Bitcoin White Paper Reinstated On Bitcoin.org After Legal Victory

Bitcoin White Paper Reinstated on Bitcoin.org After Legal Victory

Last Updated: May 26, 2024By Editors Desk

The Bitcoin white paper has been reinstated on the Bitcoin.org website after Craig Wright’s unsuccessful legal battle to prove he is the pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Hennadii Stepanov, who maintains the Bitcoin.org website, announced the return by sharing a link to the white paper PDF on platform X.

Due to legal constraints, Bitcoin.org had to restrict access to the white paper for users in the UK, instead displaying a poignant quote from Satoshi Nakamoto: “It takes advantage of the nature of information being easy to spread but hard to stifle.”

In 2021, Wright sued Cobra, the anonymous group managing the site, for copyright infringement. Wright won the case by default when Cobra chose not to defend, resulting in Cobra paying £35,000 ($40,100) in legal fees. Wright had filed for U.S. copyright registration for the white paper in 2019.

In 2023, Wright escalated his legal actions by suing 13 Bitcoin Core developers and several companies, including Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block, for copyright violations related to the Bitcoin white paper, its file format, and database rights to the Bitcoin blockchain.

The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund responded, highlighting the growing trend of abusive lawsuits aimed at prominent Bitcoin contributors. These lawsuits pose significant burdens in terms of time, stress, costs, and legal risks, deterring further development.

Wright’s claims of being Nakamoto have been decisively debunked, rendering his copyright claim invalid. This was underscored by a ruling in a case brought against Wright by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a coalition of companies committed to preventing Wright from asserting ownership over Bitcoin’s intellectual property. COPA accused Wright of fabricating evidence to support his claims.

As a result of these legal challenges, Craig Wright’s assets, valued at 6.7 million British pounds ($8.4 million), were frozen by a UK court to ensure he could cover court expenses.

The Bitcoin white paper is now under an MIT open-source license, allowing anyone to reuse and modify the code for any purpose, reaffirming its open-access nature.

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