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US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

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Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#71

Post by danielvf »

According 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: What interest does North Korea have in cryptocurrency? Griffith: Probably avoiding sanctions... who knows."

It looks like it wasn't just speaking at a conference after being denied permission from the US that got him in trouble, it looks like both before and after the trip he was working on a variety of ways to get the North Korean government more onboard with cryptocurrency, including discussions about mining ventures, moving funds in and out of the country, and offering connections with other cryptocurrency people.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#72

Post by MattPalmer1086 »

garbagetime wrote: post #55
egberts1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

… only user …? Clearly, you are qualified to comment on world affair. /sarcasm

Did a whole nuclear war go by without my noticing?

Not an entire nuclear war, but you may remember the end of the second world war.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#73

Post by ethbr0 »

chatmasta wrote: post #48

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…

Agreed. This feels like early-90s computer crime sentencing.

Making it easy for someone to bludgeon you over the head with a legal charge is your own fault. But the net impact of the charge can also be useless.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#74

Post by weego »

sofixa wrote: post #45
ricochet11 wrote: post #18

This is so sad, how does locking him up for 5 years really helps anyone? or keep anyone safer? He did something stupid maybe, but his work was exploring how digital systems can help bring peace to the world, and he thought a good place for that to happen is NK, so who doesn't agree with that? None of the information he presented was secret, it was all publicly available. For comparison here is a company that actually…

> but his work was exploring how digital systems can help bring peace to the world Surely nobody is that naive? Wars and sanctions aren't a technical problem that can be "solved" with a "digital system".

As a neurodivergent person in tech, mentoring and MH support, I've met a number of similarly ND people who are indeed convinced that human scale problems are just issues we've not solved with technology yet.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#75

Post by unnouinceput »

chatmasta wrote: post #48

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…

This is about sending a message, especially to brilliant minds. No prosecution was involved when Rodman was visiting NK and definitely helped NK with having a highly visible star being personal friend with Kim, but hey Rodman is not a brainiac.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#76

Post by CamperBob2 »

garbagetime wrote: post #39
beebmam wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Korea actively threatens the use of nuclear weapons, offensively, against its neighbors and enemies. There should be no sympathy for this regime or anyone who collaborates with it.

Why do you think it is that the DPRK places such a priority on emphasizing its nuclear capabilities?

Because the civilized world would bring down the Kim regime, as we certainly should, if we could. Because they have nukes, we can't.

This is getting to be a real problem as 21st-century history continues to unfold.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#77

Post by throwaw0123 »

chatmasta wrote: post #48

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…

No post body was provided.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#78

Post by happytoexplain »

egberts1 wrote: post #41
endisneigh wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. And once we finish with North Korea we should turn our eyes to the United States, the country that developed and currently only user of nuclear weapons in combat. No sympathy for users of nuclear weapons or any country who threatens its use!

… only user …? Clearly, you are qualified to comment on world affair. /sarcasm

Assuming you didn't miss the "in combat" part, this may be an English issue: To be a "user" of nukes here means "has used nukes in combat", not "has nukes for use in combat".

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#79

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #32
tmpz22 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All that education and they still didn’t have the common sense to maybe not go to North Korea

I think there's a kind of naïveté at work here. He cooperated when questioned after returning from North Korea, only to have his own words used against him when he was charged. He didn't take sanctions violations seriously enough and when he asked the State Dept for permission beforehand to go, they said no, and he went anyway.

I think I agree and I am willing to defend him a little bit here.

Vast majority of US population would be astounded if they learned even a fraction of screening that goes on behind the curtain; that does not even include existence of SARs or differences between jurisdictions.

And they typically don't know, because, usually, those issues touch either sophisticated players with money to spend on defense, or actual designees, who know full well what they are doing. Average US national typically won't even know there is an issue unless in ~80% of cases.

There is an argument to be made that with crypto that line of defense may be hard to swallow. After all, it is designed to avoid government oversight.. but I personally am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Still, the government wants the population to take sanctions seriously. Prosecution is one way to make people take notice.

Re: US sentences crypto expert to 5 years after North Korea blockchain presentation

#80

Post by Symbiote »

etherael wrote: post #35
beebmam wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Korea actively threatens the use of nuclear weapons, offensively, against its neighbors and enemies. There should be no sympathy for this regime or anyone who collaborates with it.

Giving North Korean citizens access to an economy outside their locked down one where they can engage in trade may well be the exact opposite of collaborating with the North Korean regime. This could easily be the most practical and realistic way to destroy North Korean control over its economy. If those citizens are no longer beholden to the regime for their economic livelihood and that encourages internal organisat…

North Korean citizens don't have internet access.
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