British judge has ruled that Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who claims to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, lied “extensively and repeatedly” in a copyright lawsuit over the cryptocurrency’s code and white paper.
High Court Judge James Mellor elaborated on his March decision that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto, citing “clumsy… fabrications” and “forgeries” on a “grand scale” as evidence for his ruling.
The ruling caps a years-long legal battle between Wright and the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) over the intellectual property rights to Bitcoin’s blockchain and database. COPA, a nonprofit organization, sued Wright in 2021 to prevent him from asserting copyright claims over the Bitcoin whitepaper and codebase.
According to the judgment, Wright’s defense team submitted fabricated evidence to support his claim, including documents with fonts unavailable at the time of their alleged creation and metadata revealing their creation was just before the trial.
Wright has become notorious within the cryptocurrency community for his aggressive legal tactics as since 2019, he has filed lawsuits against several Bitcoin developers in a bid to gain control of the network and silence his critics.
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund has argued that these lawsuits stifle innovation by threatening developers who contribute to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Judge Mellor acknowledged the chilling effect of Wright’s legal strategy on Bitcoin’s development, citing Satoshi Nakamoto’s collaborative nature as another factor in his ruling.
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
- PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
- Source: https://www.cryptocompare.com/email-updates/daily/2024/may/21/
- :has
- :not
- 2019
- 2021
- 2024
- 21
- a
- acknowledged
- against
- aggressive
- alleged
- Alliance
- and
- Another
- argued
- AS
- Asserting
- At
- Australian
- Battle
- BE
- become
- before
- between
- bid
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Blockchain
- bitcoin developers
- Bitcoin legal
- Bitcoin Whitepaper
- blockchain
- by
- caps
- citing
- claim
- claims
- code
- Codebase
- collaborative
- COM
- community
- computer
- contribute
- control
- COPA
- copyright
- Court
- Craig
- Craig Wright
- creation
- creator
- Critics
- crypto
- crypto roundup
- CryptoCompare
- cryptocurrency
- Database
- decision
- Defense
- developers
- Development
- documents
- effect
- elaborated
- evidence
- factor
- filed
- fonts
- For
- from
- fund
- Gain
- he
- him
- his
- HTTPS
- in
- Including
- Innovation
- intellectual
- intellectual property
- james
- judge
- just
- lawsuit
- Lawsuits
- Legal
- March
- May 2024
- May..
- Metadata
- nakamoto
- Nature
- network
- Nonprofit
- notorious
- of
- on
- open
- organization
- over
- Paper
- patent
- plato
- Plato Data Intelligence
- PlatoData
- prevent
- property
- Property Rights
- revealing
- rights
- roundup
- ruled
- ruling
- Satoshi
- Satoshi Nakamoto
- Scientist
- several
- Silence
- since
- stifle
- Strategy
- submitted
- sued
- support
- tactics
- team
- that
- The
- their
- These
- threatening
- time
- to
- trial
- unavailable
- was
- white
- white paper
- Whitepaper
- WHO
- with
- within
- Wright
- zephyrnet