On 21 October 2013 15:46, Kelly John Rose <[email protected]> wrote: > On that note, I really would love to hear from a lawyer as to why > accepting bitcoin or anonymous donations would be problematic. Unless > they start laundering money, I don't see that really being an issue.
Part of any organization's advice, given by a lawyer, is both "What, in the courts (and my) interpretation of the law, is legal", and ALSO "What I feel comfortable defending you for" and "Ways your life can be made miserable through things like frivolous court cases that are reasonable enough to go to a judge." It's entirely possible that: Lawyer A loves bitcoin, reads all they can about it, and would go to court (or more likely, private meetings with the IRS) in a heartbeat citing case law and making a spirited defense. Lawyer B; however, is kind of curious about bitcoin, but doesn't have much free time to read more about it, or look up case precedence, because s/he's very busy - perhaps overworking themselves by giving cheap rates to a bunch of nonprofits. Lawyer B isn't necessarily opposed to bitcoin, but actually making a defense of it would require a ton of research on their part, which would incur a large cost for the organization. The decision to not accept bitcoin doesn't always hinge on "I think this is legal vs illegal", but a spectrum of "How much of a pain in the butt is it going to be for me if someone _does_ take issue with it, given my current financial situation, legal representation, and business relationships." -tom _______________________________________________ cryptography mailing list [email protected] http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/cryptography
