[Cryptography] Privacy, Code, and the Future

[Howard Chu]

Howard Chu wrote:
> Andrew Lee wrote:
>> Howard, Peter and all readers,
>>
>> Respectfully, I think we should be very careful about the precedent this case sets.
>>
>> The core issue here isn’t whether privacy tools are sometimes used by bad actors as any powerful technology carries that risk.
>>
>> The deeper concern is assigning criminal liability to the people who build foundational infrastructure, especially when it’s open source and autonomous.
> 
> That is not what is happening here. You're still stirring sensationalist nonsense. Quit amplifying a false narrative.
> 
>> Roman Storm wrote code.
>>
>> That code was deployed and became immutable, operating independently on a decentralized network.
>>
>> Hard stop.
> 
> The authorship of the code is irrelevant to the case.
> 
> Roman is being prosecuted because he operated a commercial enterprise, profiting off use of that code. It is brazenly
> a for-profit enterprise, backed by venture capitalists. As such, that enterprise was subject to the regulations that
> apply to businesses that deal in transferring money for customers.
> 
> None of this has anything to do with the fact the code is open source.
> 
>> With all due respect, let’s be thoughtful.
> 
> Let's also be truthful. The facts of the case are already outlined in the article I linked previously.

To be completely clear:

"The government argues that characterizing Semenov’s alleged crime as merely writing code obscures his role in promoting and maintaining the Tornado Cash
service, even when he knew it was being used to launder illicit proceeds from hacks.

The prosecutors’ motion asserts that the Tornado Cash service was a “commercial enterprise carried on for profit or finanancial [sic] gain” and that Semenov
himself profited from its operation through his control, along with others, of key components of the service.

...

The government further alleges that actions taken by Semenov and his co-founder Roman Storm to keep Tornado Cash running, such as payments to host the site,
paying gas fees for blockchain transactions, “refusing” to implement proper anti-money laundering programs, maintaining the relayer network, and developing new
features to enhance anonymity, are part of the charged conspiracy."

It's not about writing code. It's not about code running autonomously. It's about explicitly funding and operating a commercial service.

> They are not what your fear-mongering states. Your attempt to conflate the issue of open source development here
> is the only thing that could cause harm to software developers. Stop muddying the water.

-- 
  -- Howard Chu
  CTO, Symas Corp.           http://www.symas.com
  Director, Highland Sun     http://highlandsun.com/hyc/
  Chief Architect, OpenLDAP  http://www.openldap.org/project/