UK Judge Turns Down Craig Wright’s Case Against Roger Ver

One UK judge has turned down a defamation case filed by the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright against the Bitcoin Cash advocate Roger Ver.

The reason for this case being dismissed was because it was allegedly to ‘weak’, didn’t have enough detail and was ‘inappropriate’.

The high court judge sir Mattew Nicklin said that there was little evidence to support Wrights claims of damage in reputation and noted that he had failed to provide enough proof of “the global reputation he enjoys and, more particularly, the extent to which it has been damaged.”

Nicklin’s decision came out earlier this week and brands as a form of ‘libel tourism’, a term used mainly in regards to opportunistic cases seeking to get damages in plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions.

Earlier in 2019, Wright handed Ver a legal notice when he was in the UK, which alleged that a video he made describing him as a fraud damaged his reputation. Given that Ver lives in Japan, he was only in the UK for a short time leading the judge to conclude that the country was probably not the best place to start the case.

A spokesperson for Wright said that the Ver case had “only been thrown out because of the jurisdiction, not the content.”

Wright is seemingly building a patent empire, is notorious in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

As reported by The Next Web:

“In December 2015, two simultaneous investigations by Wired and Gizmodo claimed he could have invented Bitcoin. However, subsequent reporting raised concerns that the Australian computer scientist could potentially be involved in an elaborate scam.”

Wright has filed multiple lawsuits against several figures in the cryptocurrency industry including the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin. Facing legal action across the pond, Wright has been accused of swindling $5 billion worth of Bitcoin from his ex-partner, the late Dave Kleiman. 

In a blog post, Wright posted in June:

“In one specific case, it comes down to arguments about the people. Bitcoin is technology. You know the other side of the argument is failing when it has moved to attacking a person rather than the argument itself. It is a common tactic in the world of social media. Proof of social media is not about truth but rather about a deception that can change and mutate over time. It is one of the aspects of Bitcoin that have been developed that allows for a system of truth. If you view my videos and presentations from 2014, you will see that I have the same outlook and concept of Bitcoin. […]”

“The attack comes down to the individual. You end with diatribes of YouTube videos, gut feelings, and the general ranting of social justice warriors. In many ways, it is designed to take you away from the issue at hand. The fallacy can be used in creating a red herring. The genetic fallacy is commonly presented in a continued argument as a matter of creating misdirection. It allows the arguer to slip in a red herring (ignoratio elenchi) in a relevant conclusion or relevant thesis, for example. They avoid refuting the point being argued, and cloud the issue.”