Bitcoin.org is blocking access to bitcoin software downloads in the UK

Bitcoin Core software can no longer be downloaded from Bitcoin.org when visiting a website with a UK Internet Protocol (IP) address. A notice on the website reads: “This software is not currently available for download in the UK and the download links will not work if you are in the UK.”

If you try to keep downloading Bitcoin (BTC) software from the website with a UK IP, a “404 error” will be returned.

Bitcoin.org nickname owner Cøbra responded to a tweet about the reason for blocking software download access for visitors to the UK website. clarify:

“The whitepaper is in the blockchain and can be accessed via software. I am not authorized to distribute the whitepaper on bitcoin.org or ‘in any other way’. We have to obey the law. “

The whitepaper is located in the blockchain and can be accessed via software. I am not authorized to distribute the whitepaper on https://t.co/1dtx7wYjP2 or “in any other way”. We have to obey the law.

– Cbra (@CobraBitcoin) July 2, 2021

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, a British court has ruled in favor of the Bitcoin inventor who claims to be Craig Wright in a piracy case against Cøbra and Bitcoin.org for hosting books about Bitcoin.

The default judgment was only issued because Cøbra had decided not to position the defense. As part of the ruling, Cøbra was also ordered to pay Wright’s legal fees of £ 35,000 (approximately $ 48,600).

Connected: Craig Wright wins default judgment, Bitcoin.org must carry Bitcoin whitepaper. remove

The ruling is the latest in Wright’s attack on those who deny his claim to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. In January, Wright urged Bitcoin.org, Bitcoin.com, and Bitcoincore.org to remove copies of the Bitcoin whitepaper from their respective websites.

Wright continues to claim that the Bitcoin whitepaper is his intellectual property. In the meantime, he remains an advocate of Bitcoin SV (BSV), a faction chain of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) that is itself another offshoot of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin software download is still available on Bitcoincore.org, even for visitors with a UK IP address at the time of writing.

In fact, the geolocation of download links on Bitcoin.org is unlikely to affect those interested in running Bitcoin Core in the country, given the multitude of workarounds such as virtual private networks and websites.