Japanese Court Rules That Bitcoin Can't Be 'Owned'

[HardOCP News]

I'm no legal expert but, if I was a defendant in the Mt. Gox case, I would use this whole "nobody owned it" ruling as the key to my defense.

Tokyo's district court has ruled that it's not possible for people to own bitcoin, and therefore they can't sue for compensation in the wake of Mt. Gox's collapse. The ruling comes a few days after the head of what used to be the world's largest bitcoin exchange was arrested on charges of fraud concerning its collapse.

 

[TMBackstrom]

Could this also apply to all digital content ownership, thereby making all 'pirating' legal?

 

[sfsuphysics]

Could this also apply to all digital content ownership, thereby making all 'pirating' legal?

Maybe digital forms of fraud in general? Sorry not credit card fraud since it involved "imaginary" money with no tangible properties other than a digital fingerprint that said this person owes that person.

 

[Arbit3r]

Could this also apply to all digital content ownership, thereby making all 'pirating' legal?

With digital content you get something, bitcoin is only worth what people are willing to pay. so tomorrow bitcoin could be worth 1cent. Bitcoin has not physical value, where as digital content like a game or movie does.

 

[viscountalpha]

After this ruling, there's going to be a catch. When it comes to Asia in general nothing is as it seems.

 

[Dead Parrot]

With digital content you get something, bitcoin is only worth what people are willing to pay. so tomorrow bitcoin could be worth 1cent. Bitcoin has not physical value, where as digital content like a game or movie does.

A bitcoin is just a string of 1s and 0s that someone assigned a value to when they obtained it either via mining or straight up purchase. That downloadable movie, game or song is just a string of 1s and 0s that someone assigned a value to when they obtained it via a purchase.

Given the stance by many media companies that we don't really own anything digital anymore, not sure I see much of a difference.

 

[Parmenides]

A bitcoin is just a string of 1s and 0s that someone assigned a value to when they obtained it either via mining or straight up purchase. That downloadable movie, game or song is just a string of 1s and 0s that someone assigned a value to when they obtained it via a purchase.

Given the stance by many media companies that we don't really own anything digital anymore, not sure I see much of a difference.

Except media companies own the 1 and 0's

 

[Kueller]

Except media companies own the 1 and 0's

Well, they'd like to. This ruling seems to put that in a pretty grey area...

It is ever so difficult to have your cake and eat it too. But corporations (and their lawyers) will try. Should be interesting.

I'm investing heavily in popcorn farms...

 

[Quix]

Well, they'd like to. This ruling seems to put that in a pretty grey area...

It is ever so difficult to have your cake and eat it too. But corporations (and their lawyers) will try. Should be interesting.

I'm investing heavily in popcorn farms...

It doesn't leave any grey area at all. Copyright law in Japan is unrelated to this and extremely strong. Not being able to own procedurally-generated crypto keys has nothing to do with being able to assert artistic copyright.

 

[TMBackstrom]

Except media companies own the 1 and 0's

Wonder what the "tangible qualities" are that'd distinguish the 1s and 0s of a digital movie over those of a Bitcoin?

From article:

Judge Masumi Kurachi felt that bitcoins do not possess the necessary "tangible qualities" to constitute owned property under the country's law.

 

[Babbster]

I'm no Bitcoin fan but this seems like a super-lousy decision. If it falls in line with Japanese property law then Japan needs to fix its property law, and Japanese software companies should be all over it given how many real yen are generated from ownership of non-tangible 1's and 0's.

All that said, I suspect this is a politically motivated decision intended to undermine non-governmental cryptocurrency.

 

[redrage]

this.. doesn't .. make .. sense...

 

[Jagger100]

With digital content you get something, bitcoin is only worth what people are willing to pay. so tomorrow bitcoin could be worth 1cent. Bitcoin has not physical value, where as digital content like a game or movie does.

Most currencies in use today have this quality. So if someone steals my wallet filled with $20's (more likely $1's), I can only lay claim to the wallet? Or the wallet and the 0.02 cents of paper in it?

 

[Jagger100]

This ruling is a nice way to say you don't own the cash in your bank account, because its digital today, so when the government seizes it., stfd and stfu.

 

[Parja]

With digital content you get something, bitcoin is only worth what people are willing to pay. so tomorrow bitcoin could be worth 1cent. Bitcoin has not physical value, where as digital content like a game or movie does.

One bitcoin is worth one bitcoin just as one movie is worth...one movie. The exchange rate with fiat currency for either is irrelevant to the discussion.

 

[Spire3660]

It doesn't leave any grey area at all. Copyright law in Japan is unrelated to this and extremely strong. Not being able to own procedurally-generated crypto keys has nothing to do with being able to assert artistic copyright.

Copyright is mostly used for business, not art. You have drinking the kool-aid again haven't you? Artistic copyright BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Its a limited monopoly nothing more.

 

[AVogel]

They wanted an unregulated, decentralized currency and they (Bitcoin) got it: no federal laws governing it and no government protection of its value, since the government cannot determine its value to begin with.

You can't tell banks and govs to keep their dirty hands off your made up money and then demand that they extend the same protections and guaranties to it that national currencies have.

 

[Retronym]

private key = ownership.

 

[sfsuphysics]

With digital content you get something, bitcoin is only worth what people are willing to pay. so tomorrow bitcoin could be worth 1cent. Bitcoin has not physical value, where as digital content like a game or movie does.

So it's basically like the stock market.