Hal Finney, a ghost?

[alkan]

Hal Finney was not only a famous cryptographic activist, but one of the first users of Bitcoin and of this forum: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.msg1643833#msg1643833

Sadly, he suffered from ALS and died on August 28, 2014.

Now, take a look at his forum profile:


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436

Do you think that a cypherpunk like Hal would have shared his forum password with someone else?

Who knows...

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[Vlad2Vlad]

No. But who survived him in his will?
Maybe his wife or children checked to see if the account password is still a valid one.
Theymos should do what he did with Satoshi Nakomoto's account and disable it.
Just to be on the safe side.
You know.

It's probably his son Jason.

And what right does Theymos have to freeze anyone's account?  Satoshi is trying to access his Bitcointalk account and he can't cause of theymos.  Now you douches think you have the right to freeze Hal's account when it belongs to his family. 

All you Bitcoin elitists need a reality check. 

[Rockie1234]

No. But who survived him in his will?
Maybe his wife or children checked to see if the account password is still a valid one.
Theymos should do what he did with Satoshi Nakomoto's account and disable it.
Just to be on the safe side.
You know.

It's probably his son Jason.

And what right does Theymos have to freeze anyone's account?  Satoshi is trying to access his Bitcointalk account and he can't cause of theymos.  Now you douches think you have the right to freeze Hal's account when it belongs to his family. 

All you Bitcoin elitists need a reality check. 

Hang on a second, I think I'm missing something important. Did theymos really disable satoshi's account (and if so when)? Also why would theymos do that? That's sounds like a terrible idea! Regarding Hal finney, I'm almost certain that it is one of his relatives, it would make sense gang he would share his password when he knew he was going to die soon.

[Jemzx00]

No. But who survived him in his will?
Maybe his wife or children checked to see if the account password is still a valid one.
Theymos should do what he did with Satoshi Nakomoto's account and disable it.
Just to be on the safe side.
You know.

It's probably his son Jason.

And what right does Theymos have to freeze anyone's account?  Satoshi is trying to access his Bitcointalk account and he can't cause of theymos.  Now you douches think you have the right to freeze Hal's account when it belongs to his family. 

All you Bitcoin elitists need a reality check. 

Hang on a second, I think I'm missing something important. Did theymos really disable satoshi's account (and if so when)? Also why would theymos do that? That's sounds like a terrible idea! Regarding Hal finney, I'm almost certain that it is one of his relatives, it would make sense gang he would share his password when he knew he was going to die soon.

Yes, theymos did disable satoshi but from what I've read on this forum. He did that because satoshi ordered it. Regarding to Hal Finney account, it is most likely that it is his son that access it or any relatives of him since theymos or any other mod did not take any actions to his account.

[DrVaribo]

Hal Finney was not only a famous cryptographic activist, but one of the first users of Bitcoin and of this forum: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.msg1643833#msg1643833

Sadly, he suffered from ALS and died on August 28, 2014.

Now, take a look at his forum profile:


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436

Do you think that a cypherpunk like Hal would have shared his forum password with someone else?

Who knows...

It's just that you do not need to blame someone either. Everything can be, or the password was given, or the password cracked. You need to have proof, but it would not be bad to know the version of this man.

[manselr]

It was already requested by users to block Hal Finneys account. Let's not forget that this forum suffered from a massive hack and the passwords got bought in the dark web I think.

So both scenarios are possible:

1) His family
2) A hacker

We don't know. So block it, until its family contacts Theymos to confirm it.

[Joel_Jantsen]

It was already requested by users to block Hal Finneys account. Let's not forget that this forum suffered from a massive hack and the passwords got bought in the dark web I think.

I don't it would be a hacker.Had it been one of the attacks due to password breaches,theymos would block the account instantly and or change the details so hacker couldn't use it anymore.
Worst case scenario,Hal's son would have contacted theymos privately and on certain conditions would have gained access back to his Father's account which is completely normal.

[snipie]

Password breaches he blocks accounts immediately?
Then how would they recover them?

1- create a new account
2- send a message to an admin / theymos including proof of the identity
3- wait few days / weeks
4- ta da 

[Newmine]

It was already requested by users to block Hal Finneys account. Let's not forget that this forum suffered from a massive hack and the passwords got bought in the dark web I think.

I don't it would be a hacker.Had it been one of the attacks due to password breaches,theymos would block the account instantly and or change the details so hacker couldn't use it anymore.
Worst case scenario,Hal's son would have contacted theymos privately and on certain conditions would have gained access back to his Father's account which is completely normal.

Definitely a hacker or well someone who bought the hacked passwords. Check out all these accounts and their last active:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2650
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2654
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2659
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2670
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2673
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2673
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2703
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2708
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2721
They were all last active on Feb 19th, but dormant before that. There is probably more breached accounts but I don't feel like looking right now.

This account was last active Feb 28
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2706

Looks like the hacker had the same thought I had; Satoshi possibly created a new account either right before he last signed off or shortly after. The hacker was probably looking for a PM or email address that would lead to Satoshi or just some kind of clue.

[deisik]

No. But who survived him in his will?
Maybe his wife or children checked to see if the account password is still a valid one.
Theymos should do what he did with Satoshi Nakomoto's account and disable it.
Just to be on the safe side.
You know.

It's probably his son Jason.

And what right does Theymos have to freeze anyone's account?  Satoshi is trying to access his Bitcointalk account and he can't cause of theymos.  Now you douches think you have the right to freeze Hal's account when it belongs to his family. 

All you Bitcoin elitists need a reality check

But did Theymos block his account?

On the other hand, this is a tough question really. Since it is well known that Hal Finney had passed away and this account seems to be linked to his identity, it is questionable if anyone (including his son) should be using it. And there is nothing elitist about that. If it were just an account with no particular name, that would be a different thing but this is not the case here. My best suggestion is to rename it to something neutral (like "abcdef", if that is not taken already) and remove his photo from the avatar. I guess Hal would have agreed to that

[Vlad2Vlad]

But did Theymos block his account?

On the other hand, this is a tough question really. Since it is well known that Hal Finney had passed away and this account seems to be linked to his identity, it is questionable if anyone (including his son) should be using it. And there is nothing elitist about that. If it were just an account with no particular name, that would be a different thing but this is not the case here. My best suggestion is to rename it to something neutral (like "abcdef", if that is not taken already) and remove his photo from the avatar. I guess Hal would have agreed to that

So Hal can't leave his account to his son if he so chooses? 

How dictator of you. 

[deisik]

But did Theymos block his account?

On the other hand, this is a tough question really. Since it is well known that Hal Finney had passed away and this account seems to be linked to his identity, it is questionable if anyone (including his son) should be using it. And there is nothing elitist about that. If it were just an account with no particular name, that would be a different thing but this is not the case here. My best suggestion is to rename it to something neutral (like "abcdef", if that is not taken already) and remove his photo from the avatar. I guess Hal would have agreed to that

So Hal can't leave his account to his son if he so chooses? 

How dictator of you

I didn't say that (and we don't know if he had actually chosen that)

I just made a suggestion and I also said that it is a tough question (think of that as a disclaimer of sorts). My point is that if everyone is perfectly aware that someone is using someone else's account (provided it was not hacked or anything similar, of course), then there shouldn't be any issues with that. But this is again not the case here. People may get confused (see the OP), and it does look somewhat dubious to me, personally. For example, if someone created an account with the avatar of Elvis Presley's photo and similar name, there wouldn't be such questions at all

[achow101]

Well this is interesting: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1847308.0. Hal's account has made a post today. I fear whoever controls it may use his reputation for evil.

[deisik]

Well this is interesting: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1847308.0. Hal's account has made a post today. I fear whoever controls it may use his reputation for evil

I cannot access the post (thread) by your link. It kinda looks that it got deleted already. Do you have a snapshot or could you tell us what was in that post that made you think that someone is looking for something evil?

Okay, I have found that post in his post history

Segwit needs to be activated. I am risen.

For the record, I do not support anything that Jihan or "Crooked" Roger are doing with BU

And it seems to have already got deleted from his post history too. I suggest that his account get locked until Hal is officially resuscitated

[achow101]

I cannot access the post (thread) by your link. It seems that it got deleted already. Do you have a snapshot or could you tell us what was in that post that made you think that someone is actually looking for something bad?

It seems it has been trashcanned (I can still see it) and his other post (a duplicate) has been deleted.

Is this what you consider as evil?

No, but because someone has access to his account and is fairly up to date on Bitcoin happenings, so it is possible that someone could use his account to post opinions and then later citing the posts as sources in support of or against someone/something. Hal is after all a fairly well known figure in Bitcoin and people tend not to check sources or may not know that he has died.


Edit:

Theymos has locked the account: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1847311.msg18382142#msg18382142

I kept his account unlocked because I thought his family members might want to look at his PMs or something, but this is looking like his account was almost certainly compromised. So I locked his account.

The person who controls his account gained access via email-password-reset, so his email is probably also compromised.

[franckuestein]

Thanks. Today's comments were very suspicious of an unwanted activity in his account, especially after 'their' recent connection to the forum (February 12, 2017).
After Hal's passing, this kind of activity from his account taking advantage of his reputation wouldn't make sense.

[target]

Did Theymos disabled Satoshi's account?
Is it possible that he must be trying to login to it and found out he can't so he shy away knowing none will ever believe if he creates another account.  Probbaly one of the reason he isn't showing up to tell which side he is 

On the other said, Hal was also one of the user which was assumed to be Satoshi. But as he said as quoted "I am risen" , this must not be Hal nor his son.

[deisik]

Did Theymos disabled Satoshi's account?
Is it possible that he must be trying to login to it and found out he can't so he shy away knowing none will ever believe if he creates another account.  Probbaly one of the reason he isn't showing up to tell which side he is 

On the other said, Hal was also one of the user which was assumed to be Satoshi. But as he said as quoted "I am risen" , this must not be Hal nor his son.

As I got it, Satoshi himself asked theymos to lock his account

After all, this forum is his creation (with all due respect to theymos), so I don't think he will have any problem to get his account unlocked anytime whenever he may decide to return. So the real question should be whether he is going to return soon or at all, but given Hal's "resurrection", Satoshi may be prompted to make his public appearance too

[Spoetnik]

No. But who survived him in his will?
Maybe his wife or children checked to see if the account password is still a valid one.
Theymos should do what he did with Satoshi Nakomoto's account and disable it.
Just to be on the safe side.
You know.

It's probably his son Jason.

And what right does Theymos have to freeze anyone's account?  Satoshi is trying to access his Bitcointalk account and he can't cause of theymos.  Now you douches think you have the right to freeze Hal's account when it belongs to his family. 

All you Bitcoin elitists need a reality check. 

Well it's theymos's forum so he can do what he wants..
But i think locking Satoshi's account sucks because he can't use it.
..i unless with out contacting theymos first.
I had no idea Satoshi's account was locked either.

I think i seen Vlad mention Hal's account activity a month back or so roughly and i PM'd the guy.
I got no reply back from whom ever was in control of the account.
I did not expect any reply but it doesn't hurt to try.. ya never know.

Once i emailed the star of a TV show to ask him if there was any info he can share with me about the upcoming season..
I was highly suspicious the show was cancelled.
Turns out i was right and got confirmation and permission from the guy to post it publicly too.

Had PM's with a famous model chicky online before too.
She confirmed her identity by saying what was coming out later for her work etc.
Only she could have known..

I rarely even PM people and i am not a fan of them but if you REALLY want to know..