I met Virgil at an academic workshop back in 2014. We went out in Amsterdam. He was a weird guy, to say the least (he’d probably be the first to agree). He was generally quite affable and obviously highly intelligent. He’s an idiot for this fiasco. But it’s also sad to see him in jail; I don’t see how this benefits society in any way. Five years in prison seems like a disproportionate punishment for an arguably victi…
Yeah, a victimless crime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_North_Kor... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwalliso https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea_and_weapons_of_mas...
US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
441–450 of 587 posts
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#442Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally, I support imprisoning anyone who helps subvert sanctions against a despotic state pursuing nuclear weapons.
Let's put emotions aside and look at the situation. This man is an expert in his field and possesses a lot of knowledge. He doesn't have to share this information with anyone, but he does so for the advancement and progression of society. Sharing information in this scenario was evidently a crime. How did we get to the point where knowledge sharing lands you in prison? It's because we have mindless shells of human be…
You can't completely set aside national ties until everyone else does.
Otherwise, those who still operate with that mind set exploit you.
It's a nice thought, but unrealistic.
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#443Earlier quoted context omitted.
How far down the "flew 8,000 miles to get there, climbed over the barbed wire fence, licked both his thumbs, and pressed them against the shiny parts labeled 'DANGER! 25,000 VOLTS!'..." rabbit-hole-of-stupid should one have to go, before it's 100% okay for me to stop caring whether or not his sentence was just?
He was imprisoned for teaching. You have to construct quite a mental abstraction for that to be a legitimate criminal offense.
I partially agree but there was clear intent in theory but in practice the action was deeply unethical.
Wouldn’t you go to jail if you taught someone how to plan a murder, with the knowledge they clearly planned on using that information?
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#444I thought free speech is a holy thing for US citizens. So speaking abroad about something that is not classified secret is a crime?
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#445Earlier quoted context omitted.
The santions are resposible for starving women/children. Should he be in prison for helping children eat?
International trade is a privilege not a right. If you want to thumb your nose at the international community on whom you rely to provide basic sustenance to your people you should prepare to have a bad time. Or figure out how to sustain your population without trade. But either way its the responsibility of NK, not the world, to find a way to feed the people of NK. That can be by participating in the world order and…
It is neither a right or privilege given by a power higher than yourself. It is a decision by a group of powerful countries who influenced, bribed and threatened others to get everyone to partipate. It jails citizens who provide information on cryto trading.
It is no one's responsibility to feed anyone. People don't have a right to exist. People do whatever they can to survive around the world.
The countries that have decided to force these kids to die to further their geopolitcal goals are responsible for those decisions. Maybe they die for a better future for all or maybe they die because their lives don't matter to the countries preventing food from reaching them.
Throughout history many countries
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#446Earlier quoted context omitted.
While USA does not ban everyone from doing trade with Cuba, USA does ban everyone who trades with Cuba from doing trade with the US. You can clearly see how this creates insentives for not trading with Cuba and instead trading with the far larger market next to it.
shouldn't countries be allowed to decide whom to trade with? if so, doesn't that extend to countries being allowed to make their own rules of trade, including not trading with those who trade with unfriendly nations?
> shouldn't countries be allowed to decide whom to trade with?
One have to distinguish country and its citizens. Sanctions is not just 'country decides whom to trade with' but 'country restrict freedom of its citizens to trade' and that is rather significant infringement of freedom and as such it has to be justified by its necessity.
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#447Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not banning trade doesn't force the countries to trade, it just gives them the choice. And the choice made by the US is to not trade with Cuba or anyone who trades with Cuba - it's their right to make this choice.
It's not. They're free to choose who they trade with, using who that country trades with as a decider violates their autonomy. You're just framing the violation as a choice and saying it is their right to make that choice. Sure, they also have the right to make the choice to invade Canada, but actually invading is obviously violating their autonomy.
Okay let's use a specific example:
I decide that I don't want to trade with Country A because they are producing weapons that they plan on using to attack me with. Now let's say Country B is trading with Country A, and I think they are trading components being used to produce the weapons in Country A.
Is it a violation of Country B's autonomy for me to decide to not to trade with them because they are trading with country A?
If I believe that anyone who trades with Country A is supplying them resources to build weapons to attack me, and I decide to not trade with any Country who is trading with Country A, am I violating the autonomy for all of those countries?
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#448According to the original complaint, a few months after being interviewed by an FBI agent on returning from his trip to North Korea, Griffith had the following conversation over text messages: Griffith: I need to send 1 [REDACTED UNIT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY] between North and South Korea. Other Guy: "Isn't that in violations of sanctions?" Griffith: It is. A few day later, also in text messages to someone else: Someone: W…
Yeah, it doesn't exactly seem like a William Worthy[1] type of scenario. If you actively aid a country in avoiding financial sanctions† then you pretty much only have yourself to blame when you eventually get thrown in prison for a few years. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Worthy#Right_to_travel... †: Medical and food sanctions are a different question imo.
I think it is well understood that with the way political hierarchies are structured, economic sanctions always impact the people with the least amount of power before anyone of the insulated power wielding people at the top lose any sleep.
I'm not even sure historically that economic sanctions have ever resulted in the proclaimed goals of the sanctions. How long have we had economic sanctions on NK? Has the result been our stated goals of the economic sanction?
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#449Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kids are not eating well because NK leadership spends all the country’s money on themselves and the military in order for them to stay in power. If your neighbour beats his children and constantly threatens to shoot your house up, you are not morally obligated to spend money at their restaurant.
If you prevent the next door neighbour from bringing in food because you have a fued with them you can't turn around and say look at those kids not eating. It's because you live like kings. They spend money on military not to supress the local population, they do it to protect themselves against you. You are morally responsible for your choices including preventing kids from eating.
I don't understand your argument.
It seems based on some premise that North Korea is only bad because other nations are "mean" to it.
Many authoritarian regimes have historically used food availability as a weapon against their own populations. North Korea clearly is one such regime.
There is no private enterprise in North Korea-- I don't know what you think lifting of non-food covering sanctions would do other than further strengthening a rogue state that has no intentions of having anything other than a perpetual slave caste.
Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation
#450He should be in jail for longer. What a traitor.
Can't NK get all of this content from YouTube lecture videos?