54 sats \ 5 replies \ @Cje95 24 Apr \ parent \ on: Samourai Indictment Count Two Could Have Serious Implications For All Wallets bitcoin
True but even with Freedom of Speech there are limits with threats, fraud, and defamation as examples.
True, but in the case of code, the exceptions aren't inherent -- someone would have to use the code to commit a crime, so it's the action, not the code, that's illegal.
(IANAL, just someone who reads a fuckton and listens to tons of Darknet Diaries, so happy to be corrected.)
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I'm not 110% certain of this but I would find it odd that if you create code that flips off temp regulation in a computer and then give it the ability to adapt and spread on its own that that code itself would be a violation if that makes sense. The code itself might be the one spreading itself but the creator or the code itself would seem to be a violation of freedom of speech since it is harmful
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nod As I noted, I'm not a lawyer (have taken a bunch of infosec classes towards a Master's degree, but that's more focused on tactics than legality), and I'd imagine there is a line at which it would not be speech (though I'm not sure Samurai would fit that bill). And once it's operating as a worm, that's definitely different (as running the application is inherently an attack). Though it's running the code, not writing or possessing it, that would be the issue here.
Also, the cynical side of me wonders why the government hasn't looked at mining software as something that overheats computers dangerously.
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I get your point, but keep in mind that defamation and fraud are usually civil, not criminal, and I can't see the threat analogy applied to software.