- UK visitors have regained access to the Bitcoin whitepaper on Bitcoin.org after Justice Mellor vacated the 2021 ruling that restricted it
- Craig Wright’s claim as Satoshi Nakamoto has been ruled fraudulent, leading to the removal of the download restriction for British users
- The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance has successfully contested Wright’s case, resulting in the scrapping of the previous Bitcoin.org ruling
UK visitors to Bitcoin’s online home, Bitcoin.org, can once again download the Bitcoin whitepaper after UK High Court judge Justice Mellor vacated the 2021 ruling that enforced it. British visitors to the site had been prevented from downloading the whitepaper due to a legal dispute involving Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. However, Wright’s recent loss to the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) resulted yesterday in an order scrapping the Bitcoin.org ruling because “the judgment was obtained in a claim which was fraudulent.”
Wright Earned Default Victory
In 2021, Wright asserted copyright ownership over the Bitcoin whitepaper and threatened legal action against Bitcoin.org for hosting it. In response to these threats, the website’s pseudonymous operator, known as Cobra, chose not to reveal his identity, believing it would leave him open to threats and other abuse from Wright and his supporters. Jusice Mellor agreed, noting that his decision was “entirely understandable.”
This decision resulted in a default judgment for Wright and Cobra was left with no choice but to remove access to the whitepaper for UK visitors in compliance with Wright’s demands. This move sparked controversy within the cryptocurrency community, as many viewed it as an attack on Bitcoin’s open-source nature and decentralized ethos.
Ruling Reversed After Three Years
This legal battle ended just as the COPA vs. Wright case was filed, a case that Wright lost in March when Justice Mellor found his Satoshi claim to be fraudulent, ruling that Wright “lied to the Court repeatedly and extensively” over his evidence to be Satoshi.
Yesterday, Justice Mellor handed down a Form of Order which saw Wright forced to publish statements that he isn’t Satoshi Nakamoto, a judgment which included a lengthy section explaining why the Cobra ruling should not stand:
Cobra didn’t take long to action the reversal:
The Bitcoin Whitepaper is now available for people in the UK to read freely once again. The default judgement obtained fraudulently by Craig Wright has been overturned. Thank you to everyone who helped.
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System https://t.co/b7e8RRWBEc
— Cøbra (@CobraBitcoin) July 16, 2024
Another website hosting the whitepaper that Wright targeted, Bitcoincore.org, complied with the order in 2021, and has not yet stated any intention of going back on its decision.
