
Yale Law student takes a look at Bitcoin (draft of legal paper) - spenvo
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1817857
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spenvo
He's seeking feedback on his draft. His forum post can be found here:
<http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=6247.0>

Edit: He has pointed out issues that he will flesh out in the next version of
the paper in the forum thread^.

[He plans to expand the paper's scope only in a superficial way as it pertains
to international law: (from the forums) "Your point about internationality is
very well taken. The paper is very U.S.-centric. I will try to do a better job
in the next draft of pointing that out and mentioning the internationality of
bitcoin. I may try to touch upon laws or regulations in other countries, but I
don't have expertise in other countries' laws."]

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sgornick
> Furthermore, other legal issues that have not been analyzed in this paper
> are probably significant, including tax evasion, banking without a charter,
> state escheat statutes, and money laundering.

The Internet's first decentralized and anonymous currency will have an impact
on so many different areas though not all areas necessarily need this
research.

This study will be even more useful with less Flattr vs. YouTipIt comparison
and more "store of value" versus "currency" comparison (and why each
classification is important). Less comparison to WoW Gold and more comparison
to e-gold (and why that comparison would be important as well).

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mleonhard
Digital currencies are so fascinating. There are HUGE markets waiting on cost-
effective micropayments. There are also cool futuristic ideas like programs
that earn their own money and pay for their own hosting.

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caf
My feedback is that as a lawyer, the author should concentrate on the legal
arguments (which are interesting), rather than branching off into economics.

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noagendamarket
This is US only. Your laws dont apply to the rest of the world even though you
like to think they do.

~~~
JulianMorrison
Provided you never travel to, though or over the USA, volitionally or by ill
luck, nor hold assets there, provided your government doesn't have a cravenly
subservient extradition-at-whim treaty, and provided you aren't high profile
enough for them to bend rules, then US laws probably don't apply to you.

~~~
antoinevg
I feel your frustration and, while it is true that any individual person is
exquisitely vulnerable to legal and extra-legal coercion by state power, this
still does not mean that the laws of one country apply to the citizens of
another country.

~~~
pyre
That's little solace to the people that do things that are perfectly legal in
their own country, only to be arrested because their plane had to make an
emergency landing at a US airport.

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neuroelectronic
The good part:

| Most importantly, Bitcoin currently operates in a legal grey area. The
federal government’s supposed monopoly on issuing currency is somewhat narrow
and statutes that impose that monopoly do not seem to apply to Bitcoin due to
its digital nature. However, a bitcoin may be a “security” within the meaning
of the federal securities laws, subjecting bitcoins to a vast regime of
regulations, including general antifraud rules. Furthermore, other legal
issues that have not been analyzed in this paper are probably significant,
including tax evasion, banking without a charter, state escheat statutes, and
money laundering.

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gcb
He missed the last part on the title: "in the US"

