4 ms·

So if they setup a service to, let's say stream new movies, the US would have a hard time blocking a website. As for payment processors, why not bitcoin?

by 67726e 14y ago

AnthonyMouse 14y ago
1) Movie streaming service is going to fall over in two seconds if you can't do regional caching of popular data. 2) Service is not going to be able to easily attract users if they only accept bitcoin. 3) Why would someone pay money to pirate movies when they can just do it for free?
- chx 14y ago
  You are not pirating movies, see. This would be a legal site where you are paying a lot less...
  - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
    I guess it depends what you mean by "pirating." If you mean some thing based on morality or justice, the copyright holder is not getting their promised share of the revenue, so (regardless of how much you actually care about that) the site is in the same boat as The Pirate Bay there. If you mean "legal" then the immediate question becomes, legal where? Rojodirecta was "legal" too, remember? Didn't stop the U.S. from seizing their domain for a year and a half.[1] What's that line? "The truth is not a bulletproof vest." [1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/government-goes-0-2-admits-defeat-in-rojadirecta-domain-forfeit-case/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/government-goes-0...
    - icebraining 14y ago
      promised share of the revenue Promised by whom?
      - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
        Congress?
    - betterunix 14y ago
      "If you mean some thing based on morality or justice" We must have stopped talking about copyrights. Copyright is a system for promoting the progress of science and useful arts, according to my country's constitution (assuming we still care about that). "promised share of the revenue" So much for a market-based system where businesses are not "promised" revenue. "the site is in the same boat as The Pirate Bay there" On the forefront of using a revolutionary communication system to deliver creative works to people, despite constant attacks by greedy anachronistic businesses who failed to adapt to a changing market?
betterunix 14y ago
"As for payment processors, why not bitcoin?" ...because only a tiny minority of anarchists trust Bitcoin? Oh sure, you can point to a few "forward thinking" (also known as "gullible") businesses that accept it, but it is not even a blip on the radar of money. The overwhelming majority of black market drug sales in the USA are done in -- you guessed correctly -- US Dollars. If you can convince me that (a) Bitcoin is something a court will recognize as money, and not require me to convert it to dollars first, (b) that I can repay any debt with it, including taxes, and (c) that it's value today will even remotely reflect its value tomorrow, then maybe I'll accept Bitcoin payments from you. Otherwise, you'll have to give me my country's currency, because frankly, nothing else is useful to me (unless I am in another country, in which case you'll have to give me that country's currency). Let's put it this way: it doesn't take a bunch of people commenting about the exciting US Dollar or British Pound Sterling to keep those currencies valuable. How long do you think Bitcoin would last if people stopped playing it up as the next big thing?
- fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
  I wouldn't say internet users "don't trust Bitcoin" I, for example don't use Bitcoin (much) for the same reason that I don't walk around in sketchy places with lots of cash. It's not that I don't trust cash. It's that I don't trust internet randoms to leave my Btc alone.

So if they setup a service to, let's say stream new movies, the US would have a hard time blocking a website. As for payment processors, why not bitcoin?

by 67726e 14y ago

So if they setup a service to, let's say stream new movies, the US would have a hard time blocking a website. As for payment processors, why not bitcoin?

AnthonyMouse 14y ago

1) Movie streaming service is going to fall over in two seconds if you can't do regional caching of popular data. 2) Service is not going to be able to easily attract users if they only accept bitcoin. 3) Why would someone pay money to pirate movies when they can just do it for free?

chx 14y ago
You are not pirating movies, see. This would be a legal site where you are paying a lot less...
- AnthonyMouse 14y ago
  I guess it depends what you mean by "pirating." If you mean some thing based on morality or justice, the copyright holder is not getting their promised share of the revenue, so (regardless of how much you actually care about that) the site is in the same boat as The Pirate Bay there. If you mean "legal" then the immediate question becomes, legal where? Rojodirecta was "legal" too, remember? Didn't stop the U.S. from seizing their domain for a year and a half.[1] What's that line? "The truth is not a bulletproof vest." [1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/government-goes-0-2-admits-defeat-in-rojadirecta-domain-forfeit-case/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/government-goes-0...
  - icebraining 14y ago
    promised share of the revenue Promised by whom?
    - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
      Congress?
  - betterunix 14y ago
    "If you mean some thing based on morality or justice" We must have stopped talking about copyrights. Copyright is a system for promoting the progress of science and useful arts, according to my country's constitution (assuming we still care about that). "promised share of the revenue" So much for a market-based system where businesses are not "promised" revenue. "the site is in the same boat as The Pirate Bay there" On the forefront of using a revolutionary communication system to deliver creative works to people, despite constant attacks by greedy anachronistic businesses who failed to adapt to a changing market?

betterunix 14y ago

"As for payment processors, why not bitcoin?" ...because only a tiny minority of anarchists trust Bitcoin? Oh sure, you can point to a few "forward thinking" (also known as "gullible") businesses that accept it, but it is not even a blip on the radar of money. The overwhelming majority of black market drug sales in the USA are done in -- you guessed correctly -- US Dollars. If you can convince me that (a) Bitcoin is something a court will recognize as money, and not require me to convert it to dollars first, (b) that I can repay any debt with it, including taxes, and (c) that it's value today will even remotely reflect its value tomorrow, then maybe I'll accept Bitcoin payments from you. Otherwise, you'll have to give me my country's currency, because frankly, nothing else is useful to me (unless I am in another country, in which case you'll have to give me that country's currency). Let's put it this way: it doesn't take a bunch of people commenting about the exciting US Dollar or British Pound Sterling to keep those currencies valuable. How long do you think Bitcoin would last if people stopped playing it up as the next big thing?

fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
I wouldn't say internet users "don't trust Bitcoin" I, for example don't use Bitcoin (much) for the same reason that I don't walk around in sketchy places with lots of cash. It's not that I don't trust cash. It's that I don't trust internet randoms to leave my Btc alone.