Subject: [Bitcoin-development] Criminal complaints against "network disruption as a service" startups

From: Justus Ranvier <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2015 15:01:09 -0500

Given the recent news about Chainanalysis
(https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2yvy6b/a_regulatory_compliance_service_is_sybil/),
and other companies who are disrupting the Bitcoin network
(https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2we0d9/in_an_unrelated_thread_a_bitcoin_dev_claimed/copzt3x)
it might be worth reviewing the terms of the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act and similar legislation in other countries.

Although it's not possible to stop network attacks by making them
illegal, it's certainly possible to stop traditionally funded
companies from engaging in that activity. Note there exist no
VC-funded DDoS as a service companies operating openly.

It's also worth discussing ways to make the responsibilities of
network peers more explicit in the protocol, so that when an entity
decides to access the network for purposes other than for what full
node operators made connection slots available that behavior will be a
more obvious violation of various anti-hacking laws.