LONDON (Bywire News) - Bitcoin.org has been ordered to remove its copy of the Bitcoin White Paper from its site after failing to defend itself in court. With their founder who goes by the pseudonym Cobra failing to make an appearance, the judge said he had no option other than to find against the site.
The case revolves around a claim for copyright infringement brought by nChain Chief Scientist, Dr Craig Wright who claims to be Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. He claimed that while he did not want to restrict access to ‘his’ white paper, he did not support its use by promoters of what he terms ‘alternative assets’. These, he claims, do not conform to the vision of Bitcoin, Satoshi’s vision.
Bitcoin.org has described the claims as being without merit and refused to take them down. They condemned the actions of Wright saying his attempts to threaten those disseminating copies of the white paper ran contrary to the spirit of Bitcoin.
However, when push came to shove Cobra did not put in an appearance to defend himself in court. Speaking to CoinDesk via Twitter he defended his failure to attend due to privacy reasons.
“Unfortunately, the court rules allowed for me to be sued pseudonymously, however, I couldn’t defend myself pseudonymously,” he said. “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.”
His absence left the court with little choice. It has ordered Bitcoin.org to remove the white paper from its website and publish a copy of the order. An inquiry will be established to determine the damages caused by Cobra against Wright.
Writing by Tom Cropper, editing by Michael O’Sullivan