BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!)

[caga]

sad story

Well its similar to what happened with Aaron Swartz around 2 years back. They will make an example out of people, that cause them losses.

[FattyMcButterpants]

This is very sad. I think we need to all practice civil disobedience and start trading on LocalBitcoins. They cannot arrest us all.

[Kprawn]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free. 

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary. 

[Wendigo]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free.  

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary.  

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

[600watt]

sad story

Well its similar to what happened with Aaron Swartz around 2 years back. They will make an example out of people, that cause them losses.

those institutionalized drug warriors are looking for new prey. their traditional prey is diminishing recently due to more liberal drug policy.

[newIndia]

The indictment says:

involved the transport and transmission of funds that were known to the defendant to have been derived from a criminal offense and were intended to be used to promote and support unlawful activity

I wonder what that's about. I doubt that he was knowingly helping the Silk Road or anything like that...

I read somewhere that he wanted to sell bitcoin @ more than 10% of the market rate to an undercover agent, instead of knowing that the buyer will be using it for illegal purpose. Does anyone have any info backing up this claim ?

[inBitweTrust]

This is very sad. The good news is it appears that the violent thugs(regulators and investigators) are primarily targeting local Bitcoin traders who accept transactions that are used for known illegal or money laundering purposes. While I believe the voluntary transactions of consenting adults should be permitted which includes laundering of money, it would be good advice for any local bitcoin trader to immediately deny any transaction where they are aware or are told the coins will be used in the service of illegal purposes.

Thus if you want to purchase bitcoins to buy your weed on the silk road 3, don't you dare tell the seller what your intended purchase will be used for, even casually. If you are selling bitcoins, immediately turn down all possible undercover agents and indicate to them that you do not support illegal uses of bitcoin and in the future they are better off keeping their mouth shut when purchasing bitcoins from another seller.

[RaXmOuSe]

This story makes some of you sad? SAD? IT SHOULD MAKE YOU MAD!

Governments and their little piglets should just stop acting like they are "liberals" and admitting they are corrupted crooks who can't think rational.

Was he arrested only because of selling bitcoins for cash ?

yes, you need to be licensed for that. All the US exchangers(the companies) will be under investigation very soon. it's illegal what they are ALL doing. Even the "big" ones are illegal. You will wonder how it is possible.

Well, think about how many big exchangers were closed during the time (Tradehill, Bitinstant, BitFloor and others). Coinbase and BitPay will be next(few months...maybe less). Stay tunned !

License...for what? to hinder "money laundering" or some other bs excuse? Pay taxes? FUCK THEM! Wathever these suits trying to do, they never going to stop people from buying p2pcurrencys and using them. Thats their biggest concern. They don't give a shit about criminal acts.

This is though not only a US related problem, we see the same thing here in Europe. When FED with BIS/IMF show me their license to manipulate markets on their own behalf, so to say- Admitting they are criminals who ride on debt with interest built on a air. then maybe I might reconsider this criminal action legit.

This is very sad. I think we need to all practice civil disobedience and start trading on LocalBitcoins. They cannot arrest us all.

Exacly what should be done. F all those regulators who think they doin something righteous, PIGS!

[inBitweTrust]

This story makes some of you sad? SAD? IT SHOULD MAKE YOU MAD!

One should always be aware of the corruption and injustice inherent in the system. I will not be bullied or intimidated into the peaceful activity transacting in bitcoins locally, but it is good advice to be cognizant of the dangers in doing so and mitigate such risks.

It is akin to walking into a "smoke shop" in a jurisdiction where Marijuana is illegal and asking to purchase a Bong instead of a water pipe. The shop owner will kick you out as you are endangering them unnecessarily. There is absolutely no need for the purchasers to inform the sellers what they are going to be using their bitcoins for and if the purchaser mentions anything illegal than they are either an idiot or an undercover agent that you are better off turning down with some helpful advice.

[dewdeded]

Let's help him together.

[inBitweTrust]

Let's help him together.

Before we can we need to know who his lawyer is. We can crowd fund legal support through Lighthouse once we have this information.

[pereira4]

So wait, not even LocalBitcoins is safe anymore? well fuck, I guess we need p2p exchanges more than ever.

[inBitweTrust]

So wait, not even LocalBitcoins is safe anymore? well fuck, I guess we need p2p exchanges more than ever.

All these arrests involved sting operations where the buyer indicated that they were using bitcoins for illegal purposes.
I have not heard of one incident that was solely due to lack of a MSB license as of yet for small and local traders. This doesn't mean that it won't occur in the future but that you are likely safe selling small amounts locally if the buyer doesn't tell you they are going to be involved in illegal activities.

Online p2p exchanges will not solve the need to be able to convert BTC into fiat and vice versa.

Darkwallet has solved this problem temporarily by teaming up with Chip Chap to withdraw through their ATM's :

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/dark-wallet-now-with-cash

But eventually their may be regulatory pressure placed on the ATM operators.

[dserrano5]

So wait, not even LocalBitcoins is safe anymore? well fuck, I guess we need p2p exchanges more than ever.

p2p doesn't change anything. Regardless of how you find your peer, if you're buying BTC in exchange for cash from someone who says "man, ain't selling coke profitable!" you're hosed.

[bitcoin_bagholder]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free.  

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary.  

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

Not at all. I've never lived in the US but many people leave that country due to regulatory and tax reasons.

[sergio]

BurtW was recently arrested. The indictment (located by Raize):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/248973784/Bitcoin-indictment

Is there anything we can do to help him? There's a site with a donation address, though I'm a little suspicious that the site might be fake. (The arrest itself is very likely real.)

This is a witch hunt by the taxman, I believe this took place before the IRS declared bitcoins to be property retroactively which is illegal.

this type of tactics by the IRS is in part what has caused the price of bitcoin to temporarily go down since it makes it difficult to purchase bitcoins.

The way the news appears it looks like it was a clear case of entrapment, since the cop made a lot of small purchases will the goal to gain his trust so he could be entrapped.

Charles shrem was also a victim of this.

Remember guys bitcoin is a financial revolution, revolutions are not peaceful, there will be some that fall but fighting for financial freedom is worth it.

but do not take  unnecessary risks, if using localbitcoins find out the legal limits and play within those limits to reduce risk.

burtW was exercising his financial freedom that is not illegal based on the constitution, it is only made a crime because the taxman does not get his cut for something he did not help create, he did nothing to support, he did not contribute, nevertheless he wants his cut after all you are bypassing his inflation tax with bitcoins.

Also forcing people to pay the inflation tax is illegal under the constitution, that is why the constitution mentions gold and silver as money, it was to prevent the inflation tax that is currently payed under the US dollar and that tax is used mostly to fund wars. Since with bitcoin there is no inflation tax, the IRS is asking retroactively its users to pay the inflation tax which bitcoin by design was made to avoid, since it was designed to be a form of honest money and completely open. not closed like a typical fiat currency and inflated at will using qe (money printing).  

To those that say he knew what he was doing, yes he knew, he was participating in a financial revolution.

[600watt]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free.  

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary.  

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

Not at all. I've never lived in the US but many people leave that country due to regulatory and tax reasons.

overhere (germany) gains on bitcoin are taxfree after holding your coins for one year. i once thought it would be a good idea to provide a service for americans to let them move to germany for a year or so to save taxes. what a stupid idea that was i figured out when i learned, that u.s. Citizens have to pay taxes no matter where they live. in europe you pay taxes where you live.

[--Encrypted--]

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

I thought the opposite.

and I agree with sergio as to why BurtW got arrested.

[bitcoin_bagholder]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free.  

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary.  

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

Not at all. I've never lived in the US but many people leave that country due to regulatory and tax reasons.

overhere (germany) gains on bitcoin are taxfree after holding your coins for one year. i once thought it would be a good idea to provide a service for americans to let them move to germany for a year or so to save taxes. what a stupid idea that was i figured out when i learned, that u.s. Citizens have to pay taxes no matter where they live. in europe you pay taxes where you live.

Even worse is the US internet gambling laws. Pretty draconian compared to other countries in the so-called "free world".

[cr1776]

Hey, If you live in the USA, you have to adhere to their laws. { In some countries, you get jailed, if you drop litter on the street }

In the land of the Free, you cannot sell Bitcoins anonymously { Big Brother has to know, Who you are, How much you have, how much tax you owe them.... } So much for being free.  

No wonder Bill Gates wants a "Currency" that are not linked to terrorism and drugs { I wonder, what in his opinion, did those people use, before there were Bitcoins? }

No wonder more and more companies are moving their operations away from the USA, the regulations are killing innovation.

Good luck BurtW .... I did not know you, but your opinions and contributions here was legendary.  

I thought the USA had the most lax regulations and taxes in the world.

HAD, yes.  But for a century the authoritarians of all political persuasions have been exerting and tightening their control.