UK court orders Bitcoin.org to suppress white paper following lawsuit against Craig Wright

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Cobra, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin.org website, has been ordered by the High Court in London to stop hosting his copy of the Bitcoin white paper.

Citing a copyright infringement raised by nChain chief scientist Craig Wright, the judge had no choice but to rule on a default judgment because Cobra chose not to appear, the judge said on Monday. represented by Wright, Ontier LLP, in a press release.

Judge David Hodge, QC, issued an injunction prohibiting Cobra from infringing on Wright’s UK copyright, either by making the white paper available for download from the website or “in any other way.”

An order requiring bitcoin.org to publish a copy of the court order has also been issued while an investigation will be opened to determine the damage Cobra caused against Wright, Ontier said.

Bitcoin.org is an independent open source project that aims to support the development of Bitcoin. The website and its creator have been involved in a legal threat economy.

The proceedings were published on February 24 this year in the Intellectual Property List of Commercial and Property Courts of England and Wales. In April, Wright obtained permission to serve Cobra and requested a declaration that he owns the copyright to the Bitcoin whitepaper, claiming that Cobra was infringing his rights.

For at least the beginning of this year, the website has said it believes Wright’s claims to be baseless and has refused to withdraw the document. Ontier said Wright did not wish to restrict access to “his” article, but disagreed with its use by supporters and developers of “alternative assets”.

… To promote or misrepresent these assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with Bitcoin’s vision as he set out in his white paper, said Simon Cohen, senior partner at Ontier.

Wright claims to be the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Although Nakamoto’s true identity has never been revealed, Wright’s attempt to threaten those who disseminate the whitepaper is against the spirit of Bitcoin, Cobra said on Tuesday.

What is of particular concern is when nicknames like @CobraBitcoin make big public statements about coming to court to confirm their comments about me and Bitcoin but, inevitably, then escape reality, ”Wright told CoinDesk by email. “In addition, they also directly requested donations to the said court case. Hope all funds donated will be duly returned by @CobraBitcoin or at least reported as income for tax purposes.

Cobra defended his choice not to appear in court, telling CoinDesk via Twitter:

“Unfortunately, the court rules allowed me to be sued under a pseudonym, however, I could not defend myself under a pseudonym. So I was put in an impossible situation of losing my privacy or losing the case in a default judgment. It sucks, but there’s nothing more I could have done, really.

UPDATE (June 29, 2021, 9:34 a.m. UTC): Adds comments from Cobra and Craig Wright.

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