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I was disappointed to see all the knee-jerk reactions to the Tornado sanctions, and I'm happy to see Matt and the EFF push back on the chilling effect on open source development. age is a privacy tool that's been used for ransomware, but its development is protected speech, too.

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Matthew Green

@matthew_d_green

Aug 22

There are a lot of thorny issues around the OFAC/Treasury sanctioning of an open source project, and what it means for freedom of speech. To help figure those out, the EFF has agreed to represent me. eff.org/deeplinks/2022

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Donald “chronos” King

@dlkingauthor

Aug 23

Replying to

@FiloSottile

The very idea of cryptocurrency — of code that actively redefines reality so that human laws cannot contain it — is inherently risky to the continued existence of human society, because it undermines the human-to-human trust that society requires as a prerequisite.

Donald “chronos” King

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and

Cryptography *helps* people trust each other, but cryptocurrency *erodes* it. Precisely because it is immutable.

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What does that have to do with first amendment protections of open source development?

Donald “chronos” King

@dlkingauthor

Aug 23

Replying to

@FiloSottile

Since when does the First Amendment come above the trust in the Constitution and laws that define it? If you create a "trustless" society -- the stated goal of cryptocurrency leaders -- then the First Amendment is just a piece of paper because it isn't a Solidity contract.

Donald “chronos” King

Replying to

and

At what point does it make sense to undermine the very legal framework that guarantees your freedom of speech?

Donald “chronos” King

Replying to

and

The First Amendment isn't a natural law or part of the cosmic order, it's a thingy written down by people 250 years ago that people could change if they liked. Absolutist freedom of speech isn't a coherent ideology, because it condones its own destruction.

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and

It's hardly absolutist free speech to believe that publishing code to provide people with financial privacy is not violating any laws. Privacy itself is a right covered by multiple parts of the US constitution. Publicly publishing all your transactions is not a legal requirement.

9:22 AM · Aug 23, 2022Twitter Web App