public that you are keeping the coins because he is such an asshole?

I've decided what I would do: make it public that I've got the coins, and that I can't send them back to him as he is such an asshole. I send them to a random address from the blockchain, and wish him good luck with that next owner. His chances of getting the coins back eventually would be inversely proportional to the fraction of people considering him an asshole.

[Luke-Jr]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

The answer you're looking for is "keeping the coins".
Your decision whether to make a charitable donation or not based on your evaluation of the sender, is unrelated.

[Digigami]

I've decided what I would do: make it public that I've got the coins, and that I can't send them back to him as he is such an asshole. I send them to a random address from the blockchain, and wish him good luck with that next owner. His chances of getting the coins back eventually would be inversely proportional to the fraction of people considering him an asshole.

I like that idea. Essentially you would openly express your negative bias towards the other party, and hopefully pass the responsibility of making an honest decision to an entirely random entity. I say hopefully, because you can't be 100% certain the owner of the address you select to receive the funds has not abandoned it, or lost the keys, or is a unmonitored cold storage account which might end up holding those coins for a long time. Any measures you take as precautions against these possibilities reduces the randomness of which address you select. I suppose you need to decide how far you can take that to be certain they go to someone who can resend the coins, without applying your bias to control the outcome.

[Nesetalis]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

The answer you're looking for is "keeping the coins".
Your decision whether to make a charitable donation or not based on your evaluation of the sender, is unrelated.

More aptly, I prefer to judge the person before deciding if it is my place to teach them or to help them.
Say it was some vile organization such as Al Qaeda, catholic church, or Monsanto. I do not agree with their policies, in fact I would happily throw a monkey wrench in to their works, thus I would be quite happy to have found a large sum of money that they desired and I could withold. :3

[Luke-Jr]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

The answer you're looking for is "keeping the coins".
Your decision whether to make a charitable donation or not based on your evaluation of the sender, is unrelated.

More aptly, I prefer to judge the person before deciding if it is my place to teach them or to help them.
Say it was some vile organization such as Al Qaeda, catholic church, or Monsanto. I do not agree with their policies, in fact I would happily throw a monkey wrench in to their works, thus I would be quite happy to have found a large sum of money that they desired and I could withold. :3

Bad example, the Catholic Church is perfect.

[ABitBack]

I've sent money back when someone once overpaid me. I remained anon and could have taken it but that's just not cricket.

[TheButterZone]

...cough...
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=133122.0

[Nesetalis]

How about a third option? Enlightened self interest
But seriously, I would look at whether the person needed it. If some corporation or rich did it, i'm not inclined to return it as I likely need it more than they do. If however it was just some dude who messed up, and actually needs the money, yeah I'd return it.

The answer you're looking for is "keeping the coins".
Your decision whether to make a charitable donation or not based on your evaluation of the sender, is unrelated.

More aptly, I prefer to judge the person before deciding if it is my place to teach them or to help them.
Say it was some vile organization such as Al Qaeda, catholic church, or Monsanto. I do not agree with their policies, in fact I would happily throw a monkey wrench in to their works, thus I would be quite happy to have found a large sum of money that they desired and I could withold. :3

Bad example, the Catholic Church is perfect.

perfect example you mean But i'm not going to get in to a religious war, especially if you believe the catholic church is perfect XD

[Isokivi]

I'd send them back, but I have to mention that I would expect a reward.

[gyverlb]

In most cases I would send it back whole no question asked. If the person on the other end wants to send a tip, good for his karma.

If it takes more than a few minutes to resolve the problem (verifying the claim should be quick in most cases but not always) I'll ask for a reasonable refund fee. I usually bill clients between $100-$200/hour. For fellow Bitcoiners in a pinch I'll lower this to around $50/hour in BTC: I'm OK for a little free help but won't waste my time for hours for nothing.

If the network fees to send the coins back are disproportionate I'll subtract them (don't send me dust and expect me to refund it).

[Bitobsessed]

I found $600 in cash in a wallet in a parking lot.  I notified the business and left my number, took the wallet because I did not trust anyone, the guy came back looking for it and I returned it.  He gave me a $100.  Karma is everything.

[Vod]

I found $600 in cash in a wallet in a parking lot.  I notified the business and left my number, took the wallet because I did not trust anyone, the guy came back looking for it and I returned it.  He gave me a $100.  Karma is everything.

Karma is nothing.  What you are describing is morality.

[Quix]

I would keep it, break it up and transfer it to myself at different addresses and then liquidate it at MTGox. I would never tell anyone. So would most of you. Funnily enough I would return a wallet if I found one with ID (cash included).

Why? I don't really view Bitcoin as currency and if someone makes a mistake sending coins it's just part of the game. Bitcoin is a get rich quick scheme that has gotten out of control. I'm sure wherever the real "Satoshi" is, he's sitting on a pile of coins and is slowly liquidating. He and anyone else who got in on the ground floor is making a fortune at the expense of more recent bitcoiners. If you look at the stats, the majority of coins are being held so there is always the possibility that everyone will cash out and the market will collapse. You can play the game if you like, just be aware of what's happening here. I just wish I had thought this whole thing up.

P.S. I do mine small scale for fun and I'm running a slight profit, if they really do ship out some reasonablly-priced ASICs I'll probably pick one up. I'm making a lot more money on my web design and programming business, something to think about.