89 ms·

Because we should all talk to lawyers before we do anything.

tzs 11y ago
I said do research online and/or talk to a lawyer. And we are not talking about doing just "anything". We are talking about a very specific thing: starting a company that is going to take real money from people, and help them do risky things with it--a company that depending on how you look at it is a securities company or a gambling company or a prediction market. According to their FAQ, they planned to have no limits on how much money someone could put into this, and they were aiming for very high volume, so if it had worked out they would be dealing with vast amounts of money. All of those are highly regulated areas, and it is hard to believe that anyone who had even glanced in the general direction of doing a company in any of those areas would not be aware of that. So are you seriously suggesting that it is reasonable to start a company that is going to handle, you hope, vast quantities of money for a vast number of people in a highly regulated industry, and NOT do any online research or seek legal advice to make sure that you are legal? And do you seriously think that when a prominent writer who covers your field and is a lawyer tells you he can't see how your business is legal, it's reasonable to mockingly dismiss that?
- chernevik 11y ago
  My understanding is that this was a project -- not really a company, never intended to make a lot of money. Now if that is wrong -- if they intended to generate real revenue and profit off this thing, and raise money -- then yes, they're idiots. But if this was something put together as a project, something fun and interesting to do, then I understand why they didn't consult a lawyer.
  - anigbrowl 11y ago
    It would have been fine as long as they were running it with fantasy money, like many of the other play markets out there. When you create a mechanism for people to put real money into it, though, that's like the difference between breadboarding some electronics with a battery or DC adapter, and plugging straight into the wall socket. Once you take in money, for whatever purpose, you're operating some sort of business - and the laws surrounding issues are money transmission, transacting with bitcoin vs national currencies and other topics are discussed frequently on HN.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> Because we should all talk to lawyers before we do anything. Not "anything". Starting a business, especially in a highly-regulated domain, OTOH, is not the same as "anything". And, even granting that one might not be aware enough of the regulatory landscape to recognize that need, when someone who is knowledgeable points to the specific areas of risks and you just blow it off as a sign of success than someone is "hating on" you, yeah, then its arguably gone from innocent to willful ignorance.

tzs 11y ago

I said do research online and/or talk to a lawyer. And we are not talking about doing just "anything". We are talking about a very specific thing: starting a company that is going to take real money from people, and help them do risky things with it--a company that depending on how you look at it is a securities company or a gambling company or a prediction market. According to their FAQ, they planned to have no limits on how much money someone could put into this, and they were aiming for very high volume, so if it had worked out they would be dealing with vast amounts of money. All of those are highly regulated areas, and it is hard to believe that anyone who had even glanced in the general direction of doing a company in any of those areas would not be aware of that. So are you seriously suggesting that it is reasonable to start a company that is going to handle, you hope, vast quantities of money for a vast number of people in a highly regulated industry, and NOT do any online research or seek legal advice to make sure that you are legal? And do you seriously think that when a prominent writer who covers your field and is a lawyer tells you he can't see how your business is legal, it's reasonable to mockingly dismiss that?

chernevik 11y ago
My understanding is that this was a project -- not really a company, never intended to make a lot of money. Now if that is wrong -- if they intended to generate real revenue and profit off this thing, and raise money -- then yes, they're idiots. But if this was something put together as a project, something fun and interesting to do, then I understand why they didn't consult a lawyer.
- anigbrowl 11y ago
  It would have been fine as long as they were running it with fantasy money, like many of the other play markets out there. When you create a mechanism for people to put real money into it, though, that's like the difference between breadboarding some electronics with a battery or DC adapter, and plugging straight into the wall socket. Once you take in money, for whatever purpose, you're operating some sort of business - and the laws surrounding issues are money transmission, transacting with bitcoin vs national currencies and other topics are discussed frequently on HN.

dragonwriter 11y ago

> Because we should all talk to lawyers before we do anything. Not "anything". Starting a business, especially in a highly-regulated domain, OTOH, is not the same as "anything". And, even granting that one might not be aware enough of the regulatory landscape to recognize that need, when someone who is knowledgeable points to the specific areas of risks and you just blow it off as a sign of success than someone is "hating on" you, yeah, then its arguably gone from innocent to willful ignorance.