Does Bitcoin have any active enemies?

[nestmate]

If yes,
1. Who/what are they?
2. Can they  hurt  us?
3. If so, in what way?
4. How can we protect ourselves?
5. How can we make peace?
6. Who and/or what can help us in doing so?

[ArsenShnurkov]

> 1. Who/what are they?
FATF
> 2. Can they  hurt  us?
Yes, globally
> 3. If so, in what way?
Will enforce through laws in each country
> 4. How can we protect ourselves?
Go deep into anonymous networks
> 5. How can we make peace?
Might be in the far future, but only if bitcoin will gain wide adoption under pressure from the pp.3, 4
> 6. Who and/or what can help us in doing so?
Some worldwide mafia (armed force)

[bitlotto]

mtgox has enemies. They did a DDOS attack against them. They then moved to a hosting service that can deal with such attacks.

[BioMike]

If yes,
1. Who/what are they?

Carrots

2. Can they  hurt  us?

Yeah. They can. The are Bitcoins arch-nemesis.

3. If so, in what way?

Ever got hit by one?

4. How can we protect ourselves?

Rabbits!

5. How can we make peace?

Never! We will conquer them!

6. Who and/or what can help us in doing so?

Teh rabbits!

[nestmate]

Arsen, why an how can ATF hurt us?

[Herodes]

mtgox has enemies. They did a DDOS attack against them. They then moved to a hosting service that can deal with such attacks.

If you do a google search, you will see that a lot of sites that handle money has been ddosed, the common scenario is this:

1. Bad guy ddos target.
2. Bad guy sends a note to target asking for nnn dollars to make the attacks stop.
3. Target either pay or strengthen his setup.

This has been done against many bookies for instance in the past.

So in my mind, the attackers that attacked mt.gox is simply criminals looking for a profit, nothing else.

More reading: http://www.silicon.com/technology/networks/2004/02/24/denial-of-service-extortion-threat-for-online-bookies-39118605/