Russian Bitcoin Users Can Face Jail Time up to 15 years

[Liquid]

Benefits outweigh the negative use of Bitcoin by about 50,000 times why cant they see this ?

[linuxnewbie]

Yeah can someone make it already as I think Putin is just a stupid bigot for his anti gay laws.Thankfully I live in UK so I can express my views more freely than in Russia.

You may be parroting some disinfo here. Which laws are you referring to?

[film2240]

Yeah can someone make it already as I think Putin is just a stupid bigot for his anti gay laws.Thankfully I live in UK so I can express my views more freely than in Russia.

You may be parroting some disinfo here. Which laws are you referring to?

I don't know the specific laws because all the news I've seen seems to ban giving info about gays,which effectively stop people from saying we want equality or something to that effect.

It's drawn a lot of complaints though.

disinfo?Never heard of that term before.Starting to think things aren't so clear :/

Edit:Here's a better article on it http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-anti-gay-law-casts-a-shadow-over-sochis-2014-olympics/2013/09/29/3646344c-27a6-11e3-9372-92606241ae9c_story.html

[Alphi]

Benefits outweigh the negative use of Bitcoin by about 50,000 times why cant they see this ?

are you asking why a bank cant see the benefits of bitcoin?

i would have thought that would have been obvious, because bitcoin threatens to disrupt their entire business model.
anyone who expects federal banks, central banks or reserve banks etc to embrace bitcoin are just being silly.

ask yourself this... if a central bank cant print money and do whatever it wants to influence the economy then what is it good for?

[simulacrum]

I started to look into this and quickly started to realize it seems to just be a case of a journalist/newspaper over exagerating things and coming up with a shock story title to get views.  I havent seen any other articles suggesting anyone would go to jail simply for using bitcoin...only that current finincal crimes would apply to bitcoin as well. 

Doesn't seem to be much "news" here , just a single paper/journalist using shock journalism to get views...and it appears like it worked as this article is getting more views than any of the other articles about russia that point out russia only said if you commit a crime with bitcion it's treated the same as if you commit a crime with fiat.

In case anyone still thinks this was "just" media hype, the first thing I would say is that media hype in Russia (especially via state-owned media) is often the preferred method for signalling how the authorities feel about something, and maybe preparing the country for upcoming policy or legislation.

The CBR announcement (link below) specifically states that "the issuing of currency surrogates in the Russian Federation is prohibited."  They may not be planning to arrest everyone with a BTC-E account, but they are saying that the Bitcoin economy is not welcome in Russia.

(One potential implication: this could be problematic for Russia Today's work as a Bitcoin cheerleader)

http://www.cbr.ru/press/PR.aspx?file=27012014_1825052.htm

[Alphi]

"the issuing of currency surrogates in the Russian Federation is prohibited."  They may not be planning to arrest everyone with a BTC-E account, but they are saying that the Bitcoin economy is not welcome in Russia.

that sounds more like the Russian miners and mining pool operators might have a problem since it is their work that issues new currency.
as for BTC-E I wouldn't worry too much as it is in bulgaria which is part of the EU.

if Russia wanted to invade and shut them down they would have to deal with more than just the Bulgarian government.

[JohnsonRobinson]

This is sobering proof that Russia is looking to take over Bitcoin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXqKkYYALMU

[gooryheta]

Central banks starts to be threatened by something better, decentralized cryptocurrencies. But I dont think society is ready for decentralized cryptocurrencies to take over centralized ones right now or in near future

[Alphi]

Every time people speak about Russia they become a bit extreme.
For those who desire to tell something negative about Russia, I'd suggest to visit the country before speaking, so you wouldn't risk to offend people who lives there with the information you can't be quite sure about.
Perhaps you may read Russian newspapers or watch Russia today channel, which is online.
Maybe there are other explanations to the "facts" you suppose to know, or may the "facts" you are so sure about are quite distant from what you are getting from your media sources.

that's a very good point.. RT and Max Kaiser have been championing bit coins for a very long time.

[tvbcof]

Every time people speak about Russia they become a bit extreme.
For those who desire to tell something negative about Russia, I'd suggest to visit the country before speaking, so you wouldn't risk to offend people who lives there with the information you can't be quite sure about.
Perhaps you may read Russian newspapers or watch Russia today channel, which is online.
Maybe there are other explanations to the "facts" you suppose to know, or may the "facts" you are so sure about are quite distant from what you are getting from your media sources.

I personally make it point to NOT learn about ANY country by reading media controlled by it's government.  In the case of Russia and especially China, this means pretty much all domestically produced works.  In other countries which enjoy a bit more press freedom such as the U.S., it means simply avoiding the mainstream media.

[NanoAkron]

Every time people speak about Russia they become a bit extreme.
For those who desire to tell something negative about Russia, I'd suggest to visit the country before speaking, so you wouldn't risk to offend people who lives there with the information you can't be quite sure about.

Two points here:

Firstly, offence is entirely on the side of the receiver. You could tell me to go fuck a pig, and I wouldn't be offended. Tell the same words to my neighbour and they might faint at having heard the most offensive thing ever in their life.

If people become offended by words and opinions, they need to review their internal mental state and why they chose to take offence in the first place.

Secondly, I can only rate Russia on the image that it wishes to give us outsiders. A nation run by lawless oligarchs, with a corrupt, festering political core. A nation of men who must appear hyper-macho at all times, and women who are nothing more than subservient beautiful dolls. A nation which promotes despicably backwards views about gays and blacks. A nation which is desperate to cling to its Soviet past by invading 'breakaway' states - guess what, if they want to break away what right do you have to force them to remain?

Which is the true Russia? Show me the peace, love and tolerance which we come to expect from civilised countries and I will change my mind. Until then however...

[NanoAkron]

It's simple to read about Russia all the clichés we read here in the western media, but it's difficult to find someone telling a different opinion and explain why he thinks so.
In Russian media you'll be easily find all the clichés the Western media and politicians are saying and the explanation of their point of view as well as the opposite opinion.
So what is better for the democracy from your point of view: to know only one side of the question or to know both?

So please correct my interpretation of:

Gay rights in Russia, Dagestan, Georgia, traditional male & female gender stereotypes, oligarchs.

[EvilPanda]

Examining Russian media, you may discover the opinion that in the Western culture there is a conviction that their way of living is the best one and who dare not to lean to it is mentally ill and should be brought on the right path, even with the bombs.

The Russian media insist on the fact that Russian soldiers has been never sent abroad in this last twenty years (except Russian have a military base in Siria). The most of Western countries have a different approach in this sense. The only one time Russians have used their forces outside their border were in Georgia in 2008 and the Russian media insist that Russians were protecting civil from the bombs the Georgian soldiers where throwing on the cities. But they also admit that there were geopolitical interests. Generally speaking Georgian and Russian people are very sorry for this war, as they were always considering each others friends. In any case you can read in Russian newspapers that Russians has not invaded Georgia, they have only protected territories where are living other populations that Georgians and de facto where not inside of Georgia long before 2008.

You mention bombs?

"When the Russians besieged the Chechen capital, thousands of civilians died from a week-long series of air raids and artillery bombardments in the heaviest bombing campaign in Europe since the destruction of Dresden"
P.S. It was in 1995 so 19 years ago, either your media got confused or they treat that country as part of Russia, just like Georgia.

[FandangledGizmo]

I started to look into this and quickly started to realize it seems to just be a case of a journalist/newspaper over exagerating things and coming up with a shock story title to get views.  I havent seen any other articles suggesting anyone would go to jail simply for using bitcoin...only that current finincal crimes would apply to bitcoin as well. 

Doesn't seem to be much "news" here , just a single paper/journalist using shock journalism to get views...and it appears like it worked as this article is getting more views than any of the other articles about russia that point out russia only said if you commit a crime with bitcion it's treated the same as if you commit a crime with fiat.

In case anyone still thinks this was "just" media hype, the first thing I would say is that media hype in Russia (especially via state-owned media) is often the preferred method for signalling how the authorities feel about something, and maybe preparing the country for upcoming policy or legislation.

The CBR announcement (link below) specifically states that "the issuing of currency surrogates in the Russian Federation is prohibited."  They may not be planning to arrest everyone with a BTC-E account, but they are saying that the Bitcoin economy is not welcome in Russia.

(One potential implication: this could be problematic for Russia Today's work as a Bitcoin cheerleader)

http://www.cbr.ru/press/PR.aspx?file=27012014_1825052.htm

What a retard. You say in 1 breath 'media hype in Russia is often the preferred method for signalling how authorities feel about something' then in another say 'this could be problematic for Russia Today's work as a Bitcoin cheerleader'

If Russia Today is a Bitcoin cheerleader it means the authorities are OK with Bitcoin.

[EvilPanda]

Chechenia is a part of Russia at least since XVIII century.
There is no independence declaration recognized by any country of the world.
The division from Soviet Union were done among the 15 soviet republics, and Chechenia where inside of Russian soviet republic at that moment.
The Russian media say the European Union where tacitly agree with the war, in fact the Western media do not speak much about the war, but they do not speak a word about how the things where in whole Russia before the Chechen war and what where the motivations of the war, so you'll never know what were the motivations of the European Union to be agree with the Chechen war (I mean at least if you don't read Russian newspapers).

Examining Russian media, you may discover the opinion that in the Western culture there is a conviction that their way of living is the best one and who dare not to lean to it is mentally ill and should be brought on the right path, even with the bombs.

The Russian media insist on the fact that Russian soldiers has been never sent abroad in this last twenty years (except Russian have a military base in Siria). The most of Western countries have a different approach in this sense. The only one time Russians have used their forces outside their border were in Georgia in 2008 and the Russian media insist that Russians were protecting civil from the bombs the Georgian soldiers where throwing on the cities. But they also admit that there were geopolitical interests. Generally speaking Georgian and Russian people are very sorry for this war, as they were always considering each others friends. In any case you can read in Russian newspapers that Russians has not invaded Georgia, they have only protected territories where are living other populations that Georgians and de facto where not inside of Georgia long before 2008.

You mention bombs?

"When the Russians besieged the Chechen capital, thousands of civilians died from a week-long series of air raids and artillery bombardments in the heaviest bombing campaign in Europe since the destruction of Dresden"
P.S. It was in 1995 so 19 years ago, either your media got confused or they treat that country as part of Russia, just like Georgia.

The rest of Europe wouldn't lift a finger to stop Russia, they never did in the past and Russians love to test the borders.
The “package” was detected on the radar over the Gulf of Finland and for one hour they seemingly carried out attack runs against Poland, the Baltics — and the southern tip of Öland in Sweden.
“I think the purpose was to practice various types of attacks as well as highlight the Russian presence in the southern Baltic,” Anders Persson, acting flight tactical commander on the Swedish Armed Forces said in an interview with SVT.se.
The world prefers to sit by and watch while the giants bully smaller countries, I'm not thinking only about Russia.
Did you ever see countries joining the weak against overwhelming agression?
Invasion of Poland 1939, Afghanistan 1979, same thing happened in Iraq and Afghanistan when US forces attacked them.
Nobody wants to engage in military conflict unless they have to.

[oxfardk]

Central banks starts to be threatened by something better, decentralized cryptocurrencies. But I dont think society is ready for decentralized cryptocurrencies to take over centralized ones right now or in near future

Since Bitcoin is decentralized and unregulated the governments won't allow this.

[dbbit]

There is a law which the Western media call anti-gay, and I think that a gay should be offended because of this label, and not because of the law. In fact the law says: "there should be no gay propaganda towards the minors". So the Western media assume that being a gay means automatically to be eager proselytizing among the minors? That's why recently Putin said: "The homosexuals are welcome in our country, we only have the law against paedophilia and against gay propaganda towards the minors".

The real problem here is that Putin isn't a good politician. He may be a good statesmen but he can't sell it to the world.

There are similar laws actively being enforced in Arizona, Texas, Alabama and Utah against gay propaganda to minors.

Moreover, in Russia the law carries a >80% approval rating of the people. In the U.S. the same laws carry a < 50% approval rating.

If Putin was more of a politician, he would go up on stage and read the laws of the U.S. to the press, pointing the finger back at the U.S. and saying that the U.S. is doing the exact same thing - the only difference is that the U.S. is doing it without consent of the populous. There are lots of U.S. talkshow hosts that would just love to prance on a story like this.

[Morbid]

the term "independent media" or "free press" keep on being mentioned here. most in the US understand it as media not owned by the government. but wait a second, all media in the USA is corporate controlled, so in reality handful of elite clans own the whole information stream. now the government is also owned by them since they sponsor all parties and government institutions. so we have situation where yes the government is not controlling the media but the whole system is ruled by one entity. in russia there are several government owned tv channels but also plenty of 'private' channels that are funded mostly from abroad to pass their own agenda of putin bashing. nobody is suppressing those. people choose what to whatch and what to agree with. in my understanding that is democratic environment.

most of what you hear from western media about russian federation is very subjective and biased. stop being sheeople.

[Alphi]

the term "independent media" or "free press" keep on being mentioned here. most in the US understand it as media not owned by the government. but wait a second, all media in the USA is corporate controlled, so in reality handful of elite clans own the whole information stream. now the government is also owned by them since they sponsor all parties and government institutions. so we have situation where yes the government is not controlling the media but the whole system is ruled by one entity. in russia there are several government owned tv channels but also plenty of 'private' channels that are funded mostly from abroad to pass their own agenda of putin bashing. nobody is suppressing those. people choose what to whatch and what to agree with. in my understanding that is democratic environment.

most of what you hear from western media about russian federation is very subjective and biased. stop being sheeople.

the thing about Russia Today is that its a mouth piece for the Russian government but they hire Americans to do all the talking so people think its just another "free press" american news channel. ingenious..
I guess in some sense it is like every other US news channel, because 90% of news from the US (and most countries for that matter) are controlled by very powerful people with an agenda as you say.

that's why I watch PBS if I watch any news at all from the USA.

that being said however... I think they talk about bit coin a lot and get that crazy max kaiser on the show because they want to play up anything that is potentially disruptive to the US financial system.
this doesn't necessarily mean they approve of BTC only that they like how it messes with the US Banksters.

wouldn't surprise me at all if Max had a silk road account. He looks like he is always on something and I believe he has even admitted he used to do lines back in his wall street days...

[Bitcoinpro]

that 15 years will go to zero after they have hoarded enough coin