Posted: Mar 22, 2018 5:50 pm
minininja wrote:purplerat wrote:minininja wrote:purplerat wrote:
That's not at all accurate. Using bitcoin does not require that you run a node or host anything. Using bitcoin can, and I'd venture to guess for most is, as simple as being aware of a small subset of hashes which happen to be valid within the blockchain.
If you want to claim that those who merely use bitcoin are responsible for what is on the blockchain as a whole elsewhere that's a whole other mess you are wading into.
Ok, I've slightly simplified by leaving out the fact that every individual doesn't have to host the whole thing, but that can only work if there are individuals that do host the whole thing. You're just shifting the problem onto someone else and the basic point still stands.
It's not the same basic point unless you think that having money in a bank that engages in illegal activity like money laundering makes you complicit in that crime.
For that analogy to work all banks would have to be committing the crime and they would never be able to stop committing it. If that were the case I'd also suggest that system was fundamentally flawed.
I'll just say fair enough and leave it at that as going down the analogy rabbit hole is just about always fruitless.
Rather I'd just go back to the fundamental question of whether a record of illegal activity (i.e. data) should itself be illegal? If so, for what purpose?