[FRIAM] Virgil Griffith was sentenced to 63 months on April 12

Wed Jul 6 20:42:36 EDT 2022

The only thing I remember was being confused by the significance what appeared to be his 15 minutes of fame.    Yes, and…

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of David Eric Smith
Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2022 1:19 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Virgil Griffith was sentenced to 63 months on April 12

Thanks for catching this, Steve,

I have checked in (just web searching) from time to time over the past couple of years to see where this was going, but missed that it had actually completed.

I haven’t been in any kind of direct contact with Virgil.  We talk on those occasions when we happen to be at SFI at the same time.  The last time must have been a year or so pre-COVID, when there was a whole group of Ethereum people there for something.  I guess that was when your 2018 talk was recorded.  I don’t think he has ever emailed me about anything personal.  Why he talks to me at all I haven’t understood, because we both know clearly that there is no sense in which I am “on his level”, or of any plausible use to him.  It seems to be some kind of thing where I was supportive in some “mentoring” role (though again I don’t know what I would ever have been capable of offering that he would have felt he learned anything from) when he was at SFI (as an REU?) what must be 10 or more years ago, and in spite of the talent differential, he considered me a beneficent person to him.  NPD is very odd to interact with directly, when it is a really full-on clinical case.

When I first heard about Virgil’s DPRK adventures and subsequent real trouble, I had this terrible image of very young children with power tools, and have been amazed at how much trouble people can get themselves into at really early ages, if they are good at something.

It’s a great shame.

Eric

On Jul 6, 2022, at 6:16 PM, Stephen Guerin <stephen.guerin at simtable.com<mailto:stephen.guerin at simtable.com>> wrote:

Shit, just noticed Virgil's sentencing from April.

  *   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Griffith#Prosecution
  *   https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-citizen-who-conspired-assist-north-korea-evading-sanctions-sentenced-over-five-years-and
  *   https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/04/11/former-ethereum-developer-virgil-griffith-to-be-sentenced-in-new-york-court-tomorrow/<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.coindesk.com%2fbusiness%2f2022%2f04%2f11%2fformer-ethereum-developer-virgil-griffith-to-be-sentenced-in-new-york-court-tomorrow%2f&c=E,1,dhCtn2laLAZ-Za-qnmh8LNHIQQUfMLP4GyIXQU5ANkQ8NOedLa_N_w3lQOdFoRBwagC2Ou_OEHNTbLIQ_UI5VK_hw76ENWuLPuBMxMAv3t0TJAAthA,,&typo=1>
  *   https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/04/12/former-ethereum-developer-virgil-griffith-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-north-korea-trip/<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.coindesk.com%2fbusiness%2f2022%2f04%2f12%2fformer-ethereum-developer-virgil-griffith-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-north-korea-trip%2f&c=E,1,2mmTOP5EMsNrOtOTKCp0Jml69hvZeE-f-awdqps7ihsikb2zcxulnlMqksRXrdk23f7FU8uqR7sImQLSmYFLhlcU-sqhqMS5mxfm5mhbqhAWTiM-ARWX&typo=1>
briefly covers Virgil's motivations which resonate with my understanding of his personality
  *   many other articles Google Search<https://www.google.com/search?q=virgil+Griffith+sentenced>
Eric S, have you been in more direct contact with Virgil

For others, reminder that Virgil gave a talk at SFComplex when he was at SFI
https://www.mail-archive.com/friam@redfish.com/msg04451.html<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mail-archive.com%2ffriam%40redfish.com%2fmsg04451.html&c=E,1,-PW50gOouIeWeZtfUNrGXwIjSOvc2Xkv6rkRPubpn-ubxUzomDi1h089CNRVKRG6z7pDrou0iPF2a-kokhczToEzSgFvsiyGBwfyIeddzw,,&typo=1>

I attended his Ethereum talk at SFI in 2018 where he laid out research challenges:
  https://www.santafe.edu/events/research-problems-blockchain-and-ethereum
  youtube: https://youtu.be/yYsXOLQos4o

2008 New York Times Magazine article on Virgil:
Internet Man of Mystery
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23wwln-medium-t.html

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