On April 22, published documents stemming from law firm Ontier LLP show London’s High Court is granting the law firm permission to serve legal proceedings over copyright infringement against the owner of bitcoin.org, a pseudonymous operator called “Cøbra.” The legal proceedings involve “hosting and publishing” a copy of the academic Bitcoin white paper.
Copyright Infringement Issues Against Bitcoin.org’s Operator Cøbra Continue
Not too long ago, Bitcoin.com News published a report concerning the self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin, and the Nchain chief scientist Craig Wright. In that report, it noted that Wright’s lawyers from Ontier were planning on serving legal proceedings to a number of websites that hosted the Bitcoin white paper.
Wright has asserted for years that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, but yet a great majority of the crypto community does not believe him. Moreover, Wright also claims to be the “rightful owner” of the Bitcoin white paper, bitcoin.org domain and alleges that a group of people took control of the site and altered information.
Following the invocation of this issue with the white paper being hosted on bitcoin.org, the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) sent a letter to Wright’s legal team questioning the claims. Furthermore, a great number of organizations and businesses decided to host the white paper on a myriad of web portals on the internet.
In April 2021, COPA decided to bring the matter to the High Court in order to question the legitimacy of Wright’s claims to the academic white paper. COPA’s civil lawsuit wants to stop Wright from this type of attempt again if they successfully prove he has no rights to the academic paper.
Following COPA’s civil lawsuit filing, Wright responded to the patent alliance’s attempt. A quote sent to Bitcoin.com News indicates that Wright welcomes COPA’s civil lawsuit. “This is exactly what we have wanted to happen for some time and I am very pleased this body has agreed to stand up in court as I can now have my credentials judged legally,” Wright said in an email on April 14.
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Wright Seeks Declaration That He Owns the Copyright in the Bitcoin White Paper, Which Cøbra Is Infringing
Now according to a press release published by Ontier, London’s High Court has given the group permission to serve the pseudonymous operator of bitcoin.org dubbed “Cøbra.” Ontier also states that the proceedings were issued on February 24, leveraging the Intellectual Property List of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales. The press release adds that on April 21, “permission to serve ‘Cøbra’ out of the jurisdiction.”
The press release further says:
Dr Wright is seeking a declaration that he owns the copyright in the Bitcoin White Paper, which ‘Cøbra’ is infringing.
The press announcement was revealed on Twitter by the BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones. “Craig Wright in new legal move to prove he is Satoshi, suing bitcoin.org for copyright infringement over publishing ‘his’ original Bitcoin white paper,” the BBC correspondent said. The operator of bitcoin.org Cøbra is very active on Twitter and the pseudonymous operator responded to Cellan-Jones’s recent tweet.
“He’s trying to get an injunction to get bitcoin.org blocked in the UK. Ontier seems to be entertaining his fantasy that he is Satoshi (a fact which would make him the 25th richest person in the world),” Cøbra replied. “Embarrassing day for the British legal profession,” Cøbra added.
The Ontier press release further asserts that “it is not Dr Wright’s intention to silence or intimidate anyone.” However, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor is “merely to protect his inherent rights to his own intellectual property,” Ontier’s announcement insists.
“[Dr Wright] does not agree that it should be used by supporters and developers of alternative assets, such as Bitcoin Core, to promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his white paper,” Ontier concludes.
What do you think about the recent press release published by Craig Wright’s lawyers this week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
