July 23, 2024 UK High Court seals Cøbra order: bitcoin whitepaper and software available in the UK for first time since June 2021
Software developers are now able to access the bitcoin whitepaper and use bitcoin software again in the UK, for the first time in over three years.
This is thanks to a ‘follow-on’ order from the COPA v Wright trial, which concluded that every aspect of Craig Wright’s claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of the bitcoin whitepaper, are a lie.
In June 2021, after Cøbra failed to appear in court, Judge David Hodge, QC had issued an injunction prohibiting Cøbra from infringing Wright’s alleged copyright of the bitcoin whitepaper in the U.K. At that time, Wright was wrongfully claiming that he was the inventor of bitcoin and author of the whitepaper. This claim was, in effect - and as seen in the Cøbra case - stopping the development of bitcoin, chilling and silencing developers with the threat of litigation, and undermining the entire spirit of the open-source community.
In May, 2024, Mr Justice Mellor handed down his written judgment in the COPA v Wright trial, concluding that every aspect of Craig Wright’s claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of the bitcoin whitepaper, are a lie. As a result, yesterday a court order was sealed confirming the Court’s 16 July 2024 decision that all the judgments and orders from the Cøbra proceedings, including the injunction from June 2021, are to be set aside. This means developers can go back to their important work on the bitcoin network in the UK.
Bitcoin developers specialize in creating, maintaining, and enhancing applications, tools, and solutions related to the bitcoin blockchain and its ecosystem. These developers play a crucial role in the ongoing development and innovation of the bitcoin network and associated services.
A COPA spokesperson commented, “COPA’s ongoing work, and this litigation in particular, have always been about enabling developers to continue their important work maintaining, iterating on, and improving the bitcoin network. We look forward to seeing the UK bitcoin community active again and contributing to bitcoin’s potential as a truly global, decentralised financial system.”
COPA is a non-profit community of people and companies formed to encourage the adoption and advancement of cryptocurrency technologies. The success of cryptocurrency depends on the community coming together to build and develop upon existing technologies to innovate, which is not possible when parties tie up the technologies in unwarranted, costly litigation.