On February 9, during a tense moment in the trial between Craig Wright, who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, and the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), presiding Judge Mellor issued a warning. The cause: a courtroom photo of Bitcoin influencer Hodlonaut was uploaded without authorization, threatening the continuation of the trial’s live stream.
Unauthorized Hodlonaut Photo Triggers Judge’s Ire
The incident came to light when X user @bitnorbert reported crypto influencer Hodlonaut’s photo appearing online, allegedly taken from the trial’s livestream.
Consequently, the matter has been brought to the attention of presiding Judge Mellor, who deemed it contempt of court.
Somebody posted a picture of @hodlonaut from the courtroom yesterday, most likely captured from the stream. This contempt of court has been referred to the Judge, and I expect him to address it during housekeeping first thing today. I wonder if they will cut the stream because of…
— Norbert
(@bitnorbert) February 8, 2024
In today’s opening remarks, the judge stated that the photo upload violated the terms of service and could end the subsequent livestream of the trial.
Currently, the photo uploader’s identity is unknown, and the court is uncertain whether the individual took the shot themselves or if someone supplied the image. Regardless, Judge Mellor criticized the gallery members, emphasizing that such events should not recur.
Remote access is a privilege, advice you to use it wisely. Not clear whether the poster took it himself or someone else supplied it. If it happens again, they will be named and lose access. "I trust that will not happen again."
— Norbert
In a previous legal battle, self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright sued Hodlonaut in Norway. Following that lawsuit, Hodlonaut took to X, alleging that Wright threatened and harassed him, hoping he would ‘fold.’
The ongoing legal battle with the pro-Bitcoin advocacy group COPA has exposed his web of lies, however.
It’s so satisfying seeing Craig’s web of lies from the Norwegian trial against me catch up with him here in UK.
They were so confident I would fold from the threats and harassment but ended up with a trial he lost that now comes back to haunt him in this trial.
KARMA
WELCOME…
— hodlonaut 80 IQ 13%er
(@hodlonaut) February 8, 2024
Craig Wright Received ‘Commercial Loan’ from Calvin Ayre
Meanwhile, the trial continued with Wright’s cross-examination by COPA. In one of the correspondences, the COPA team asked the defendant about the screenshots obtained from an Ontier machine. The date the screenshot was taken is the point of conflict.
According to COPA, the timestamp on the screenshot shows “March 9, 2020,” while the one on the bottom of the document shows “March 9th, 2020,” which is irregular. The COPA team surmised that the documents were downloaded online, and several screenshots were taken.
COPA continues cross-examination. About MYOB.
C: You said screenshots were taken by Ontier.
W: Yes, explained in more detail in later chain-of-custody.
C: You insisted the information in the screenshots were not affected by the input you did [missed it] Asked if you had made the…— Norbert
Another point of contention was the financing of Wright’s legal battle against the Bitcoin developer community. According to a Reuters report, billionaire Calvin Ayre is financing the war campaign launched by Wright, who also happens to be the co-founder of the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) network.
Ayre reportedly financed Wright’s Bitcoin patent filing sometime ago. The COPA team has since denied these allegations, saying Wright took out a ‘commercial loan’ to aid in his lawsuits.
C: [shows doc] Your supporter Mr Ayre tweets, mentions coffee stains and rusty staples. Is this a reference to this document?
W: I have no idea. You're saying he's my supporter. He's not my financial backer, he's independent […]C: He's given you financial support in some cases?…— Norbert
Documents of screenshots presented by the COPA pointed to the former, however.
According to the team, an IRC chat message between the two men showed they were in close contact.
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