EU Proposes End of Anonymity For Bitcoin and Prepaid Card Users (thestack.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In June the European Commission will propose new legislation to effectively end the possibility of anonymous payment, by forcing users of virtual currencies like Bitcoin, and of prepaid credit cards, to provide identity details. Additionally the EC intends to propose monitoring inter-bank transfers within Europe, a measure which had not been implemented with the launch of the EU-US Terrorist Financing Tracking Programme (TFTP). Though the proposed measures are intended to heap new pressure on the financing of terrorism, a report from Interpol last week concluded that terrorist funding methods have not changed substantially in recent years, stating 'Despite third party reporting suggesting the use of anonymous currencies like Bitcoin by terrorists to finance their activities, this has not been confirmed by law enforcement.'

Comments

And PI == 3

[HornWumpus]

How does EU legislation have any effect on Bitcoin? Just ignore them, same as those who legislate the value of PI.

Terrorism!

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny how these "Terrorist tracking programs" fail to track the US government, the Saudi government and a bunch of other western governments when these happily finance terrorism. But god forbid you try to rent a US movie with a foreign credit card to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime, you terrorist you.

Re:End anonymity for cash

[itamihn]

Better yet, make cash go away.

Re:End anonymity for cash

[Anonymous Coward]

Better yet, make cash go away.

There are times when I prefer to take a road trip and be anonymous. Paying with cash reminds me of my youth and early adult life. Money cannot buy happiness but is can finance good memories.

Re:Can't even deanonymize the USD transactions

[DaHat]

When already prosecuting someone they aren't fond of, it's kind of hard to have a bunch of extra add-on charges when you don't have laws like this on the books.

How is Bitcoin different from Shell Companies?

[kbonin]

Oh yeah - bitcoins are used by individuals to hide their transactions from advertisers, malware vendors, and parasitic financial services companies, while networks of shell companies are reserved for our ruling elite to hide their transactions from the unwashed masses (and tax authorities)... Tell ya what, you make your public, and I'll make mine public...

Re:End anonymity for cash

[sims 2]

To do that would require an equivalent to cash that didn't loose 2.7% of its value every time it was transfered and it would need to be unfreezeable like cash and as anonymous as possible without compromising the ability to verify the currency as valid and be easy to transfer without much knowledge.

Bitcoin actually has most of that covered.
With the exception of ease of transfer.
While not anonymous it is still good enough for casual use.
I think its best points are no loss on transfer and that your funds can't be frozen *looking at you paypal*

All debts, public and private

[rmdingler]

It's not about terrorism as much as it is a freedom grab being executed under the guise of protecting you.

It is inconvenient for your governing authority to have some of your life remain private. Suckks, right?

Not really, as it turns out... we can just unelect politicians like that as fast as the law allows.

Re:All debts, public and private

[Anonymous Coward]

It's Europe. You didn't elect half your politicians to begin with, so why do you think you're going to be able to unelect them. How many Italian administrations consisted of unelected technocrats? What happens when the people actually express an opinion, like when Ireland rejected the Lisbon treaty (hint: they made the people vote again until they made the "right" choice) or when Greece decided against austerity (hint: that was just plain ignored)? The EU is even worse of a sham democracy than the US, and that's a pretty high bar to set for hypocrisy.

Re:All debts, public and private

[rmdingler]

The EU is even worse of a sham democracy than the US, and that's a pretty high bar to set for hypocrisy.

Aww, you silver-tongued devil! That is the kindest thing I've ever heard about the US on /..

A more effective terrorism financing deterrant:

[He Who Has No Name]

Require all Euro-bank involved expenditures above 100 EUR by members of the Saudi royal family to require tracking and approval.

Oh, shit, did I say that out loud?

Re:Germans

[jedidiah]

Germans are also attacking those same immigrants. There's a bit of a gap between the utopia the liberal media pretends that Europe is and how things really are. This includes beatings, arson, and political views that are supposed to be forbidden. Push the system or a little bit, or the population and the classic bits of nastiness come seeping out.

Re:End anonymity for cash

[kheldan]

Great idea. Then they can drive all those pesky small-time mom-and-pop businesses out of the market entirely when they can't afford the exhorbitant fees charged per transaction. The world will be such a better place for everyone when it's all Walmart/Target/{insert name of Big Box Store here}.