A bitcoin mining business called NewRays has taken legal action against an Arkansas judge and a prosecutor, saying that they are unfairly applying noise laws against its operations. On September 26, NewRays sued in the Arkansas District Court, saying that Judge Allen Dodson and prosecuting attorney Phil Murphy are unfairly using new noise rules to stop the company from mining cryptocurrency.
NewRays bought land in Faulkner County in October 2022 with plans to use it to run a Bitcoin mining data center. At that time, the company’s actions were not limited by zoning laws. But because people in the area complained about the noise, the county passed new laws with strict decibel limits and criminal punishments for breaking them.
The case says that these noise laws go against the Arkansas Data Centers Act, which was passed in April 2023 to protect big data and computer operations from unfair rules. NewRays says that local officials coordinated the execution of these laws to help a separate civil claim that people in the area brought against the company.
When NewRays tried to move the civil case to federal court, things got complicated legally, but the county court kept its control. The case says that the county started talking about these noise rules, which are called “crypto mine ordinances,” as early as June 2023 in order to be unfair to crypto mining companies like NewRays. The company says that other businesses in the area make more noise but are not limited in the same ways.
NewRays has put a lot of money into its business. For example, it spent $1 million to put up solid walls to cut down on noise. The company says that unfair targeting is still happening despite these attempts. The company wants both temporary and permanent legal relief to stop these noise rules from being used against its business.
The case shows that local rules and cryptocurrency companies are still at odds with each other. NewRays says that the public’s criticism of Bitcoin mining and how much energy it uses singles out its activities. The business thinks that other high-energy fields, like AI data centers, are looked at less closely because people think they are more valuable.
NewRays is waiting for more court cases because it wants to keep running its business without being limited by what it sees as unfair noise laws.
