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Can we please change the title to "SEC Director of Corporation Finance thinks Ethereum is not a security" or something along those lines? Because it is not SEC'

Can we please change the title to "SEC Director of Corporation Finance thinks Ethereum is not a security" or something along those lines? Because it is not SEC's view that Ethereum is not a security but someone working there.

phnofive 8y ago
Unless the SEC disavows this statement, wouldn't a director's view be seen as the SEC's view?
- ucaetano 8y ago
  No, the SEC would have to explicitly issue a ruling. This would be equivalent to equating the opinion of a single Supreme Court Justice to a ruling of the Supreme Court on a subject.
  - will_brown 8y ago
    That’s not exactly how it works. Check out United States v. Baker for reliance on authority of a Government Official. A good practical example is where Obama said his Justice Dept would not enforce Federal Laws on Marijuana in States where actors are complying with those State Laws. If the Federal Government preceded to crack down, U.S. v. Baker would provide a solid defense of good faith reliance on authority of a Givernment Official where the act is otherwise in clear violation of federal law.
- cascom 8y ago
  I believe there are several divisional directors, but the commission is made up of 5 commissioners appointed by the president. So while he has a big job, he is essentially a staffer, with policy being set at the commissioner level.
- thisisit 8y ago
  That is not how attribution works. If tomorrow Sundar Pichai says he loves crypto currency it doesn't mean Google is going to start competing with Bitmain. News will still say - Google's Sundar Pichai says etc. But if it happens in an official forum like Google I/O then it means something else. This didn't happen in any official capacity like say a Senate hearing or a ruling. The guy was a guest speaker at a Yahoo forum. So while he is entitled to his view it is not official position.
  - will_brown 8y ago
    It was published on the SEC website,and even if it wasn’t, a good faith reliance on this government official as detailed in U.S. v. Baker seems to apply.
coding123 8y ago
It's also posted on SEC.gov, not like a Twitter post here
sctb 8y ago
We've reverted the title from “SEC Director of Corporation Finance: Ethereum is not a security” to that of the article. It's not up to submitters to make any interpretation of the content—Hacker News users can read just fine.

phnofive 8y ago

Unless the SEC disavows this statement, wouldn't a director's view be seen as the SEC's view?

ucaetano 8y ago
No, the SEC would have to explicitly issue a ruling. This would be equivalent to equating the opinion of a single Supreme Court Justice to a ruling of the Supreme Court on a subject.
- will_brown 8y ago
  That’s not exactly how it works. Check out United States v. Baker for reliance on authority of a Government Official. A good practical example is where Obama said his Justice Dept would not enforce Federal Laws on Marijuana in States where actors are complying with those State Laws. If the Federal Government preceded to crack down, U.S. v. Baker would provide a solid defense of good faith reliance on authority of a Givernment Official where the act is otherwise in clear violation of federal law.
cascom 8y ago
I believe there are several divisional directors, but the commission is made up of 5 commissioners appointed by the president. So while he has a big job, he is essentially a staffer, with policy being set at the commissioner level.
thisisit 8y ago
That is not how attribution works. If tomorrow Sundar Pichai says he loves crypto currency it doesn't mean Google is going to start competing with Bitmain. News will still say - Google's Sundar Pichai says etc. But if it happens in an official forum like Google I/O then it means something else. This didn't happen in any official capacity like say a Senate hearing or a ruling. The guy was a guest speaker at a Yahoo forum. So while he is entitled to his view it is not official position.
- will_brown 8y ago
  It was published on the SEC website,and even if it wasn’t, a good faith reliance on this government official as detailed in U.S. v. Baker seems to apply.

coding123 8y ago

It's also posted on SEC.gov, not like a Twitter post here

sctb 8y ago

We've reverted the title from “SEC Director of Corporation Finance: Ethereum is not a security” to that of the article. It's not up to submitters to make any interpretation of the content—Hacker News users can read just fine.