Quote from: ichi on August 25, 2010, 11:26:16 AM

I doubt that users would be raided, unless there were evidence of seriously-illegal activity. Those who run exchanges etc. might be at risk, OTOH, either through involvement (however unintended) with crime, or merely for violating KYC etc, laws. Some might receive hard-to-refuse invitations to snitch. Google e-gold, for example.

Remember Waco? Did you ever learn the original charges? Unlicensed gun sales! Hell, everybody in Texas trades unlicensed guns! Do you know how they justified torching a church and shooting the people as they escaped the fire? They indicted the survivors with every law in the book, and kept the jurors in a room until they came up with convictions on some diddley-squat charge, so the Times could headline they were all guilty.

You obviously have not observed how the DOJ goes after the low-hanging fruit, burying some small-time fapper under a flurry of impressive claims, hammering hard until one of them sticks. The news services love this game, it gets them big attention. It's a very effective way to intimidate the populace.

Why invite this sort of thing in the first place? Bitcoin CAN BE STRUCTURED TO AVOID THESE SORT OF CHARGES. Why needlessly expose ourselves to charges of illegality and money laundering? Let's get our shit into one sock and do things the right way.

I'm buried in work right now and can't do much. I've outlined several times on this site what needs to be done. Let's do it.