Satoshi Nakamoto Impersonator Gets a Chance to Defend Bitcoin

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A UK court will hear the case of Dr. Craig Steven Wright, who claims to be Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Australian computer scientist argues that the Bitcoin file format should be protected by UK copyright law. He will now have the chance to plead his case before a judge.

Who is Craig Wright?

Dr. Craig Steven Wright is an Australian computer scientist with a long history of association with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

Speculation that Wrights was the inventor of Bitcoin began circulating in 2015 following investigations by Wired and Gizmodo. However, shortly after posting the story, Wired reported that Wright may have had false clues identifying him with Nakamoto.

In the years that followed, Wright himself publicly claimed to have written the Bitcoin whitepaper with input from two other men – Dave Kleiman and Hal Finney.

When asked to comment on the matter, ChatGPT ranked Wright among their top three guesses about Nakamoto’s identity. Presenting the statistical probability of different candidates being the inventor of Bitcoin, the chatbot said that Nick Szabo is the most likely person to be behind Bitcoin, followed by Hal Finney and Craig Wright.

No evidence without Nakamoto’s PGP key

While Dr. Wright continues to insist that he had a hand in the founding of Bitcoin, many doubt his claims.

Skeptics point out that the real Satoshi Nakamoto could confirm his identity by providing a message verified with Nakamoto’s PGP key. No such verified public message has appeared since 2010.

Satoshi Nakamoto’s PGP public key (Source: Nakamoto Institute) Bitcoin copyright attempt

As of 2019, Wright has repeatedly attempted to claim copyright ownership over the Bitcoin File Format, the Bitcoin Whitepaper, and parts of the Bitcoin Database. But he has had little success so far.

For example, the US Copyright Office dismissed Wright’s claims and suggested that no one could register a copyright for Bitcoin.

In a press release issued at the time, he said:

In the event that a work is registered under a pseudonym, the Copyright Office does not investigate whether there is a demonstrable connection between the claimant and the pseudonymous author.

Craig Wright has better luck in the UK

Although he appears to have given up on his attempts in the United States, Wright apparently thinks that British intellectual property law might be more favorable to his cause. And he’s had some success in the UK courts.

In 2021, Wright won a lawsuit against the operator of bitcoin.org. The pseudonymous operator known as Cobra was ordered to pay Wrights’ legal fees and to remove the Bitcoin whitepaper hosted on its website.

However, Wright’s victory was largely symbolic, and the court only ruled in his favor by default after Cobra failed to present a defense. Under UK law, defendants cannot make a legal argument anonymously without a court order.

To this day, the Nakamotos white paper remains freely available at bitcoin.org. It is unclear whether Cobra ever paid the court-ordered legal fees.

Court set to consider Bitcoin copyright claim

In 2022, Wright again attempted to claim copyright ownership of Bitcoin.

The lawsuit names a list of defendants whom it identifies as Bitcoin Core. Twenty-five people and companies are listed as collective members that Wright claims control the Bitcoin network. These include a number of top Bitcoin developers as well as companies such as Block Inc, Chaincode, and Coinbase.

Initially, Judge Edward James Mellor denied the request. According to Judge Mellor, even assuming that the plaintiff is Satoshi Nakamoto, he failed to satisfactorily identify a specific work that would be the subject of a copyright claim.

However, this week an appeals court overturned the initial judgment.

The case is now expected to go to trial in early 2024. But Wright is still a long way from victory.

Victory hinges on proof of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity

Commenting on the appeal ruling, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund (BLDF) noted that Wright won his day in court. But his chances of success are slim unless he can prove he really is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Additionally, the file format, whitepaper, and Bitcoin database are all open source and distributed under a free software license by Satoshi Nakamoto. Even though Wright proves he is the real Nakamoto, his claim remains unstable.

Under the terms of the BLDF, it is inadmissible for someone claiming to be the author of an open source program to allege copyright infringement against those benefiting from its open source license.

Disclaimer

In accordance with the guidelines of the Trust Project, BeInCrypto is committed to providing impartial and transparent reports. This news article aims to provide accurate and timely information. However, readers are urged to independently fact-check and seek professional advice before making any decisions based on this content.

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