back to article Australian oppn. leader wants to do something about Bitcoin, because terrorism and crypto

Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten has suggested that governmental action to deny use of encryption to terrorists should extend to Bitcoin. In a speech to the House of Representatives yesterday, Shorten fell into lock-step with Australia's plan to compel technology companies to build not-backdoors into their products …

  1. Meph
    FAIL

    Oh Dear.....

    I'm not sure Mr. Shorten could have sounded any more old if he'd broken out the rocking chair and walking stick and followed by shouting at the interns to get off his damn lawn...

    I'll be honest, I've never really given Bitcoin enough of my attention to fully understand it, but I'm at least bright enough to know that there are people out there who do. If you're looking to know more about such a thing, you trust these subject matter experts, and listen to what they have to say.

    It's also not like money laundering hasn't been a thing for decades...

    1. Yes Me Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Oh Dear.....

      This is all an exercise in futility, anyway. Making cryptography illicit encourages bad people to use even stronger crypto, and making bitcoin illegal would simply drive illicit money somewhere even more obscure.

    2. Mark 65

      Re: Oh Dear.....

      Breaking bitcoin is not about anonymity or terrorism it is about controlling money and being able to tax shit. Bitcoin gives rise to a potential "World Currency" that is harder to print like it's going out of fashion or tax into oblivion to pay for your asshatted spending plans. At present banks control money (and Governments) and they'd like it to stay that way. Disintermediation is not in their interest.

  2. Pompous Git Silver badge

    “things we simply do not know enough”

    That's never sufficient to prevent politicians having an opinion on such things...

  3. Big-nosed Pengie
    FAIL

    " leftish-of-centre " - the Labor Party??????? Shirley you jest!

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      leftish-of-centre

      A lot depends on one's own stance. As one of Geoffrey Blainey's students once remarked: "When you're to the left of Pol Pot, everyone else is right wing!" Still, you do have a point... When I resigned from the ALP, I wrote in my letter: "If you ever hear of anyone starting a Labour Party in Australia, please let me know because I'd love to join."

      1. RobHib
        Facepalm

        Re: leftish-of-centre

        "If you ever hear of anyone starting a Labour Party in Australia, please let me know because I'd love to join."

        Right, I once thought there was a "Labour Party" in Oz in the days of the very effective anti-Vietnam War demonstrations but I was very wrong. From at least the Chifley Labor Government of 1945 onward The Australian Labor Party hasn't been able to organise its way out of a wet paper bag on the deck of a sinking ship without a fight.

    2. Persona non grata

      More accurately they're centre-right, neoliberal economically and strongly authoritarian. They're also equally lickspittles to the USA even with Trump in office.

      They keep a couple of left sounding soft policies on the books but never act on them.

      The Unions that fund them are mostly leftovers from the catholic anti-communist forces. They were never even vaguely left wing nor for personal rights. It's why they've been so week on the damning investigations into the church in education also.

  4. Daniel Voyce
    Facepalm

    Why do these people continue to open their mouths about things they simply don't understand?

    The whole Australian government is a joke when it comes to technology understanding, hell, our prime minister is the guy who managed to shaft the public on the NBN as communications minister.

    It's 2017, we should have specific people in high level government / the cabinet with proven knowledge and preferably qualifications in Technology and only allow these people to talk about technology rather than allowing the 2 most senior politicians to sound like my Nan talking about "that infernal machine"

    1. Charles 9

      "It's 2017, we should have specific people in high level government / the cabinet with proven knowledge and preferably qualifications in Technology and only allow these people to talk about technology rather than allowing the 2 most senior politicians to sound like my Nan talking about "that infernal machine""

      How would you go about forcing this into place AND keeping it in place given the political environment? You're trying to force intelligence on a body that PRIDES itself on being stupid.

    2. RobHib
      Unhappy

      Whose fault is that?

      "The whole Australian government is a joke when it comes to technology understanding..."

      Whose fault is that? We vote these miserable accounting/lawyer non-techie cretin-types into parliament. We get what we deserve! [Unfortunately!]

    3. MarkSitkowski

      "...we should have specific people in high level government / the cabinet with proven knowledge and preferably qualifications in Technology ..."

      That's how they do it in China, and it's done them no harm todate.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tech and science

    Never understood or reported correctly by those in positions that should know better.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Tech and science

      and given how tech and science are taught and funded in schools, the understanding of either are unlikely to improve amongst the public who will be heard to response en masse with "that sounds reasonable"

  6. GrumpyOldBloke

    There are two things we simply do not know enough about to deal with properly

    Thanks god for that. The things that they do know about and have tried to deal with properly have been an utter fsck up.

  7. Woza
    Facepalm

    Yes Minister said it

    Hacker: Why do you experts always think you’re right?

    McFarlane: And why do you think the more inexpert you are, the more likely you are to be right?

    Hacker: Ministers are NOT experts. They are chosen expressly because they know nothing.

  8. The Central Scrutinizer

    The level of fuckwittery on display in Australia right now is unbelievable, even by our standards.

    1. RobHib

      Amen!

      "...fuckwittery <...>, even by our standards."

      Amen! [...and again and again.]

      It's so depressing I despair.

  9. julian.smith

    It could be worse

    Tony Abbot could escape from the cupboard his colleagues have locked him in.

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

      Re: It could be worse

      About that...

  10. Adam 1

    completely agree with Bill (on this)

    Convicted terrorists should not have access to Bitcoin.

    /That is what he meant right?

  11. Colin Tree

    go "legit"

    If you want to move money around, create a web of offshore companies, pay an accountant and hide your funds in tax havens, just like real companies do. Armament manufacturers even get the president to rubber stamp deals.

    Bill Shorten says there are things 'we do not know enough about.....

    So Bill, get someone to talk who does know, and if you can't find someone on your team of dickhead politicians, stand aside for a new generation.

    You can't see the world is being run by conservative dickheads who don't have a clue.

    The time is soon coming when we put the bastards up against a wall...

    "Vive la Revolution"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: go "legit"

      Be careful. These are the kinds of bastards who, if you put up against the wall, have friends who will rescue them and then put YOU up against instead.

  12. Milton

    "There are ... things we simply do not know enough about to deal with properly"

    "There are ... things we simply do not know enough about to deal with properly"

    He should have just stopped there. It seems to apply to pretty much all politicians in the Anglophone countries (with the occasional exception of Canada). They don't know enough about anything to to deal with it properly.

  13. rtb61

    Sell While You Can

    Bitcoin is doomed. Those comments would be the first major shot across the bow, ponzi scheme would be the next (first crypto grinders get money for free, late comers pay the price) and a straight up history of criminal activity. That it comes from the opposition leader in Australia, is definitely a five eye feeler for a rest of the block push.

    Can they kill crypto currency overnight, absolutely, and this would be a major sign that they working up to it. Next up will be talk about foreign governments using it for secret espionage payments.

  14. Zangetsu

    they fear and hate bitcoin because they are not in control of it.

    anything they can not control they want to kill.

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