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I didn't take Facebook down last night but .....

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@apshamilton
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.... I took an important step towards making them pay for their attacks on the cryptocurrency industry this morning.

Crypto Class Action Update

Its been a long while since I had news to report on the progress of the Crypto Class Action against Facebook and Google - seeking massive damages for their banning of cryptocurrency related ads in early 2018.

You can find earlier updates in this Curated Collection.

Crypto moves so quickly - in dog years; while the Courts move slowly - in elephant years!

After 9 months of waiting for a substantial hearing on our interlocutory application for leave to serve Facebook & Google in the US, I finally got time before the new Judge on 24 September 2021.

In a little over 2 hours I got through 7 pages of my 25 page submissions (which you can read here - part 1 and here -part 2).

Yes, they were too long even to be put in a single Hive post!!!

This morning, the hearing continued and in a little over 3 hours I got through a further 11 pages.

Next Monday morning I have a further 2 hours scheduled to finish the final 7 pages of my submissions.

Then the Court will make a decision whether or not I have a prima facie case against Facebook and Google and I can serve the proceedings on them in the USA.

The decision will probably be reserved and take some weeks or months to be published because as the Judge has noted, both the subject matter and the nature of the claim itself are particularly complex and unique.

While I'm sure you are saying: "You've been in Court for over a year and haven't served proceedings on Facebook or Google yet!!!", there has been a lot more progress than it might seem.

There are a number of factors that have made it very important to take the time to methodically and clearly go through every issue and spend face time with the Judge explaining everything and answering her questions.

  • Private competition law enforcement actions are quite rare in Australia and self-represented litigants bringing major class actions even rarer - it is important to establish credibility, competency and expertise.

  • Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is a new subject matter that the Courts have no experience with and online advertising is also still a relatively new subject matter for the Courts.

  • A number of the legal provisions I am using are quite new and have never been litigated before and others, while well established, have recently been restructured or extended. So there is a lot of new legislative language for the Court to deal with.

For all the above reasons, when the judgement is finally delivered (hopefully in my favour) it will be far more powerful, significant and historic than might otherwise be the case.

If you want to support the Class Action you can still purchase the SUFB token on Hive-Engine. Each token gives holders a small share of the damages which (hopefully) one day will be awarded.

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