S Tominaga Profile picture
Sep 18 8 tweets 2 min read Read on X
In reflecting on @Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn’s statement about not running Windows in 2009/2010, it’s crucial to address the nuance of his role in integrating Tahoe-LAFS with Bitcoin, particularly regarding the Windows version.

Zooko, a highly skilled developer, led the creation of Tahoe-LAFS, a decentralised storage system that integrated Bitcoin for micropayment capabilities.
Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn clearly lied when he claimed that he wasn’t running Windows in 2009/2010. The evidence from the GitHub activity, where he worked on the Windows version of Tahoe-LAFS and integrated Bitcoin, shows that he was indeed using Windows during this time.
His direct contributions to the repositories and involvement in the project contradict his statement. He was handling the Windows version, and the fact that he was actively pushing updates and making comments on Windows environments leaves no doubt that he was running it himself.
In a standard trial, it is not expected that a witness will unexpectedly contradict their own testimony or undermine their own credibility, a phenomenon known as "surging" themselves.

When a witness surges themselves, they make unanticipated statements that conflict with prior evidence or damage their case, and this is not something that lawyers can fully foresee.
The trial process operates under the assumption that witnesses will provide consistent testimony based on their previous depositions, affidavits, or interviews.
Zooko perjuring himself during testimony presents a significant and unexpected challenge for a trial. Perjury, particularly when it comes from a key witness, creates complications that are difficult to prepare for in a standard trial setting.

Legal teams generally assume that witnesses will testify truthfully under oath, and the legal strategy is built on the reliability of the testimony provided in pre-trial stages. When a witness, like Zooko, lies on the stand, it can catch both the defense and prosecution off guard, leading to immediate and severe consequences.
The unexpected nature of a witness committing perjury can become grounds for an appeal, especially if the false testimony significantly impacts the outcome of the trial.

On appeal, the argument may focus on how the perjured testimony misled the court leading to an unjust decision. The appellate court would need to consider whether the false statements were material to the case and if they altered the course of justice in a way that warrants a retrial or reversal of the original verdict.

His are.
Zooko's lies, which were unanticipated during his testimony, form a critical basis for challenging the trial’s integrity, especially if the opposing counsel had no reason to expect such dishonesty from the witness.

Perjury can disrupt even the best-prepared legal strategies and lead to further legal challenges.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with S Tominaga

S Tominaga Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @CsTominaga

Sep 19
Censorship, by its very nature, is an act that only a state or government can commit. It is the forcible silencing of ideas by those who hold power over society, using the force of law or coercion to control what can and cannot be said. A government can censor because it possesses the authority to punish dissent.

In contrast, a private platform cannot censor—because a platform is not a coercive entity; it is a business, an extension of private property, where the owners have the right to control what takes place within their domain.
Free speech does not compel others to listen, nor does it demand that a platform must host every voice. A fundamental aspect of free speech is the freedom to choose: the choice to speak, the choice to listen, and the choice to refuse.

Just as you are not obligated to let someone speak in your own home, a platform is not obligated to host every opinion that crosses its servers. This is not censorship; it is the exercise of property rights, the same rights that protect your freedom to control your own space.
If someone complains that they are being "censored" by a platform, what they are really saying is that they believe they have a right to someone else's property, a right to demand a platform that they did not build or earn. They are whining about a freedom they could have exercised themselves—by creating their own space, their own platform, where they control the content and the message.

Complaining about a platform’s right to choose is not a stand for free speech—it is a refusal to take responsibility for your own ideas and your own efforts.
Read 5 tweets
Sep 18
@Zooko
Yet - you integrated Bitcoin into Tahoe and not years later... Image
Can you explain to me how you build a distributed file system integrating bitcoin without using bitcoin?

I find that rather intriguing...

I'm sure the courts will as well.
The comment about Mr Trammell it is also important to note...

Addresses associated with Tahoe-LAFS and bitcoin also link to addresses associated with Druidian...

In 2009/10.

It would be interesting to see how that little point is explained.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 18
In British courts, witness credibility is critically evaluated, and any false claims regarding past knowledge or involvement can seriously undermine the witness’s testimony and the case it supports.

In a situation where a witness claims to have personal knowledge of Quill (Company A) between 2007 and 2009, but it is revealed that they were actually employed by Hamelin (Company B) during that period and only became involved with Quill after Hamelin acquired Quill in 2015, this discrepancy should be seen as a major credibility issue.

The failure of a judge to treat this problem in this manner would lead to an appeal.Image
The court expects witnesses to provide testimony based on direct experience, not retrospective assumptions or second-hand information. If the witness was not employed by Quill during the 2007-2009 period, they cannot have firsthand knowledge of Quill’s operations during that time.

As a result, their testimony should be treated as unreliable, and the court may disregard it entirely. The court would also be concerned about whether this misrepresentation was intentional or a misunderstanding, as knowingly providing false testimony under oath could lead to perjury charges.Image
Providing false or misleading testimony is a serious offence in British courts. Perjury can result in criminal prosecution, as it undermines the integrity of the judicial process. If the testimony in question was critical to establishing key facts about Quill’s operations during 2007-2009, the case could be significantly weakened if that testimony is found to be based on false premises.
Read 9 tweets
Sep 18
Mojo Nation was available between 2000 and 2002. It was launched in 2000 as a decentralised peer-to-peer file sharing network, which aimed to split files into encrypted pieces, distributing them across multiple nodes.

Mojo Nation introduced innovative ideas such as market-based incentives for sharing resources, where users could earn "mojo" (a form of virtual currency) for contributing storage or bandwidth.
This led to Tahoe-LAFS (Least Authority File System), a decentralised and fault-tolerant storage system. This was first made available in 2007.

It was designed with strong encryption to ensure that only the users could access their stored data, not the storage providers or other third parties. Tahoe-LAFS was built with privacy, security, and resilience in mind, using principles of least authority and redundancy to protect against data loss or unauthorised access.
The system has continued to be updated and maintained since its initial release, with multiple versions and improvements over time. It is still used and developed within the open-source community for secure, distributed file storage.

@Zooko was developing and releasing the Windows 32-bit Tahoe-LAFS code integrating Bitcoin with Windows and began discussing this publicly in June 2010.

The period when he actively worked on bringing Bitcoin integration into Tahoe-LAFS began before this, specifically making it functional on the Windows operating system. His work during this time focused on incorporating micropayment capabilities into the decentralized storage system using Bitcoin, expanding its utility and accessibility to a broader range of users, including those on Windows platforms.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 18
The witness statement by Michael Stathakis asserts that the first proof of the 01916 product was created on 9 November 2009, as evidenced by the "Created" date on the PDF. However, this is demonstrably incorrect. Archival evidence shows that the Quill Notepad was sold as early as July 2009, months before the alleged creation date. This fundamental discrepancy reveals a clear error in the testimony provided by Stathakis and others, who claim there were no earlier versions of the product.Image
The fact that the product was on the market by July 2009 proves there must have been an earlier version already printed and sold. Stathakis and the others providing testimony have no firsthand knowledge of this period and are relying solely on records reviewed long after the fact.

What is also critical here is that Bantex only purchased Quill after this period, around 2014, and Stathakis was never employed by Quill during the relevant period. He failed to disclose to the court that his involvement with the products only began after Bantex’s acquisition. This omission is significant, as it shows that Stathakis had no personal knowledge of the product’s development or sales history during the relevant timeframe. His claim that no earlier version of the product existed is not only inaccurate but unsupported by any direct involvement.
This discrepancy, along with Stathakis' failure to clarify his role, strengthens my argument that the BDO Quill pad existed as early as 2007 or 2008, contrary to the claims made by Stathakis and others.

Their inability to account for an earlier version of the product highlights a clear gap in their knowledge, which in turn calls into question the reliability of their testimony. Since these individuals only became involved with the products after 2014, their assertions about the product’s development timeline are based on incomplete records and assumptions rather than firsthand experience.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 17
The situation at hand demonstrates a critical inconsistency between the testimony given by Mr. Wilcox O'Hearn in a court setting and his more recent statements on social media.

In court, Mr. O'Hearn claimed a lack of memory regarding his use of Windows, stating that while he had used Windows “off and on over the years,” he recalled using Linux to run Bitcoin.

However, his social media post portrays a different narrative, wherein he now remembers that he did, in fact, use Windows for development, even referencing Windows NT in the 1990s during his time at DigiCash.

This disparity in statements raises significant concerns, particularly when one considers the legal implications of such contradictions under oath.
In the English legal system, perjury is considered a serious offence under the Perjury Act 1911. This act makes it a criminal offence for a witness to knowingly provide false testimony under oath, whether in writing or verbally.

The attached court testimony and the subsequent social media posts by Mr. Wilcox O’Hearn demonstrate a clear inconsistency in his statements, potentially placing him at risk of facing legal consequences for perjury.

In court, Mr. O’Hearn seemed uncertain, stating that while he had used Windows “off and on” over the years, he specifically ran Bitcoin on Linux. However, in his social media post, he provides a more concrete recollection of using Windows, dating his usage back to Windows NT in 1996-97 at DigiCash. This direct contradiction raises questions about the credibility of his testimony in court.
Under the Perjury Act 1911, a person found guilty of perjury could face imprisonment for up to seven years.

The crucial element that must be proven is the intent to mislead the court. In this case, if Mr. O'Hearn is found to have intentionally misled the court regarding his usage of operating systems during a key period, this could be construed as an attempt to obstruct justice.

His post-testimony remarks on social media, which seem to casually amend his statements with a humorous tone, would not absolve him of responsibility. Rather, they further demonstrate a disregard for the gravity of his initial statements under oath.
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(