Is Satoshi's real identity Trinity grad student Michael Clear?

[Blinken]

Joshua Davis, a writer for the New Yorker, published an article therein on October 10th called "The Crypto-Currency" all about Bitcoin. You can get a copy from Cryptome (http://cryptome.org/0005/bitcoin-who.pdf). In the article he describes his efforts to identify Satoshi and came up with Michael Clear, a graduate student at Trinity in Dublin. Clear is reputed to be a brilliant cryptologist with advanced programming skills and an interest in economics and peer-to-peer networks who briefly worked at a bank in Ireland. According to Davis, Clear said he "likes to keep a low profile." Clear has neither confirmed or denied he is Satoshi. He has made a brief online statement regarding the article on his university home page:

http://www.scss.tcd.ie/~clearm/bitcoin.html

Notice there is no firm denial.

Davis focused on Clear because the writings from Satoshi show two things: use of English rather than American language and an advanced understanding of cryptology including knowledge of the latest academic results, an insider so to speak. At the Crypto 2011 conference, the key annual scholarly meeting on cryptology, there were nine attendees from the UK and Ireland. According to Davis, six of them were dismissive of bitcoin and two others had no programming capability. That left one person: 23-year-old Michael Clear.

According to the article Clear has published a paper on peer-to-peer networks and was the top student in CS at Trinity in 2008.

We have a new hero.

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[mjcmurfy]

At the Crypto 2011 conference, the key annual scholarly meeting on cryptology, there were nine attendees from the UK.

I would just like to point out that Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom. An important distinction, as hundreds of people in this country lost their lives fighting for independence from our British overlords in the the Irish war of Independence. I don't think anyone in the USA would take too kindly to someone dismissing the achievements of George Washington et al by referring to the USA a British colony.

Regarding the identity of Satoshi and the speculation on his potential Irish nationality, I wouldn't be surprised. We have some of the greatest thinkers in the world here in our Emerald Isle. And since we have known what it is like to be oppressed for over 800 years, we have a strong social distaste for unjustified authority. So it wouldn't surprise me to find out that a technology as economically and politically subversive as bitcoin was conceived of here, considering the abuses of power these institutions have gotten away with over the past few decades.

Whether or not it is the case remains to be seen. I personally doubt it, as the evidence is lacking.

[mjcmurfy]

Just wondering, is he from North Ireland?

Judging by his surname, and the fact that he studied at a university in Dublin, it's unlikely.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

At the Crypto 2011 conference, the key annual scholarly meeting on cryptology, there were nine attendees from the UK.

I would just like to point out that Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom. An important distinction, as hundreds of people in this country lost their lives fighting for independence from our British overlords in the the Irish war of Independence. I don't think anyone in the USA would take too kindly to someone dismissing the achievements of George Washington et al by referring to the USA a British colony.

Regarding the identity of Satoshi and the speculation on his potential Irish nationality, I wouldn't be surprised. We have some of the greatest thinkers in the world here in our Emerald Isle. And since we have known what it is like to be oppressed for over 800 years, we have a strong social distaste for unjustified authority. So it wouldn't surprise me to find out that a technology as economically and politically subversive as bitcoin was conceived of here, considering the abuses of power these institutions have gotten away with over the past few decades.

Whether or not it is the case remains to be seen. I personally doubt it, as the evidence is lacking.

Thank you for pointing that out, it's annoying to see when writers get these simple facts wrong. Kudos

[Phinnaeus Gage]

This was already discussed in depth on this forum, but it now seems missing along with a bunch of other threads. Odd!

[caston]

Another link to the article is here: http://www.betabeat.com/2011/10/04/did-the-new-yorkers-joshua-davis-nail-the-identity-of-bitcoin-creator-satoshi-nakamoto/

[Blinken]

Man, SORRY I thought Ireland was in the UK. Geez. I changed the text to say "UK AND IRELAND". When are you guys going to capture the rest of your island, anyway? Just kidding.

I posted this because if there were any previous posts on this important New Yorker article they have been deleted so it needs to be reposted. For example, if you search on "New Yorker" only this one post comes up. All the old posts are gone. (Hmm, now I wonder who might be deleting posts and why....)

In any case the article is pretty interesting beyond the Satoshi identity research. For example, he describes visiting a bitcoin miner in Kentucky. Worth a read.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Man, SORRY I thought Ireland was in the UK. Geez. I changed the text to say "UK AND IRELAND". When are you guys going to capture the rest of your island, anyway? Just kidding.

I posted this because if there were any previous posts on this important New Yorker article they have been deleted so it needs to be reposted. For example, if you search on "New Yorker" only this one post comes up. All the old posts are gone. (Hmm, now I wonder who might be deleting posts and why....)

In any case the article is pretty interesting beyond the Satoshi identity research. For example, he describes visiting a bitcoin miner in Kentucky. Worth a read.

I posted this because if there were any previous posts on this important New Yorker article they have been deleted so it needs to be reposted.

There's been a lot of posts and threads deleted in the last few days. Is somebody cleaning house. For an example, search Michael Clear, and you'll only find this thread, although there were 2-3 threads related to him at the beginning of the month.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

This was already discussed in depth on this forum, but it now seems missing along with a bunch of other threads. Odd!

I would guess that Satoshi is very well connected with the people at MtGOX. And as you all know MtGOX controls this forum, I know I sound like a conspiracy nut but maybe something was said that they don't want most people to know?

Man, SORRY I thought Ireland was in the UK. Geez. I changed the text to say "UK AND IRELAND". When are you guys going to capture the rest of your island, anyway? Just kidding.

I posted this because if there were any previous posts on this important New Yorker article they have been deleted so it needs to be reposted. For example, if you search on "New Yorker" only this one post comes up. All the old posts are gone. (Hmm, now I wonder who might be deleting posts and why....)

In any case the article is pretty interesting beyond the Satoshi identity research. For example, he describes visiting a bitcoin miner in Kentucky. Worth a read.

Is there anyway to see that online? Would be a pain for me to have that shipped to Thailand from the USA.

Goat, that would truly get my goat if this is true:

I would guess that Satoshi is very well connected with the people at MtGOX. And as you all know MtGOX controls this forum, I know I sound like a conspiracy nut but maybe something was said that they don't want most people to know?

[thisisgil]

I would just like to point out that Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom.

Yup, that is correct. Ireland are certainly not part of the UK, despite the fact that they wish they were. That's why they spend so much time and effort trying to blow the UK up - jealousy....

[Blinken]

Clear won the Irish "Undergraduate Awards Competition" in the category of computer science which recognizes the top undergraduate theses in each of 20 different academic disciplines (one of which is "midwifery" by the way).

Posted on 13 Sep 2011

Michael Clear, a TCD foundation scholar, who graduated with a Gold Medal at the top of his class in 2010, was recently announced as the winner of the 2011 Undergraduate Awards in the Computer Science and Information Studies category for his thesis entitled "Efficient Quantum Resistant Identity-Based Cryptography". The Undergraduate Awards received 2,345 submissions this year, an increase of 46% over last year.

Michael's final year project was centred on developing an Identity Based Encryption (IBE) scheme that was unsusceptible to presently known quantum attacks. He also developed an identity based non-interactive key sharing scheme. As part of his thesis he performed rigorous mathematical analysis of his theories and also implemented his schemes on wireless sensor nodes to prove that their efficiency on small form factor devices.

Here is a link to a copy of Clear's 2009 paper on integrating peer-to-peer networks and wireless sensor networks: https://www.cs.tcd.ie/publications/tech-reports/reports.09/TCD-CS-2009-29.pdf

[mjcmurfy]

Northern Ireland is part of the UK right? What am I missing?

Northern Ireland is still part of the UK, yes. Not the entirety of the "north" of ireland however, only the 6 counties that were agreed as part of the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed by Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith in 1921. Unfortunately they failed to realize that this gave the british exactly what they wanted, a small base in the country so they could pursue their colonial "divide and conquer" strategies. Despite winning our independence, the division this caused in our society nearly tore the country apart in the decades following. We are only now starting to emerge from the violent killings and bombings of the "Troubles" - a disgusting euphemism the british were so fond of using to describe the civil war they had caused.

Ireland though, is NOT part of the UK. Or more correctly, the 26 counties of the Irish Free State, are not part of the UK.

I would just like to point out that Ireland is NOT part of the United Kingdom.

Yup, that is correct. Ireland are certainly not part of the UK, despite the fact that they [/i]wish[/i] they were. That's why they spend so much time and effort trying to blow the UK up - jealousy....

You are right, we absolutely long for the good old days of the Potato Famine where the british robbed us of our foodstuffs and left our population of 8 million to starve, resulting in the death of over 1 million people and the emigration of many more. Weren't they so kind and generous?

And we just hate not having our land and assets confiscated from us by the English crown anymore, and miss the colonisation of our land with settlers from England and the Scottish Lowlands who persecuted my people for over 800 years, treating us as second class citizens in our own country, attempting to erase our entire culture, language and traditions from the history books.

We hark back with teary-eyed fondness to the time when Oliver Cromwell conquered our land causing 20,000 battlefield casualties, 200,000 civilian casualties, and the deportation of 50,000 of my countrymen as indentured laborers (slaves), and introducing the penal laws.

Yep, we are so jealous that we are no longer in the UK.

[mjcmurfy]

Almost all of what used to be the "Empire" broke away. Why cant the rest of Ireland? Honestly it does not even look like you are trying anymore.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA - an armed dissident organization) and Sinn Fein (a nationalist political party - translates as "ourselves alone" - who were the political front-end of the IRA) tried to achieve this by bombing and killing loyalists in northern ireland and it resulted in a bitter civil war on both sides of the border that lasted for almost 80 years after the free-state gained it's independence.

The british had the might of their army and special forces, where as the IRA only had their guerrilla tactics and the fear this engendered in people. We lived in a constant state of terror and paranoia (think an 80 year long post 9-11 period, but with people actually getting killed on a daily basis) which has only recently calmed down. And you suggest we should start it all up again by invading NI and thusly declaring war on Britain? We have no significant military to speak of, no tanks, aircraft or naval equipment, and our police force are all unarmed (the Garda Síochána - guardians of the peace).

The reason there is no appetite in Ireland to claim back the rest of our country is because we have learned from decades of civil war that it is not worth the anguish or religious and ethnic prejudice that it inherently causes. What do you suggest we do about the thousands and thousands of Ulster Loyalists (and indeed some Irish people for that matter) who do not want Northern Ireland to be part of the Free State?

Most Irish people have accepted the fact that Northern Ireland is still under the control of the crown but operated on the basis of a two-state solution, where Westminster have devolved most of it's power to the parliament in northern ireland, where loyalists and nationalists alike now cooperate together on a shared platform. We are not necessarily happy about it, but it is surely better than the alternative.

[mjcmurfy]

"ourselves alone" eh? When I translated it I got "We ourselves" rather close I would say.

I am not saying you should attack England but your response shocked me. They beat us up, so we will submit. I guess that is how it works...

Read my post again. We did not submit. We gained the independence of 26 of our 32 total counties from britain in 1921, and fought for 80 years afterwards to claim back the other 6, despite having virtually no hope of success up against the might of the british army. We suffered the consequences of a bitter civil war that caused fathers, mothers brothers and sisters of the same families to turn on each other. You have absolutely no clue what it was like living through this period. I lost several relatives and friends in the conflict, so don't preach to me about submission.

I guess we were mature enough to realize that war does not solve everything, and that it is better to cooperate with each other than to tear both of our societies apart.

[thisisgil]

"ourselves alone" eh? When I translated it I got "We ourselves" rather close I would say.

I am not saying you should attack England but your response shocked me. They beat us up, so we will submit. I guess that is how it works...

They were going to go in and have another stab at the UK, but they got distracted by a bunch of "up for the craic" leprechauns who got them all drunk on potato whisky.

Seriously, if they hadn't used all their potatoes to make alcohol, they wouldn't have had a famine. This is why the UK needed to come and hold their hand.

[mjcmurfy]

Little known Irish Fact:

90% of the Republic of Ireland football team were born in the UK.

Calm down, Paddy!

Fuck you, you insolent shit! Don't you dare call me a paddy.
That is akin to calling a black person a nigger.
I have ZERO time for people like you, and your racial prejudices and xenophobia.

Why the fuck should I give a crap about Soccer, a british sport, exported to their colonies as a means of placating their enslaved populations. We have our own Irish sports, such as gaelic football, handball and hurling, which the british tried to eliminate but failed miserably, just like they do at everything else.

Stuff a soccer ball up your arse! I'm sure it will help loosen it up a bit.

[thisisgil]

Fuck you, you insolent shit! Don't you dare call me a paddy.
That is akin to calling a black person a nigger.

Erm except that a black person is a race.

Xenophobia != Racism

[mjcmurfy]

"We gained the independence of 26 of our 32 total counties from britain in 1921"    Oh, so you were always Brittish, and then broke away to form your own country like the USA? I thought you guys were trying to defend your homeland that was taken over by outsiders. I apologizes for my mistake.  

Work together? Sounds like a collaborator to me... But you are right, I am not really educated on the subject....

No, we weren't always british. Ireland was populated by gaelic clans and hibeno-normans before the country became the first victim of british colonialism in the 16th century. Ireland was the test-ground where the british first flexed the muscles of their imperial ambitions.

Erm except that a black person is a race.

Xenophobia != Racism

You are an ignorant, uneducated, and intolerable bigot who doesn't understand the definition of the term "race". So you mean to say that Irish people are NOT a race? You don't have the faintest idea what you are talking about.

Wikipedia: Race is classification of humans into large and distinct populations or groups by factors such as heritable phenotypic characteristics or geographic ancestry, but also often influenced by and correlated with traits such as appearance, culture, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. In the early twentieth century the term was often used, in its biological sense, to denote genetically divergent human populations which can be marked by common phenotypic traits.

[johnj]

Clocked it!

It only took a page and a half to go from "Who is Satoshi" to "RACISM!!!"

That a new record?

[mjcmurfy]

Clocked it!

It only took a page and a half to go from "Who is Satoshi" to "RACISM!!!"

That a new record?

I know, it's ridiculous. I cannot believe there are people who are still so bigoted in this day and age.
I will not be responding to any more of thisisgil's racist comments.