The Bitcoin white paper is now back on Bitcoin.org following Craig Wright's failed attempt to prove he is Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hennadii Stepanov, Bitcoin.org's maintainer, announced the reupload. Due to legal constraints, access to the white paper was restricted for UK users. Instead, a quote from Nakamoto was displayed: “It takes advantage of the nature of information being easy to spread but hard to stifle.”
In 2021, Wright sued Cobra, the anonymous group managing Bitcoin.org, for copyright infringement, resulting in the white paper's removal. Wright won by default as Cobra did not defend the case, leading to Cobra paying £35,000 in legal fees. Wright had filed for U.S. copyright registration for the Bitcoin white paper in 2019.
In 2023, Wright sued Bitcoin Core developers and companies such as Blockstream, Coinbase, and Block for copyright violations. The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund criticised these lawsuits, highlighting the deterrent effect on Bitcoin development.
Wright's copyright win is now invalid after his claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto were debunked. The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) alleged that Wright engaged in forgery and deceit to support his claim. Consequently, Wright's assets were frozen by a UK court.
The Bitcoin white paper is now under an MIT open-source license, allowing unrestricted reuse and modification.
The Bitcoin white paper is reuploaded on Bitcoin.org after Craig Wright's claim of being Satoshi Nakamoto was debunked.