[ad_1]
Lawyers representing the U.S. government have filed a legal notice opposing the dismissal of the allegations for Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum Foundation researcher accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against the DPRK, or DPRK.
According to court documents filed November 19 in New York’s Southern District, prosecutors referred to Griffith’s October 22 argument to dismiss the charges against him as “invalid”. The legal team argues that the former Ethereum Foundation researcher provided a service to the DPRK using an analogy with a US citizen providing nuclear secrets to scientists in the lonely nation:
“A simple hypothetical lays bare the absurdity of Griffith’s position. According to Griffith’s logic, the [North Korea Sanctions Regulations] would allow an American physicist to travel to North Korea and explain the science behind nuclear weapons at a conference of North Korean physicists, provided the science could be found on the Internet, received no compensation, and the regime’s desire to build weapons nuclear power was not economic in nature. “
The United States District Court indicted Griffith in January on conspiracy charges to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act following a presentation he made at a North Korean conference in April. The speech would have contained information North Korean agents could use to circumvent economic sanctions with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Federal authorities say Griffith knew North Korea was specifically interested in methods of circumventing sanctions using the blockchain. They claim Griffith sent a message to an associate, stating that he was planning to facilitate the 1 Ether (ETH) transaction “between North and South Korea”, knowing he would violate sanctions.
Griffith said his presentation was a “highly general speech based on publicly available information,” that he received no compensation for his participation, and that the speech was of “no economic use.” Therefore, he claims that the allegations are without merit and the speech protected by the First Amendment.
However, the legal memo states that Griffith admitted that he “introduced concepts” about cryptocurrency and blockchain to conference attendees in his interviews with the Federal Bureau of Investigations last May and November, and some North Koreans probably walked away with a better one. understanding how to use technology to circumvent sanctions.
The case against Griffith is ongoing. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently free on a $ 1 million bond.
