Oddbean

How big of a target do I have on my back for developing dedicated (nostr) cryptographic software? #asknostr I have experience with the fed door kickers in the past and got lucky, trying to avoid that again without being a coward.

If you're concerned about it, it's probably worth discussing with the right kind of lawyer, whatever that is. It might cost a couple hundred bucks, maybe more if you have a ton of questions, but it's worth it to know what they might try to get you on and how. Alternatively, exclusively publish and communicate over tor for anything even slightly related to the project, never share a photo or personal information of any sort, and generally remain untraceable. Downside is if they're interested and watching, you only have to slip up once.

> Downside is if they're interested and watching, you only have to slip up once. I firmly believe this, along with knowing that I'm not capable of living without a mistake. I can't afford to dedicate my life to this software, as much as I believe in nostr, it's not worth stepping out of real life for. On top of that, I've been public for quite a while now and it's difficult to put that toothpaste back in the tube.

My concern, is how concerned should I be for myself and my family really. I've spoken with lawyers about the previous thing, and their response is, well this fight will never end and your family will always be at risk so it's just can you handle it/afford it, or get out. We chose to get out. It all happens in the dark, behind some crafty worded emails and quiet threats. It taught me the importance of something like nostr irl. That any government is just organized crime and you can choose to fight that fight if you want just know what you're up against. I know what I'm up against, and I will lose, I don't have the power to fight a federal government. We know what happens to billionaires when they don't follow the rules. I'm but a smear on the boot. I just want to know how big my target is, and how long I have.

That's the thing right. And your left with a few thoughts - how big is my target - how much time do I have - how normal of a life do I want to live - how much pressure can I tolerate - how do I get the amount of money required to keep me out of prison or suicided Attorneys that have the motivation to fight the justice department are hard to come by and quite pricey.

i've always been an outlaw... in 2003 i published a document on the internet that was technically a criminal act - providing instructions on how to produce an illegal drug... (queensland, and DMT) and i'd already gone underground back in 1995 with the psytrance scene and taken the red pill (acid and mushrooms) by that point, it was all over my take on it is: if you have something to lose, move so they can't take it from you... move far from the center points of their operations and the chances are they will never show up, or at least it won't be a door kicked in but your local shopkeeper tells you that feds were asking funny questions about their local programmer misfit resident, or get right out of their jurisdiction altogether... that's also why i'm not considering going back inside the EU any closer than this location here, where the incumbent, second time elected governor of the island is bitcoin friendly

this is why i stay pretty much incognito, register only what i must, avoid shit like cars, don't go out much... i'm hoping to ride the elevator up this bitcoin cycle, for a change, then i'm moving to rural mongolia, and all i need is 3rd world quality internet i'm good thanks door kickers don't have that much budget

Just throw it into a couple of repositories with a MIT liscence and whatever you do make sure its not centralized and you are not making a profit in any way and it will be covered under free speech.

For what it's worth i was seen as lead developer for bitcoin core for about 10 years, i never experienced any door kickers, nor even real harassment at airports. The only "trouble with the law" i've been in, was an idiot suing me in a civilian lawsuit. Expensive and stressful but no real risk of prison. Things are becoming worse now but (depending on your country), it might not be that bad as often implied. As always, avoiding attracting too much attention helps. Don't be a central point of failure and it's quite pointless to attack you personally.

Good to know, I appreciate the experience! Automotive seems to be higher regulated (in the US) for now. >Don't be a central point of failure How do I avoid that? Take on more developers? The code is disbursed and will continue to spread as I can manage it.

i wouldn't worry about that... if people use the library, they probably can do at least minimal maintenance on it as needed too, it helps to be friendly with your fellow devs, some library devs are quite prickly and when it's like that you either use it or look for an alternative or write one or find something else to do that doesn't have an asshole building the only library in existence so far i chose the "write one" option after having a really bad time with fiatjaf's Go libraries, not finished yet lol... second revision lol... just kinda got to a certain point with it and decided "fuck this i'm rethinking this altogether"