Quote from: optimator on August 28, 2013, 11:40:14 PM

I would suggest the same for bitcoin. That the holder of the private key must have free and clear title to the bitcoins represented by the private key.
Of course, just like paper currency, the acquisition of a private key by fraudulent means should be illegal.

Do you mean to say that:

The first to establish proof of control (knowledge of the private key) should have legal ownership?
And without such proof, acquisition of the private key by any means should not be illegal?

Quote from: MSantori on August 29, 2013, 02:33:35 AM

As a matter of law, "ownership" and "control" are two distinct concepts. Similarly, "power" and "right" are two distinct concepts.

Thanks for bringing that up.
I would like to hear people's opinion about where "ownership" and "control", "power" and "right" apply to the technical attributes of the Bitcoin protocol like "bitcoin" & "private key".

Quote

Similarly, if I possess a private key, I have control over the coins associated with that key. That is to say, I have the power to dispose of them. Whether I have ownership over them depends upon a panoply of factual circumstances that are as varied as every day life.

Both opinions & interpretations of the law based on those varied circumstances are welcome.

But do you think the analogy with bitcoins and physical objects will hold? As there are already separate laws for physical property and intellectual property. In a bitcoin-transaction you transfer the bitcoin to a new address without proof that the counterparty actually has control.

Under which circumstances do you gain or lose the rights to control bitcoins and how does this relate to ownership?