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Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

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Re: Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

#111

Post by dnautics »

rualca wrote: post #103
dnautics wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We live in a country that has the rule of law, you can't just arbitrarily use a vague characterization of a country being "hostile" to abridge the rights of someone. I would be alright with this if the us had a formal declaration of war with north Korea, but it doesn't.

> We live in a country that has the rule of law, you can't just arbitrarily use a vague characterization of a country being "hostile" to abridge the rights of someone. There is no ambiguity in the classification of North Korea as a hostile regime. Not only there is the fact that the Korean war never ended with a peace treaty an only had an armistice, there is also the hostile and recently degrading relationship that…

There is indeed no ambiguity with Korea, but there is a worrying spectrum of hostility - from Russia to china to iran. I detest all of those regimes, but we absolutely must be careful about using a vague characterization as a pretense for the our regime to take arbitrary and unjust actions against us citizens that are have family or are doing legitimate businesses there.

Re: Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

#112

Post by Cypher »

legutierr wrote: post #57
chrisco255 wrote: post #3

"Griffith was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in November 2019 after he travelled to North Korea to give a talk on blockchain and crypto." This is pretty wild to me. The guy gave a talk in North Korea and gave them non-classified information they could easily find on YouTube or any other public website. And now he's facing 20 years.

North Korea is building nuclear weapons in order to threaten the United States and its allies with them. Tens of thousands of American soldiers are stationed in South Korea in order to defend it from North Korean aggression. The war between the US and North Korea—which began 70 years ago when the current dictator’s grandfather invaded the South and declared war on the United States—is technically not over, and the po…

It's a terrible what the western government will do to it's own people for power and control.

Re: Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

#113

Post by rualca »

dnautics wrote: post #111
rualca wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in a country that has the rule of law, you can't just arbitrarily use a vague characterization of a country being "hostile" to abridge the rights of someone. There is no ambiguity in the classification of North Korea as a hostile regime. Not only there is the fact that the Korean war never ended with a peace treaty an only had an armistice, there is also the hostile and recently degrading relationship that…

There is indeed no ambiguity with Korea, but there is a worrying spectrum of hostility - from Russia to china to iran. I detest all of those regimes, but we absolutely must be careful about using a vague characterization as a pretense for the our regime to take arbitrary and unjust actions against us citizens that are have family or are doing legitimate businesses there.

> but we absolutely must be careful about using a vague characterization

I should point out that there is nothing vague about sactions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_North_Korea

If a country like the US imposes sanctions on a country which includes, quite prominently, restrictions on investment and financial activities, and afterwards you go out of your way to provide assistance on how to circumvent those restrictions on investment and financial activities... Where's the surprise that your assistance gets you in jail?

Re: Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

#114

Post by dnautics »

rualca wrote: post #106
dnautics wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's exactly correct. If we're going to start abridging freedoms (which I concede may be necessary in exigencies), we'd better get a congressional vote on it.

I'm afraid you're just stating how you'd prefer things to be instead of discussing (and considering) how things actually are. The truth of the matter is that declarations of war are patently irrelevant regarding whether a nation is deemed hostile or not.

Yes, of course. This whole thread is about how we would prefer things to be, it's about the ethics of whether or not someone should have been arrested. He was arrested. That is the "truth of the matter".

Re: Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith back in jail after checking $1M Coinbase account

#115

Post by dnautics »

BobbyJo wrote: post #102
dnautics wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> US is technically still at war with North Korea No we are not. The constitution specifically says that only congress can declare war, and congress has made no such declaration.

So we were never at war with Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Vietnam. Sweet. I guess we're still on our perfect win streak yeah? Edit: I feel bad about being facetious, but I feel like the point is relevant. The US, in a practical sense, does not need congress to ok war. Pointing that out as a reason to doubt the basis for strict treatment of North Korea is like pointing out the speed-limit is 55 when someone travelling 56…

Hm. There seems to be a correlation between declaring war and winning them.
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