So ignoring the hype, here's the outcome-to-date...

The ticket was reconsidered, reopened and classified as a bug. http://bugs.python.org/msg212771

Nick Coghlan's dissection of the issue here: https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-ideas/2014-March/02... is pretty much perfect - wonderful piece of technical writing!

Donald Stufft has expressed an interest in making the patch for this happen, and assuming all goes as planned this usage will raise a deprecation warning in 3.5 and be fully fixed in 3.6.

News in brief: User raises issue. Issue gets resolved.

Being labeled Satoshi regardless of truth is pretty much going to get you robbed, kidnapped or killed. This dude lives in this town and has $400M of untraceable currency? The article gives his name, face, address and relatives. You can be sure as hell that somebody will do something stupid to try and get to it.

I wouldn't wish this label upon anybody, it's exactly why the community tries to avoid speculating about it. It's extremely irresponsible of the newspaper to publish this — truth or otherwise — especially in such vivid detail.

⁢

Article sans paywall — http://archive.is/wbw97

Gavin seems to acknowledge the article — https://twitter.com/gavinandresen/status/441547758827474946

Topic other than discussing the irresponsibility of "outing" a guy using the clever tricks of using his name and public records look ups.

> A libertarian, Nakamoto encouraged his daughter to be independent, start her own business and "not be under the government's thumb," she says. "He was very wary of the government, taxes and people in charge."

> What you don't know about him is that he's worked on classified stuff. His life was a complete blank for a while. You're not going to be able to get to him.

Growing up and living in the D.C. area, I'm constantly surprised at the paradox of the deeply conservative anti-federal government types who work for the government - directly or as a fed contractor. Who'll rattle off about privacy issues before hopping on the bus to their job working on an NSA contract at a Fed contractor...that sort of thing.

I've even pointed out point-blank that their salaries are paid for by the same taxes they rail against incessantly and are met with blank stares or wry grimaces before they launch into an extended soliloquy about "values" or personal responsibility or some such. I've even had folks in the military swear up and down that some military benefit program isn't a result of tax payer dollars but mysteriously appears out of some kind of pay differential sacrifice they've made instead of working in the private sector.

It's rather bizarre and I guess to Nakamoto's credit, he actually did something about it in a sense.

edit meta-response to the replies indicating that perhaps his close contact with the government is what motivated him to develop bitcoin, I think that's plausible. What we don't know is if he developed this philosophy before or after working with the government.

I'm curious though, in the general sense about people who have a fundamentally anti-government philosophy, then take roles supporting and building up the same government they clog their facebook feeds rallying against.

Oh god yes.

I'm currently a relatively junior flunky in the Marine Corps, and the GS civilians who work here are hilarious. "We need to cut the fat!" We work at a minor airbase in the middle of nowhere... oh. Oops. Whatever we are, it sure as hell ain't muscle.

"Government spending is out of control" while talking about how they exploit the DTS system to get as much per diem as possible.

"Those lazy people who expect everything to be handed to them, and that Muslim in charge is just giving it all away" while sitting in their chair bitching whenever a Marine disrupts their Freecell session to ask about equipment repair.

I don't even talk to them about it, mostly because the fact that they are capable of this caliber of doublethink indicates that they're beyond saving.

If you're so comfortable with journalism, I'd like to interview you. But first please provide:

• Full names and home towns of your children and your wife

• Picture of your house – include a clear photo of your car's license plate

• Your home town, so anyone can locate you on Google Maps

• Your work history

• Your net worth

• Your health history

• Any notable personality traits you have, so the whole world can comment on them

Seriously, put up or shut up.