Newsweek Lied – Dorian Nakamoto Legal Defense Fund | Hacker News Reader

Newsweek Lied – Dorian Nakamoto Legal Defense Fund

newsweeklied.com

19 pointsepaga13 comments

This post was killed by user flags.

How is this a legal "defense" fund? It makes it seem like someone is suing Nakomoto, or he's facing some criminal charge.

It's just a legal fund. He's got every right to sue Newsweek, but don't make it look like he's being sued himself.

Ok - they didn't lie. They made an egregious error. I know this seems like a distinction without a difference, but ethically speaking, there is actually a pretty big difference.

One of the website's allegations is "In addition, in an interview after the article was published, the author appears to have wholly invented an additional conversation with Dorian supporting her version of events."

Which -- if true -- goes beyond a mere 'error' into outright, well, lying. (By the author, at least; it's unclear how complicit Newsweek was.)

Does it actually specifically say what the suit is for? It just says "He is not the face of bitcoin", and that there were misquotes. I have no doubt that this has affected his family, but what exactly is this money going to do?

They key part is this:

> "Dorian's Legal Defense Fund is a separate effort, authorized and endorsed by Dorian, to raise money to hold Newsweek accountable for their article. A lawsuit against Newsweek will be very expensive. Dorian does not have the resources to pay the costs of such a suit, let alone attorneys' fees. Monies raised by the Fund will be used to further Dorian's legal claims against Newsweek; anything remaining will be given directly to Dorian for his expenses."

So this is to pay the lawyers behind a suit against Newsweek, and any remaining funds (if any) will go to Dorian. I'd prefer to just give money to Dorian directly, rather than risk it paying for lawyers to go after Newsweek.

Are the lawyers willing to work at subsidized rates? Or on contingent based upon success? If not that says that the lawyers themselves are not that confident in the potential success of this strategy.

No addresses or phone numbers for the fund, no associated lawyers, nothing to indicate that this is legitimate.

Please do some additional checks before sending money to the bitcoin address mentioned.

> Nakamoto's attorney, Ethan Kirschner, confirmed in an email that his law office is "responsible for the website and the fund." (Quote from Business Insider article)

In other words, it seems the lawyer himself put up this web site and will be pocketing all the funds...pretty sleazy if true.

So you're upset that a legal fund will be used to pay legal expenses to lawyers to carry out legal action.

What else do you think the legal fund should be spent on?

Except you know the lawyers are going to get a big cut of the proceeds as well.

The site is disingenuous. "Please donate to the defense fund" is a total lie. It's an attack fund. If they're going to solicit money for a cause, at least be honest about that cause.

Didn't mean to come across as upset - I'm not.

I would say that Nakamoto already received nearly 50 BTC (currently around $20k) from the community. https://blockchain.info/address/1Dorian4RoXcnBv9hnQ4Y2C1an6N...

Now his lawyer, who could just as well work for a settlement with Newsweek which would pay for the expenses, seems to me to simply be taking advantage of the (apparently quite generous) BTC crowd...

There's a perceived difference between outside forces raising money for legal battles vs a specific law firm doing its own money-raising. The latter comes across as self-serving for the attorneys.

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