I think we just want them to prove they have the coins.
isn't bitcoin about freedom?
who are you to tell me, what i have to/can/cannot do with my money? why do i have to prove anything to you?
this is ridiculous.
if you want demurrage, create a new fork, so i can choose not to use it.
Because you are using other people's resources for your benefit, Bitcoin can tell you what to do in order to keep your bitcoins. I'm not a fan of demurrage for its own sake. Only for the long run purpose of recovering lost coins to keep the supply stable and memory costs lower. I want them to be able to avoid the charge. It's only moving the coins from one address to another. And it's only once every 20 years. The but hell, why not once every 100 years. It won't affect you in your lifetime and it will keep bitcoins stable in the long term.
I would rather bitcoin be changed, and that's why we discuss this stuff. We may lose the argument, but if we win, you'll still have the option of creating your own fork without it.
As to gold being lost in a sunken ship
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18736741/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/deep-sea-booty-million-coins-found/Hardware..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_recycling