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Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Setting up a corporation in most jurisdictions would require a valid ID proof, no?

On top of that, at least in EU, the regulation has gone further, and major shareholders of private companies now need to be identified publicly. I'll caveat this by having only experience of this from my own European country of residence, which had to put this regulation in place due to EEA requirements.

Further, Apple requires registering your certificate under your full name if you are a “singly owned company” at least in the EU

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#82
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> anonymity is only possible with cryptocurrencies and cash-by-mail. The easiest one (anonymity wise) is Monero and the most popular one is Bitcoin. Can we just stop with the "Bitcoin is anonymous" bullshit here? Anybody here is smart enough to know better, so it just earmarks you as another fucking crypto-shill.

No, we can't. Bitcoin *is* anonymous against average Joe which is what the OP needs here. Pretty irrelevant here but for your fucking information, with significant expert effort, Bitcoin *can* be also anonymous against big actors.

I'm being tongue in cheek here, but to support your point a little, if Bitcoin was not generally anonymous in nature, we'd know who Satoshi is.. no? :-)

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#83
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, fair criticism. But I'm just so over the insane mass hallucination these planet burning pyramid scheme grifters keep wanting to convince everybody is real. There are no clothes, there isn't even a damned emperor. They all deserver to be called out and ridiculed at every sighting. And yeah, I'm rude while doing that.

Quoted post unavailable.

> How about you just shut the fuck up and we'll keep saving in Bitcoin and you can keep your infinitely inflating dollars.

bitcoin is losing value. It's really not a hedge against inflation as you propose. As more people need what little money they have leftover from losing it in bitcoin, they'll pull the remaining fraction of their savings out and reduce the price of bitcoin. The price is just barely above $20,000 now. Most miners are running on fossil fuels consuming electricity greater than that of countries. You need to get a grip because your ponzi scheme is collapsing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/bitcoin-falls-fresh-18-m...

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#84

As someone who grew up when they printed your address when your photo and name appeared in the paper, and when everyone had their name, telephone, and address in the telephone book -- this seems bizarre. Are you never planning to appear at a trade show and promote your product? Hiding who you are seems cowardly, or maybe you have nefarious motives with your program. Transparency and honesty are the best policies in b…

That might have been ok in your small town or small city of people who didn't read the paper. An internet phone book might exist in some fashion, but I'd rather not have stalkers able to find their victims so easily for example. I agree transparency and 'honesty' are good policies in business in general, but having a name, number, and address exposed to the public seems like a bit much, no?

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#85
post #72

So.. I'd suggest a project of mine. Full disclosure, you require more than one burner device. Ultimately you'll want a VPN you can trust. Also - it depends how much your anonymity is worth to you, and your relative cost. Similarly - to whom do you want to be anonymous? I wanted to create a fully digital individual. My goal was to go from end to end. I bought (in cash) a prepaid credit card. I used said prepaid credit…

not related but is "prepaid credit card" a debit card? Also why is the card with the debt is called "credit" and the one with actual money is called "debit"? Driven me crazy.

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#87
post #53
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin is anonymous in the sense that you don't necessarily need to link your wallet to your real name, it's just not the best choice for privacy since transaction details are public. Besides, mixing services exist.

If HN was anonymous, then we couldn't see that two posts were made by the same account or not. But HN has pseudonyms with (unlimited?) pseudonyms per person, and Bitcoin is a bit like that, except that it's commonplace to have many pseudonyms (wallet).

HN is also similar to a blockchain in another regard - You can't really delete your account and its content, which really annoys me to be honest. I like to purge online accounts from time to time, but that's not possible with HN.

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#88

If you prefer to use a pseudonym, why not just register an LLC? There are services out there that will register your company and be your registered agent in states that do not require your name ever made public (Wyoming for example). These services also provide a mailbox that would work for anything you need. You can then get a business checking account (Mercury works well) with your newly registered business. You ca…

In many states if you want anonymity you ALSO have to pay a lawyer to be the principal agent in addition to the registered agent.

Basically the lawyer is the CEO/“Owner” but since you pay them to do exactly as you say, they delegate everything back to you and just sign forms occasionally that you put in front of them.

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#89
post #85
post #72

So.. I'd suggest a project of mine. Full disclosure, you require more than one burner device. Ultimately you'll want a VPN you can trust. Also - it depends how much your anonymity is worth to you, and your relative cost. Similarly - to whom do you want to be anonymous? I wanted to create a fully digital individual. My goal was to go from end to end. I bought (in cash) a prepaid credit card. I used said prepaid credit…

not related but is "prepaid credit card" a debit card? Also why is the card with the debt is called "credit" and the one with actual money is called "debit"? Driven me crazy.

Possibly because debit is debt from the bank's POV? They owe you that amount of money. I'm not sure though.

Re: Ask HN: Is it still conceivable to remain an anonymous developer nowadays?

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Switzerland that would require you to deposit at least 25k or you can not use a fantasy name.

Well there goes my "Middle Earth Orc Roundup Pest Control" business name...

to the Orcs, we are the pest
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