A Chinese Court has Sentenced Dr He Jiankui to 3 years in Prison for Genetically Engineering Babies with CRISPR

A Chinese court sentenced the scientist who created the world’s first “gene-edited” babies to three years in prison on Monday, according to the official Xinhua media.

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Germany Starts Work on Space Mining Laws

Facing tough competition from China, the United States and even tiny Luxembourg, Germany is racing to draft new laws and attract private investment to secure a slice of an emerging space market that could be worth $1 trillion a year by the 2040s.

The drive to give Germany a bigger role in space comes as European, Asian and U.S. companies stake out ground in an evolving segment that promises contracts for everything from exploration to mining of outer-space resources.

Firms likely to benefit from any future spending rise in Germany include Airbus, which co-owns the maker of Europe’s Ariane space rockets, and Bremen-based OHB.

The new legislation would limit financial and legal liabilities of private companies should accidents happen in orbit, set standards for space operations and offer incentives for new projects, the German economy ministry told Reuters.

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A Miami Judge Ruled Bitcoin is NOT Money

A Miami-Dade judge ruled Monday that Bitcoin is not actually money, a decision hailed by proponents of the virtual currency that has become popular across the world.

In a case closely watched in financial and tech circles, the judge threw out the felony charges against website designer Michell Espinoza, who had been charged with illegally transmitting and laundering $1,500 worth of Bitcoins. He sold them to undercover detectives who told him they wanted to use the money to buy stolen credit-card numbers.

But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Teresa Mary Pooler ruled that Bitcoin was not backed by any government or bank, and was not “tangible wealth” and “cannot be hidden under a mattress like cash and gold bars.”

“The court is not an expert in economics, however, it is very clear, even to someone with limited knowledge in the area, the Bitcoin has a long way to go before it the equivalent of money,” Pooler wrote in an eight-page order.

The judge also wrote that Florida law – which says someone can be charged with money laundering if they engage in a financial transaction that will “promote” illegal activity – is way too vague to apply to Bitcoin.

“This court is unwilling to punish a man for selling his property to another, when his actions fall under a statute that is so vaguely written that even legal professionals have difficulty finding a singular meaning,” she wrote.

The ruling was lauded by Bitcoin experts who believe the ruling will encourage the use of the virtual currency, and offer a roadmap to governments across the world that have struggled to understand and regulate it.

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Converging on Cryptocurrencies #2

Cryptocurrencies in General:

A bitcoin venture capitalist has created a prize competition for a new block cypher.

Asked on Slashdot: what cryptocurrency should people get into?

Bitcoin:

Due to the huge boom in bitcoin mining in Washington state, one utility wants to raise rates on the miners.

Researchers have found an easy way to crack the passwords (pdf) on bitcoin wallets.

How Chinese/Western cultural differences are causing problems for bitcoin development.

Apparently advocating for the use of bitcoin for third world nation is a form of "techno colonialism," according to a UN report.

Is Bitcoin going through a schism?  Or isn't it?  Or did it already with the creation of the altcoins?

The best way to improve  profitability for bitcoin mining might be to allow errors...wuh?

Some think bitcoin's future is really bright.   Others think its the blockchain that has a future, not bitcoin itself.

The launch of Bitcoin Classic may have been thwarted by several groups refusing to adopt the new software.

Anonymity:

The European Union wants to end "anonymous" transactions by bitcoin and prepaid credit card users.

The Estonian Supreme Court upheld a ruling that an entrepreneur was required to disclose information on his bitcoin using clients.

Crime:

Silk Road is a gift that keeps on giving.

Where Will the First Genetically Engineered (CRISPR) Baby be Born?

They are meeting in China; they are meeting in the United Kingdom; and they met in the United States last week. Around the world, scientists are gathering to discuss the promise and perils of editing the genome of a human embryo. Should it be allowed — and if so, under what circumstances?

The meetings have been prompted by an explosion of interest in the powerful technology known as CRISPR/Cas9, which has brought unprecedented ease and precision to genetic engineering. This tool, and others like it, could be used to manipulate the DNA of embryos in a dish to learn about the earliest stages of human development. In theory, genome editing could also be used to 'fix' the mutations responsible for heritable human diseases. If done in embryos, this could prevent such diseases from being passed on.

The prospects have prompted widespread concern and discussion among scientists, ethicists and patients. Fears loom that if genome editing becomes acceptable in the clinic to stave off disease, it will inevitably come to be used to introduce, enhance or eliminate traits for non-medical reasons. Ethicists are concerned that unequal access to such technologies could lead to genetic classism. And targeted changes to a person's genome would be passed on for generations, through the germ line (sperm and eggs), fuelling fears that embryo editing could have lasting, unintended consequences.

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In Unprecedented Move, China Arrests Hackers at US Request

The Chinese government took unprecedented action by complying with a U.S. request and arresting hackers suspected of stealing secrets from U.S. companies to pass to Chinese state-run companies, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The arrests came in September before Chinese President Xi Jinping went to Washington for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that included one of the most contentious issues between the two countries - corporate and government cyber espionage.

The Post, which cited sources speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, said U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials presented China with a list of hackers.

A source familiar with the matter said U.S. officials told China, "We need to know that you're serious. So we gave them a list and we said, 'Look, here's the guys. Round them up.'"

The Post said the Chinese government arrested several individuals but did not publicize the action.

The newspaper said Obama administration officials now are watching to see if the suspects will be publicly tried, which could deter other potential hackers.

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Mt GOX CEO Formally Charged With Stealing $2.66 Million Worth of BitCoin

Japanese prosecutors said Friday that they have charged the head of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox with embezzlement, amid fraud allegations over the disappearance of hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-worth of the virtual currency.

The indictment of France-born Mark Karpeles, 30, comes after he was taken into police custody in Tokyo last month over the affair. He remained in custody Friday but has the option of petitioning the court for release pending trial.

The charges are tied to allegations that Karpeles falsified data while another relates to claims he pocketed millions of dollars of Bitcoin deposits.

He has been held without formal charge for six weeks, as allowed under Japanese law.

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Robopocalypse #20: The Sharing Economy is Doomed by the Bots, Just Watch Uber

Welcome to the Robopocalypse Report!  This is my news update on the onrushing robotic revolution in our economy.   I'll sometimes make editorial comments about the links, but for now this is larger a list of the news rather than a lot of commentary.

In the age of the drones,  the laws have not caught up.
 The FAA is the gating factor for drone based deliveries.

Drones are continuing to be a problem for commercial and medical flights.

On the other hand, Alaska has embarked on a major push to make drones an important part of its economy and Hawaii is wondering if it ought to as well.

On the self driving cars side, CNET dedicates an issue to "Riding in cars with bots."

The Washington Post gushes over Google's self driving cars.

The insurance industry thinks the manufacturers of self driving cars ought to bear the costs of liability.

Related to the self driving cars, Google will start delivering groceries in San Francisco this next year.

Why is Uber betting big on self driving cars?  hmm.  Maybe it has to do with the fact Uber wants to get rid of those drivers who are sharing their cars?  heh.  Pretty funny that they are financing directly their own replacement.  Doubly so since Uber's drivers are not classified as employees in California. 

The Woz thinks self driving cars could be the next big thing for Apple.

In 3d printing, a whole new technique, Laser-based Direct Metal Deposition, has been unveiled.  

A new 3d fabrication technique has been inspired by Japanese origami.

XYZ Printing has a new 3d scanner.

An American construction company owner has 3d printed a suite in a hotel he owns in the Philippines.

Navies may start 3d printing ships.

3d Systems' Fabricate is designed specifically for textile manufacturing.

The market for 3d printed medical devices is expected to be $2.13 billion by 2020.

The entire global market for 3d printing in 2014 was $3.8 billion.

On the robotics side, a Dutch company has created a vending machine that makes fresh french fries.

NEATO releases a new robotic vacuum cleaner that joins up via the buzzwordy the Internet of Things.  Just wait for the hacker to start chasing you around with the vacuum!  Kinda like this...

SAM, brick laying bot, is doing a job in DC for those of you interested in checking it out.

There's an interesting essay on building enthusiasm for bots in construction.

At Fort Bragg, they are testing out building an aerial gunnery range with bots.

Agriculture wishes they had bots for certain crops in a big way.

Just where how are the bots going to be used on the farm?

Where are the bots working in the diary and fishing industries?

How much fast will the agri bot industry grow through 2019?

In Australia three $150k bots replaced 60 welders.

In general software bots, not even IT workers are going to be safe.

Is the robopocalypse coming for the accountants?

On the artificial intelligence side, Scientific American asks the question of whether or not AI will ever be smarter than people.

They also ponder what will happen when AI gets involved with healthcare. 

On the economics of the robopocalypse, the financial sector seems to be unhappy with the idea of the robopocalypse.  Or at least some folks in thre are.

What does the robopocalypse have in common with the industrial revolution?

Why haven't the bots already taken our jobs?

On the legal side, a would-be Japanese John Connor was arrested.

Is it legal to go John Connor on that drone bugging you? 

Robopocalypse #20: If the Bots Open a Restaurant, Will the Economy Notice?

Welcome to the Robopocalypse Report!  

This is my periodic round up of the news of what's going on in robotics and other disruptive automata coming to our economy.  I call it the 'pocalyse out of sense of joke, not because I think the economy is going to be pilfered by the bots.  It will be a big change to our economy and one with challenges, but its also an enormous opportunity, as big as the DotCom boom, if not more so.  One you will have to grab with both hands and hold on tight. 

Drones are turning into a menace of sorts.  People need to use common sense, but aren't.  I suppose it goes back to the 'common sense isn't' mantra, but...A drone crashed into the stands at the US Open. The pilot has been arrested.  Drones have been sighted near a NC airport.  British Columbia is joining the attempts to restrict drones near fire fighting.

Aerial dog fences are proclaimed to be insufficient to stop drones.  True, but its the aerial equivalent of a "do not cross" line.  Rather than blanket banning of drones in places, placing ADFs like regular fences ought to be required.  Cross the line below the max height and its criminal trespass. 

We are now up to *TEN* attempts to smuggle contraband into prisons in the last six months...in Britain!

The outlook for drones in Latin America is rather cloudy.

For self driving cars, let's start with a bit of humor.  Google's self driving car had an encounter with a granny in a motorized wheel chair chasing ducks.  Wuh?!

Toyota is investing $50 million into self driving car technology and hired the guy who ran DARPA's Robotics Challenge.

Regulators are being rather tolerant of Google's self driving cars.  This is a good thing.

Google is more optimistic than the traditional car makers about self driving cars.

The first obnoxious flaw in self driving cars has been found: using low power lasers, you can trick the car into seeing objects not really there.

In 3d Printing, UNLV has teamed up with Local Motors to work on 3d printed cars.  Here's another commentary on 3d printed cars.  A Vancouver man designed a 3d printed car as well.

WASP unveiled the world's largest 3d printer...for houses!

A cookie dough printer is going on sale in asia next year and will follow once it has approval in the US and Europe.  Another food printer was unveiled in China.  3d printing may revolutionize the food processing industry.  In Singapore, they want to take it further and bioprint meat.

There will be 3d printed clothing.  Or erm, its already started.

In the robots in the restaurant side of Robopocalypse, Eatsa is the first automated restaurant to open.  It reminds me more of the old automats, but with, well, quinoa. 

There is an argument over whether or not the minimum wage hikes will speed up the introduction of the bots in the fast food kitchens. The Washington Post says, 'yes.'  Others are stating the Robopocalypse in the Restaurant was coming anyways.  I'm in the latter camp.

In the traditional robotics side, a physicist and custom robotics maker claims we will have a 'human-like' robot within 8 years.  He uses the Moore's Law fallacy though.  Moore's Law is toast.

The mobile robotics market is expected to grow.

In the software bot side, the next generation of virtual assistants has almost arrived.

IBM is running ads promoting Watson.  The end is nigh, folks!

In the cyber warfare side, China is laying out its positions with respect to sovereignty and the internet.

On the philosophy and economics side of things, Forbes declares the future is more Ironman and less Terminator.

Will the bots create or destroy more jobs?  Isn't that the question.

Robopocalypse Report #12: Attacking the Drones, Hacking the Car and the WTF Econonmy of the Internet of Compromised Things

Last time we dodged having the drone in the report.  This time, however, the drone wins the internet. The largest contingent of of drone news is about how to kill them though!

The US Navy practiced killing drones from helicopters during its Black Dart exercises (seen above).  

Boeing also demonstrated its 'man portable' Compact Laser Weapon System (2 kw) to shoot down a drone. 

Think tanks are starting to wonder what it means to operate in the era of persistent UAV surveillance.  

For us civvies, Popular Mechanics has an article on what to do to shoot down a drone.  Shotguns are best but supersoakers (if you can hit the drone) and sling shots work pretty well, too.  However, BB and paintball guns do not.

The drone which was shot down in Kentucky apparently only hovered with 22 seconds over the property before the owner took a shotgun to it.  There was a video out to 'prove' this, but the owner has changed the viewing to private.

Even mother nature has got it in for the drones!

The European Regions Airlines Association has continued to call for more regulation of drones in European airspace.

Shifting away from the anxiety sectors of drones, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross just dropped a $1 million investment in the Drone Racing League.

Switching to the self driving car, we don't have articles which deal directly with the technology iself, but ones which will act in a supporting role.   Or terrify us.  Hackers remotely cut the brakes on a Corvette and the Brits are considering testing technologies which will allow electric cars to charge while driving on the highway.  The fear from the hackers and self driving cars is pretty obvious.  The promise of robo taxis which recharge as they drive around town, never having a down time to charge, is exciting.

Bar tenders!  MIT wants the robopocalypse to come for you, too!

A George Washington University professor is working on robo flippers based on sea lions. 

Microsoft, those traitors! has helped develop an AI able to spot jokes in cartoons.

Jeff Atwood writes about the thing which actually scares me more than the Robopocalypse, the internet of things, more specifically The Internet of Compromised Things.

Tim O'Reilly worries about dealing with the Robopocalypse in his article called "The WTF Economy."

Should Robots Have Passports? Thinking Internationally About the Robopocalypse

What's Holding up the Self Driving Vehicles? Three Things...

Google has been test-driving self-driving cars since 2011. The updated Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA ) Model S electric car comes with rudimentary autopilot features by default, and CEO Elon Musk hopes to have fully automated vehicles by the year 2023.

Musk's careful forecast raises the question: If Google can drive a car without human intervention today, then why should we have to wait another nine years before these vehicles hit the mainstream?

The answer is part technical and part economical -- but above all else, the legal framework just isn't ready for driverless cars yet.

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RoboLaw Consortium Posts Guidelines to the Legal Aspects of the Robopocalypse

If a self-driving car causes an accident or a surgical robot kills a patient, whose fault is it? These are some of the questions a recent report funded by the European Union sought to answer.

Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov famously wrote about the "three laws of robotics." Essentially, the laws state that a robot may not injure a human being, that it must obey orders given by humans and that it must protect its own existence when this doesn't conflict with the first two laws.

Similarly, the newly released RoboLaw guidelines aim to set down basic principles for governing robot behavior in real life. The guidelines also aim to determine whether existing laws are adequate to regulate new robotic technologies, ranging from self-driving vehicles to robot caretakers.

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pdf of RoboLaw Consortium recommendations.

New Jersey Subpoenas Source Code, Documentation, Evidence of Criminal Activity for Nonfunctional Tidbit Bitcoin Mining Software

Four MIT students behind an award-winning Bitcoin mining tool will face off against New Jersey state authorities in court today when they attempt to fight back against a subpoena demanding their source code.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing 19-year-old MIT student Jeremy Rubin and three classmates in a remarkable case that stands out for the measure of aggression the state is using to obtain the code and identify anyone who might have tested the mining tool.

The case is reminiscent of a federal one that targeted Aaron Swartz after he was arrested by MIT police in 2011 for downloading more than 4 million scholarly journal articles from the JSTOR digital library, offered to MIT students, to make them more widely available. Swartz faced multiple charges for his activity and killed himself as he was preparing for trial. Although there is currently no indictment or pending criminal charges against Rubin and his friends, state authorities have indicated that they believe the researchers may have violated state laws. The case marks a disturbing trend among authorities to go after researchers, innovators, tinkerers and others who try to do cutting-edge projects to help the tech community, says EFF staff attorney Hanni Fakhoury.

“It’s a very broad subpoena that hints at criminal liability and civil liability,” he says. “For a bunch of college kids who put something together for a hackathon—they didn’t make any money, the project never got off the ground and now is completely disbanded—there are some very serious implications.”

The mining tool, known as Tidbit, was developed in late 2013 by Rubin and his classmates for the Node Knockout hackathon—only Rubin is identified on the subpoena but his three classmates are identified on the hackathon web site as Oliver Song, Kevin King and Carolyn Zhang. The now defunct tool was designed to offer web site visitors an alternative way to support the sites they visited by using their computers to mine Bitcoins for them in exchange for having online ads removed.

“We believe our utility for the end user comes in freeing up real estate on web pages,” King wrote about their program on the Node Knockout site. “Imagine a web where your amazon shopping cart doesn’t follow you around to every website you visit. We believe there should be more options than advertising for monetizing a website, and we believe we have a novel and non-intrusive solution. In this way, we provide utility to developers who can now include higher quality content on their websites, and utility to end users who are spared the wasted time in looking at ads.”

The clever design won the award for innovation in the programming competition.

“This is a very intriguing idea that could really transform online economics if it works,” one supporter wrote on the hackathon site. “There is a much broader discussion to have about mining bitcoins vs doing other useful tasks (e.g. a friendly form of mechanical turk).”

But the program never got beyond the proof-of-concept stage before Rubin and Tidbit, as an entity, were hit with subpoenas from the New Jersey

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Russia Banning Converting Cryptocurrencies into Fiat Currency

Russia is set to become the latest country to restrict virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, after a top official announced that a law will be passed banning their exchange into real money by next spring due to their use by criminals and terrorists.

Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev said: “People can play with their chips, and they can call them money, but they can’t use these surrogate currencies as tender.

“We will discuss this law in the current session of parliament, and possibly even pass it then, or at the very latest by spring next year.

"We are currently dealing with comments from the law enforcement agencies, about the specifics of legal measures, and we will take their remarks into account. But the overall concept of the law is set in stone.”

Although the draft of the proposed legislation has not been published, officials say they will open criminal proceedings against both those who mint digital currency, usually with the help of powerful computers, and those who use them for transactions. The finance ministry has also asked regulators to ban access to exchanges and online stores that accept bitcoin.

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Space Property Bill Gets Mixed Reception in Congress

A bill that would grant property rights and other protections for commercial asteroid mining ventures received a mixed reception at a hearing of the House Science space subcommittee Sept. 10.

H.R. 5063, the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities In Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act, would grant U.S. companies the rights to resources they extract from asteroids. The bill would also allow companies to take legal action if they suffered “harmful interference” during those activities by other entities under U.S. jurisdiction.

At the hearing, though, one space law expert raised questions about the bill’s language. “My professional opinion is that the ASTEROIDS Act, as written, is very, very vague,” said Joanne Gabrynowicz, professor emerita of space and remote sensing law at the University of Mississippi. “Strictly from reading the text, and based on legal knowledge, it definitely needs work.”

Gabrynowicz said she was concerned about the use of the term “harmful interference” in the bill. While the phrase is used in accords like the Outer Space Treaty, it refers to exploration activities by nations, not private entities. “Harmful interference has never been used that way in the treaties. It’s a completely novel application of that term of art,” she said.

That, she said, could raise questions about what constituted such interference.

She added that international legal opinion is divided on whether an entity that extracts space resources then owns those resources, ownership that the bill would recognize. “What we are talking about is resource extraction, which is a very volatile and contentious issue at the international level,” she said. “There will be a great deal of political and legal discussion catalyzed by this.”

One key member suggested that, because of those issues, the committee delay work on the bill until next year. “We could easily postpone our consideration” of the bill to carry out “additional, more in-depth explorations in the next Congress,” said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), ranking member of the space subcommittee.

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Robopocalypse Meets the Courts: Cyborgs and the Law

And now for something completely different: Cyborgs. No, this is not a joke. For years, certain technology enthusiasts have floated variations on the question or whether we are becoming cyborgs—or already are cyborgs. In our newly released paper, titled “Our Cyborg Future: Law and Policy Implications,” we take a different, more legal angle.

The law remains embryonic on virtually all points of interest to the adolescent cyborg: everything from your right to access your own data, to your right to restrict access to your data, to your ability to secure something more than property restitution when an airline destroys your custom mobility assistance device and leaves you bedridden for a year. That’s right: whether you rely on a pacemaker to stay alive or on a cellphone to stay connected, when we say “adolescent cyborg,” we are talking about you.

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US Marshals to Auction off 30,000 Bitcoins Seized From Silk Road now, Potentially 144,00+ Later

The Bitcoin world has been waiting for more than six months to see where the millions in cryptocash seized from the Silk Road black market for drugs would end up. Now that fortune is about to be sold off, like so many mafiosos’ cars or drug dealers’ bling, to the highest bidder.

On Thursday the U.S. Marshals’ office announced that it will be selling nearly 30,000 in bitcoins that were taken from a Silk Road server after the drug-selling site’s seizure last October, worth about $17.5 million at current exchange rates. But instead of liquidating the coins through an exchange, they’re going to be sold in ten blocks of about 3,000 bitcoins each via an email-based auction held on the Marshals’ service website. The coins officially go on the block in two weeks, and buyers will have 12 hours to put in their bids.

In fact, the 29,656.5 coins up for sale are a small fraction of the total seized bitcoin hoard from the Silk Road case. It also has another 144,342 coins whose fate is still in limbo. That larger fortune, currently worth over $83.6 million, was seized from Ross Ulbricht, the 30-year-old alleged to have run the Silk Road under the handle the Dread Pirate Roberts. In a court motion last December, Ulbricht confirmed that the coins were his but contested the government’s seizure of them, demanding their return.

The government’s bitcoin bake sale could potentially play havoc with the cryptocurrency’s economy. The current auction represents around only a quarter of a percent of the total number of bitcoins in circulation. But the still-contested 144,000 coins represent close to 1.1 percent. If that larger pot of coins is sold off in the same auction style, it could potentially flood the market with cheap coins and lower their price. In the hour following the Marshals’ news, the price of bitcoin fell about 2 percent.

But Gavin Andresen, the chief scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation, argues that the sale could be good for bitcoin: As he sees it, even the Department of Justice now participates in the bitcoin economy. “The fact that they’re going to liquidate them instead of destroy them gives bitcoin some legitimacy,” he said in an interview about the potential sale of the coins last year. “They see them as something of value.”

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Where is BitCoin Legal?

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Three Cheers for Judge Leon

America’s founding fathers would be “aghast” at the NSA’s bulk telephone metadata spying, a federal judge today said, finding that the program violates the Fourth Amendment and the legal argument justifying it is “the stuff of science fiction.”

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in Washington D.C., called the NSA program “almost-Orwellian,” and ordered the NSA to stop collecting or analyzing the metadata of the two men who sued. But citing national security, Leon stayed his order pending resolution in the appellate courts.

It was the first time a district court judge has ever sided against the NSA program, and several other lawsuits across the nation are pending.

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