It's interesting that Bitcoin is not classified as a currency by some parts of the government but it was considered a money-transmitting business.
Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
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Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
When people decide to change the law. If you think drugs should be illegal, then justice was served here. If you don't think drugs should be illegal, then it wasn't. Either way, Shrem's behavior seems pretty idiotic to me, from start to finish.
There is no provision in the constitution for the federal government to regulate money exchange. Thus the law he was convicted under is itself a criminal act (and under USC 18-242 everyone enforcing it is a felon). The constitution is the highest law of the land. If you think this guy belongs in jail, then you need to amend it. The supreme court has already ruled that unconstitutional laws are null and void the momen…
So you don't think money transmission is a commercial activity? this will come as new to banks, Western Union etc.
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#13When will the law stop violating the rights of free men?
Careful not to conflate the state with law.
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#14It's interesting that Bitcoin is not classified as a currency by some parts of the government but it was considered a money-transmitting business.
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Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#15It's interesting that Bitcoin is not classified as a currency by some parts of the government but it was considered a money-transmitting business.
not really. liberty reserve got shut down without any hitches for the same reason
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no provision in the constitution for the federal government to regulate money exchange. Thus the law he was convicted under is itself a criminal act (and under USC 18-242 everyone enforcing it is a felon). The constitution is the highest law of the land. If you think this guy belongs in jail, then you need to amend it. The supreme court has already ruled that unconstitutional laws are null and void the momen…
So, we can't really say we have the "rule of law" here. We do have a rule of law, it just ain't perfect. Otherwise, we would be like China.
...which also has an "imperfect" rule of law.
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
When people decide to change the law. If you think drugs should be illegal, then justice was served here. If you don't think drugs should be illegal, then it wasn't. Either way, Shrem's behavior seems pretty idiotic to me, from start to finish.
There is no provision in the constitution for the federal government to regulate money exchange. Thus the law he was convicted under is itself a criminal act (and under USC 18-242 everyone enforcing it is a felon). The constitution is the highest law of the land. If you think this guy belongs in jail, then you need to amend it. The supreme court has already ruled that unconstitutional laws are null and void the momen…
The Constitution granted the Federal Government limited powers. But included in those powers is the power to self-define and self-regulate.
Thus, should the legislature pass a law, and should the Supreme Court uphold that law, it is deemed Constitutional by the body specifically-empowered to make that determination.
The Money Laundering Control Act made the laundering of money a crime. It was passed by the Legislative branch of the Federal Government as prescribed by the Constitution.
The MLCA has been upheld by the Supreme Court, or rather, cases have been brought before in which the government's prosecution has rested on enforcement of the law, and the Justices have upheld it by interpreting the law, as written, without deeming it unconstitutional (Santos, Schueller, etc.)
Thus, the law is Constitutional pending some future case.
Thus everything you just said is nonsense words.
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#18To make matters worse, while Shrem was CEO he was simultaneously BitInstant’s compliance officer, responsible for ensuring that his company followed the law. Impressive amount of hubris there.
With respect: I know you're a professional at this, but I work with many startups who need named compliance officers for HIPAA or AML purposes, and it is the CEO virtually everywhere. This decision is generally made less out of hubris and more because a) the position has a very high ratio of requiredness to actual duties and b) legal advisors recommended that naming the CEO as opposed to a summer intern would suggest enthusiastic compliance.
Who gets tapped for this sort of thing in your world?
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
When people decide to change the law. If you think drugs should be illegal, then justice was served here. If you don't think drugs should be illegal, then it wasn't. Either way, Shrem's behavior seems pretty idiotic to me, from start to finish.
There is no provision in the constitution for the federal government to regulate money exchange. Thus the law he was convicted under is itself a criminal act (and under USC 18-242 everyone enforcing it is a felon). The constitution is the highest law of the land. If you think this guy belongs in jail, then you need to amend it. The supreme court has already ruled that unconstitutional laws are null and void the momen…
The essence of your legal theory is that "There is no provision in the constitution for the federal government to regulate money exchange."
I guess it can be argued that the Section 8 clauses 5 and 6 do not grant the Federal Government the power to regulate the exchange of money.
Nevertheless, the currently accepted interpretation of the Commerce Clause pretty much settles the question [1].
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_Clause#The_Rehnquist_C...
Re: Bitcoin Exchange CEO Pleads Guilty to Enabling Silk Road Drug Deals
#20To make matters worse, while Shrem was CEO he was simultaneously BitInstant’s compliance officer, responsible for ensuring that his company followed the law. Impressive amount of hubris there.
With respect: I know you're a professional at this, but I work with many startups who need named compliance officers for HIPAA or AML purposes, and it is the CEO virtually everywhere. This decision is generally made less out of hubris and more because a) the position has a very high ratio of requiredness to actual duties and b) legal advisors recommended that naming the CEO as opposed to a summer intern would suggest…
Oh, I didn't mean it was hubristic being the compliance officer! I meant shoveling all the BTC around while knowing he didn't have even a figleaf of deniability (eg blaming an internal miscommunication with someone else who was in charge of compliance). He had to know it was enormously risky.