[liberationtech] The bitcoin terrorists of Idlib are learning new tricks

[Phillip Hallam-Baker]

On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 10:41 PM Travis Biehn <tbiehn at gmail.com> wrote:

> "There is much more that could be said on the immorality of criminal
> currencies but the verdict is clear: These are despicable instruments
> being peddled by despicable, greedy people who cloak their immorality
> with fine talk of 'freedom' and vicious personal attacks on anyone who
> dares tell the truth."
>
> Buying marijuana was just one of the 'immoral criminal and despicable'
> uses for 'criminal currency'. Soon we'll be able to use US dollars to
> buy pot from Philip-Morris.
>

I didn't mention cannabis specifically, and given that it is legal most
places and not difficult to get most other places, that is clearly not the
bulk of what I was referring to when I said 'Not unless you want to buy
drugs, images of children being raped, collect ransomware extortion or
evade exchange controls'


> Some people's crimes are other people's freedom.


So where do you stand on the ransomware and the images of child abuse?


> This should be a
> widely understood concept on LibTech where technology is used to help
> individuals and organizations mobilize against oppressors of all
> types. You might get pushback on the idea of an 'accountable internet'
> to stop internet crime, here.
>

And what if the oppressors here are the bitcoin whales, the crooked
exchanges, the drug dealers, ransomware extortionists and child rapists?

Speech is just communication but moving money is an act.

When we built the Web we understood very clearly that it would have
political implications. There was a civil war going on in Sarajevo at the
time, I was meeting people from the UN who were going back and forth. We
had a Web server in the city during the siege.

The whole point of the Web was accountability from start to finish -
accountability of government, accountability of the press. The idea was to
create a feedback loop so that we didn't have to rely on the likes of
Murdoch, Maxwell and Black to filter the news for us. The Web set up an
invidious choice for your unfriendly neighborhood dictator - embrace the
Internet and let it slowly corrode your political system from within or
keep it out and see your economy stagnate.

When I helped put together the WebPKI, accountability was the foundational
principle. Without accountability, there can be no trust and without trust,
there can be no commerce.

Let's say you were going to use BTC at therealmarijuanashop.com. What is
your recourse if they don't deliver? How do you know you can trust them?
The answer is none and you don't.
When authoritarians use the terms 'freedom' and 'accountability' they mean
freedom for me and accountability for thee. My goal is to do it the other
way round. But enabling a crime spree doesn't serve either objective.
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