The US Federal Reserve has despatched a cease-and-desist letter to crypto media publication Bitcoin Journal, accusing it of trademark violations, in keeping with a Nov. 3 publish from the publication. Bitcoin Journal claims it’s being focused due to its use of the phrase “FedNow” on “t-shirts, hats, and different wearables.” FedNow is the trademarked title of the Federal Reserve’s immediate fee system.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is threatening to sue Bitcoin Journal, alleging attire that parodies its FedNow system is just not protected speech, however copyright infringement.@markgoodw_in with Bitcoin Journal’s response:https://t.co/PYmeZHBYWO
— Bitcoin Journal (@BitcoinMagazine) November 3, 2023
Bitcoin Journal carries some merchandise in its retailer that options the phrase “FedNow” printed on it, however with the “O” within the phrase having been changed with a picture of an eye fixed.
Bitcoin Journal FedNow T-shirt. Supply: Bitcoin Journal.
In accordance with the publish, the Fed claimed these things “mislead readers into believing a connection exists between the publication and the central financial institution.”
In response, Bitcoin Journal’s authorized group despatched a letter to the Federal Reserve denying the allegation. The merchandise is “undeniably parodic in nature,” the letter acknowledged, because it was created “for the aim of parody and political criticism directed on the Federal Reserve.”
As proof for this, the letter pointed to the picture of an eye fixed discovered within the designs, which it known as a “surveillance eye.” In a separate open letter referenced within the publish, Bitcoin Journal referred to the attention as an “all-seeing eye that symbolizes the state of whole financial surveillance that [the Federal Reserve] is searching for to impose on the American financial system.”
The time period “all-seeing eye” or “Eye of Windfall” refers to a logo present in Jacopo Pontormo’s 1525 portray, Supper at Emmaus, and later featured on the again facet of a U.S. 1-dollar invoice.
Eye of Windfall on the again of a U.S. 1-dollar invoice. Supply: Wikipedia.
In its publish, Bitcoin Journal acknowledged that it will not cease printing or promoting its “FedNow” line of merchandise, because it believes the gadgets represent protected free speech below the First Modification.
FedNow is an interbank fee system launched by the Federal Reserve in July. It permits banks and cash transmitter providers to make funds immediately, with no need to depend on the automated clearing home (ACH) system used prior to now. Bitcoin Journal has closely criticized FedNow in its articles and movies, claiming that it’s a “rip-off” that permits the federal government to “preserve controlling you, your enterprise, and everybody else’s.”
Associated: FedNow showcases DLT-powered funds system as service supplier
FedNow has additionally been criticized by presidential candidates Ron Desantis and Robert Kennedy, Jr. They declare it is paving the way in which for a future central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC), which they are saying will violate the privateness of People. The Federal Reserve has denied that its service has something to do with a CBDC.