Mastercard hired 5 lobbyists to slam bitcoin in US Congress

[makebitcoin]

The people behind Bitcoin should get their own lobbyists.

[DRZoidberg]

"The possible social benefits of Bitcoin far outweigh the investment threats of Bitcoin. " The reason is that mastercard started to lose investments and thought that this is because of bitcoin. It's better for them to co-op with bitcoin and it would give more benefits.

[vayvanne]

The people behind Bitcoin should get their own lobbyists.

Lobbyist should get their own bitcoins.

[Meuh6879]

The people behind Bitcoin should get their own lobbyists.

they don't have a full access card to the congress ... or senat ... or ...  god (in the white house)

[RodeoX]

I think MasterCard has a good chance of winning this fight. The bitcoin community is scattered and infighting. The bank industry players are all on the same page. The bitcoin community has lost it's focus on economic freedom and many/most players are only interested in getting rich quick. The banks know exactly what they want and I suspect they will get it.
By this time next year it may be all over and MasterCard's smart approach to lobbying could put them in the position of directly writing the laws that you will obey or be fined and arrested for rejecting. It is very common for lobbyist to write laws these days. Unless we organize and show a united front our opinions are worthless to lawmakers. 

[justusranvier]

By this time next year it may be all over and MasterCard's smart approach to lobbying could put them in the position of directly writing the laws that you will obey or be fined and arrested for rejecting. It is very common for lobbyist to write laws these days.

The RIAA and MPAA were in the same position of writing the laws that you will obey or be fined and arrested for rejecting for over 10 years.

Yet The Pirate Bay is still online.

Unless we organize and show a united front our opinions are worthless to lawmakers.

You're begging the question of whether or not the opinions of lawmakers are worth anything to us.

If it takes Mastercard a year to get some new legislation through, the technology needed to circumvent those laws will have a year to develop.

[RodeoX]

By this time next year it may be all over and MasterCard's smart approach to lobbying could put them in the position of directly writing the laws that you will obey or be fined and arrested for rejecting. It is very common for lobbyist to write laws these days.

The RIAA and MPAA were in the same position of writing the laws that you will obey or be fined and arrested for rejecting for over 10 years.

Yet The Pirate Bay is still online.

Unless we organize and show a united front our opinions are worthless to lawmakers.

You're begging the question of whether or not the opinions of lawmakers are worth anything to us.

If it takes Mastercard a year to get some new legislation through, the technology needed to circumvent those laws will have a year to develop.

Good example. The RIAA and MPAA vs. customers was a freedom fight. They got most of what they wanted but users were able to change the music and movie industry forever. It is not exactly the same though. Music piracy was and is stealing and was subject to existing law. Laws they fought for with their lobby.
As far as the worth of lawmakers. well, I may choose to ignore the laws I disagree with. But when I'm in court that is not going anywhere. I might as well announce that I no longer am subject to any laws.
Your last point about getting the technology ahead of them is a real hope. It is why we have had a neutral Internet till now. Maybe it will all turn out alright?  personally I don't like to wait for things to happen to me. I like to make thing happen for myself. MasterCard has no other enemies than us. The foundation has to fight them while trying to convince people they are not secretly controlled by ______________(insert group here).

[Meuh6879]

The bitcoin community has lost it's focus on economic freedom and many/most players are only interested in getting rich quick.

No.

Because buy and pay with QR code is already implemented and ready to use... on bitcoin network.

It's the commercial community that not view the benefice of this (and must migrate from EAN to QR code sticker).

[Boris-The-Blade]

Good old Mastercard

[cbeast]

The Bitcoin Endgame.

Any business that wants economic freedom can register as a general contractor. They can circumvent money transferring laws by never actually touching and only negotiating payments to subcontractors transparently through the blockchain to similarly registered legal subcontractors. If you want to claim that anyone that doesn't have any money is a money launderer and a terrorist we will truly have a War on Poverty.

[justusranvier]

I may choose to ignore the laws I disagree with. But when I'm in court that is not going anywhere.

Obviously if you end up in court you're doing it wrong.

See this thread: https://lwn.net/Articles/598061/

it's likely that, if certain employees of the state discover the freelancer offering his services to foreign customers without their permission, they will attempt to punish him.

Once translated, then you can see the relevant question is not "does the freelancer need a license to export?" but rather, "If the freelancer exports without permission, will he be punished?"

Once you're asking the right question, then it's a matter of breaking the problem down in to manageable pieces:

• What methods do these bureaucrats have to detect when someone is exporting programming services without their permission, and how effective are they?
• What countermeasures can the freelancer employ to avoid detection, and how effective are those countermeasures?
• Once a bureaucrat has determined that he wants to punish someone, what methods of punishment can he employ to accomplish this?
• What methods exist via which the freelancer can reduce his attack surface regarding vulnerability to punishment, and how expensive are they to employ?

[Onicoman]

The Bitcoin Endgame.

Any business that wants economic freedom can register as a general contractor. They can circumvent money transferring laws by never actually touching and only negotiating payments to subcontractors transparently through the blockchain to similarly registered legal subcontractors. If you want to claim that anyone that doesn't have any money is a money launderer and a terrorist we will truly have a War on Poverty.

truely a great explanation mr, RISE OFF THE NEW AGE lol 

[Puppet]

bitcoins dont need insurance if they can show and prove they hold matching bitcoins to cover customer balances.

SO how does that work? Because exchange XYZ can prove it holds all the bitcoins it owes today, that by itself to you is a guarantee they wont lose yours tomorrow? Sounds like you dont understand the difference between an audit and a deposit insurance.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2014/05/09/secs-investor-warning-on-bitcoin-could-stifle-innovation/

What a load of crap.  Why does MasterCard truly want to push down bitcoin?  Is it because they are concerned for the good of people?  Or is it they don't want competition?  

How could such a thinly veiled plan be effective?  Can congress be so dumb that they accept this bias position of MasterCard in their attempt to squeeze competition?  

Unfucking-believable that they are allowed to do this.  

Of course, bitcoin has no lobbyists.

We don't need no stinkin' lobbyists! We now have are very own Serial Entrepreneur:



He embraces Clinton, just like...

[blackhull]

The Bitcoin Endgame.

Any business that wants economic freedom can register as a general contractor. They can circumvent money transferring laws by never actually touching and only negotiating payments to subcontractors transparently through the blockchain to similarly registered legal subcontractors. If you want to claim that anyone that doesn't have any money is a money launderer and a terrorist we will truly have a War on Poverty.

We are working on something like this for a better type of exchange... keep your eyes peeled 

[counter]

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." More and more  true every day.

Well put.  Looks like this may be a signal that they think they're ready to fight?  I don't know what the future will bring but I'm ready for it to take it's course.

[counter]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2014/05/09/secs-investor-warning-on-bitcoin-could-stifle-innovation/

What a load of crap.  Why does MasterCard truly want to push down bitcoin?  Is it because they are concerned for the good of people?  Or is it they don't want competition? 

How could such a thinly veiled plan be effective?  Can congress be so dumb that they accept this bias position of MasterCard in their attempt to squeeze competition? 

Unfucking-believable that they are allowed to do this. 

Of course, bitcoin has no lobbyists.

I can tell you one thing is for sure.  The lobbyists working for Master Card don't have any interests for what is good for the average person that uses that the regulations will effect.  They work for the bankers and history has shown what their intentions are.

[sana8410]

Instead of lobbying, they should implement bitcoin into their plastic cards. A plastic card is cheaper than a smartphone.

That will be that smart thing to do!But they can't think smart now,are scared and trying to get rid of competition.Mastercard is digging it own grave.

[Onicoman]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2014/05/09/secs-investor-warning-on-bitcoin-could-stifle-innovation/

What a load of crap.  Why does MasterCard truly want to push down bitcoin?  Is it because they are concerned for the good of people?  Or is it they don't want competition? 

How could such a thinly veiled plan be effective?  Can congress be so dumb that they accept this bias position of MasterCard in their attempt to squeeze competition? 

Unfucking-believable that they are allowed to do this. 

Of course, bitcoin has no lobbyists.

I can tell you one thing is for sure.  The lobbyists working for Master Card don't have any interests for what is good for the average person that uses that the regulations will effect.  They work for the bankers and history has shown what their intentions are.

Yeah. Corruption . Manipulation. General public ass- fuqing. Inflation. The rich get's richer, while the others bend over with a can off vaseline.

[RodeoX]

I may choose to ignore the laws I disagree with. But when I'm in court that is not going anywhere.

Obviously if you end up in court you're doing it wrong.

See this thread: https://lwn.net/Articles/598061/

I doubt that is going to persuade a judge.