Poor guy.
_______________________________________________
Judge Rejects Man's 11-Year Landfill Bitcoin Excavation Quest
• A British judge dismissed James Howells's lawsuit against Newport City Council, ending his 11-year attempt to recover a hard drive containing approximately 8,000 bitcoins from a landfill.
• Howells claims the hard drive, lost in 2013, holds a private key to bitcoins he mined in 2009, now worth an estimated $765 million.
• The judge ruled that Howells had no realistic chance of success, citing the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which states that waste delivered to the council becomes the council's property.
• The court also found that excavating the landfill posed significant environmental risks and public health concerns, as it would release harmful substances.
• Furthermore, the judge determined that Howells' claim was barred by the six-year statute of limitations, as he knew about the lost hard drive in 2013 but didn't file suit until 2024.
• The judge's decision focused solely on ownership and access rights to the hard drive, without addressing the actual existence or accessibility of the bitcoins.
• Howells expressed his disappointment, claiming the ruling denied him a fair opportunity to present his case and arguing that the situation represents a significant injustice.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/judge-ends-mans-11-year-quest-to-dig-up-landfill-and-recover-765m-in-bitcoin/
Blake Houghton 🍁
npub1p5…z54dt
2025-01-11 14:07:56
Author Public Key
npub1p5wa26hryppj3ezl0zc6vjkg7pkjyuff7a65j047sn8jsfgdrmrqqz54dtPublished at
2025-01-11 14:07:56Event JSON
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"content": "Poor guy.\n\n_______________________________________________\nJudge Rejects Man's 11-Year Landfill Bitcoin Excavation Quest\n\n• A British judge dismissed James Howells's lawsuit against Newport City Council, ending his 11-year attempt to recover a hard drive containing approximately 8,000 bitcoins from a landfill.\n\n• Howells claims the hard drive, lost in 2013, holds a private key to bitcoins he mined in 2009, now worth an estimated $765 million.\n\n• The judge ruled that Howells had no realistic chance of success, citing the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which states that waste delivered to the council becomes the council's property.\n\n• The court also found that excavating the landfill posed significant environmental risks and public health concerns, as it would release harmful substances.\n\n• Furthermore, the judge determined that Howells' claim was barred by the six-year statute of limitations, as he knew about the lost hard drive in 2013 but didn't file suit until 2024.\n\n• The judge's decision focused solely on ownership and access rights to the hard drive, without addressing the actual existence or accessibility of the bitcoins.\n\n• Howells expressed his disappointment, claiming the ruling denied him a fair opportunity to present his case and arguing that the situation represents a significant injustice.\n\nhttps://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/01/judge-ends-mans-11-year-quest-to-dig-up-landfill-and-recover-765m-in-bitcoin/",
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