{"id":174659,"date":"2020-10-26T19:30:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T19:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=174659"},"modified":"2020-10-26T10:29:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T10:29:08","slug":"ethereum-dev-virgil-griffith-battles-north-korea-aiding-charges-against-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/ethereum-dev-virgil-griffith-battles-north-korea-aiding-charges-against-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith battles North Korea aiding charges against the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethereum developer and Wikiscanner creator Virgil Griffith<\/a> filed a motion last week to dismiss US government charges of him \u201caiding\u201d the North Korean government, documents released last week showed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffith was arrested in November last year<\/a> after speaking in a North Korean cryptocurrency conference. Authorities claimed he violated the \u201cInternational Emergency Economic Powers Act\u201d by visiting the restricted country and further alleged Griffith to have demonstrated the use of blockchain technology to bypass economic sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereum dev battles US charges<\/h2>\n

Attorney Brian Klein, who represents Griffith<\/a>, stated US authorities do not \u201cspecify any alleged overt facts\u201d and contain no actual \u201callegation of fact.\u201d The motion additionally considers the sharing of information (as Griffith did in North Korea) as a legal act, one that does not defy US sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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"Here, the government seeks to penalize speech…."<\/p>\n

Virgil Griffith, the developer indicted for sanctions violations after going to North Korea, is moving to dismiss on First Amendment grounds. This is an important challenge to US sanctions enforcement:https:\/\/t.co\/hnWAF99D5y<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) October 26, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n