Jack Recider

It makes perfect sense. And you know, as I was researching this episode, I saw more stories like this. Another privacy service just like this called Samurai Wallet was also shut down by the U.S. federal authorities and the people who started it were arrested.

It makes perfect sense. And you know, as I was researching this episode, I saw more stories like this. Another privacy service just like this called Samurai Wallet was also shut down by the U.S. federal authorities and the people who started it were arrested.

This was a coin join on the Bitcoin network, which isn't the same as the smart contract system, but it is autonomous system and it's non-custodial. And it was also open source. And here you have people who have contributed to an open source project who are getting arrested because the feds are accusing them of running an illegal money transmitting service.

This was a coin join on the Bitcoin network, which isn't the same as the smart contract system, but it is autonomous system and it's non-custodial. And it was also open source. And here you have people who have contributed to an open source project who are getting arrested because the feds are accusing them of running an illegal money transmitting service.

And as my eyes become tuned into this, I'm seeing more and more stories like this. The Phoenix Wallet decided to remove themselves from the App Store, not saying a reason why. Ibex Pay is shutting themselves down, not saying why either. MetaMask received an enforcement action letter from the SEC, and they're countersuing the SEC over that. Something big is going on here.

And as my eyes become tuned into this, I'm seeing more and more stories like this. The Phoenix Wallet decided to remove themselves from the App Store, not saying a reason why. Ibex Pay is shutting themselves down, not saying why either. MetaMask received an enforcement action letter from the SEC, and they're countersuing the SEC over that. Something big is going on here.

Privacy advocates have fought the government in the past before and won. The story of Phil Zimmerman comes to mind. Phil created a fantastic encryption program called PGP, which allowed you to send an email to someone encrypted, so only you and the receiver could see what was in it. Yeah, well, the U.S. government hated this kind of encryption that gave us privacy. Encryption?

Privacy advocates have fought the government in the past before and won. The story of Phil Zimmerman comes to mind. Phil created a fantastic encryption program called PGP, which allowed you to send an email to someone encrypted, so only you and the receiver could see what was in it. Yeah, well, the U.S. government hated this kind of encryption that gave us privacy. Encryption?

That's only for the military. How dare civilians try to use it? So they classified PGP as ammunition, and they called it a regulated arm, as if it was a weapon, which allowed them to say, look, Phil, unless you get an arms export control license, you can't go distributing encryption code online. Because, you know, what happens if criminals use it? They could hide their communications.

That's only for the military. How dare civilians try to use it? So they classified PGP as ammunition, and they called it a regulated arm, as if it was a weapon, which allowed them to say, look, Phil, unless you get an arms export control license, you can't go distributing encryption code online. Because, you know, what happens if criminals use it? They could hide their communications.

Nobody wants that, right? The FBI began investigating Phil. Well, the privacy community was outraged that the government was restricting us from encrypting our own messages. And they started being vocal about how important privacy was. Someone suggested to Phil that he should publish the PGP code in a book. And Phil's like, what? Why? It's a program. It's code. Just download it online.

Nobody wants that, right? The FBI began investigating Phil. Well, the privacy community was outraged that the government was restricting us from encrypting our own messages. And they started being vocal about how important privacy was. Someone suggested to Phil that he should publish the PGP code in a book. And Phil's like, what? Why? It's a program. It's code. Just download it online.

Jeez, if I were to put it in a book, it would take 800 pages to print it. But the thing was, books weren't considered regulated munition. Books were protected under free speech law. So if he were to publish the source code in a book, that would give him protections that what he's written is just words and not in fact a regulated arm. So he published it in a book and it was 800 pages of code.

Jeez, if I were to put it in a book, it would take 800 pages to print it. But the thing was, books weren't considered regulated munition. Books were protected under free speech law. So if he were to publish the source code in a book, that would give him protections that what he's written is just words and not in fact a regulated arm. So he published it in a book and it was 800 pages of code.

Well, enough people voiced their support for encryption and privacy that the government finally gave in and let Phil off the hook and even took encryption off the regulated arms list. It was a big victory for our privacy. And thank goodness, because encryption is inherent in everything we do online now.

Well, enough people voiced their support for encryption and privacy that the government finally gave in and let Phil off the hook and even took encryption off the regulated arms list. It was a big victory for our privacy. And thank goodness, because encryption is inherent in everything we do online now.

Even what you're hearing right now, this podcast was delivered to you encrypted so that anyone who intercepted the packets along the way wouldn't know what you're listening to. It would have been illegal for me to use encryption on this podcast in the 90s without an export license. I did a whole episode on this, actually. That's episode 12, called Crypto Wars.

Even what you're hearing right now, this podcast was delivered to you encrypted so that anyone who intercepted the packets along the way wouldn't know what you're listening to. It would have been illegal for me to use encryption on this podcast in the 90s without an export license. I did a whole episode on this, actually. That's episode 12, called Crypto Wars.

What Phil showed us is that code can be printed in a book, and if it's printable like that, it's protected under free speech. And so once again, it's unprecedented that the government would put a sanction on code, which has always been free speech. Until now. Until now.

What Phil showed us is that code can be printed in a book, and if it's printable like that, it's protected under free speech. And so once again, it's unprecedented that the government would put a sanction on code, which has always been free speech. Until now. Until now.