>>They are subject to Japanese law and International law. And also to US and EU law regarding AML/KYC of their citizens.
Is there any legal precedent for this? What would you sue Mt.Gox for? Do they have contracts or some form of binding agreement with people who store their BTC with them?
I'm not sure they're really bound by any laws in regards to currency. Maybe contractually, but beyond that, not sure what you could sue them for without some real concrete evidence of criminal activity.
You typically sue a company over torts, not crimes. A tort is a civil cause of action. "They deprived me of my property in a fashion we had not agreed upon" is a tort called conversion. There exist many other ones you could describe Mt. Gox as having committed. Japan and the US are friendly first-world nations; their courts routinely enforce each others' judgments. (You'd have to demonstrate tortious behavior in the US to the satisfaction of a Japanese court, which might not be straightforward, but that's the sort of thing you'd want to ask an actual Japanese lawyer rather than somebody with a cursory understanding of the matter.)
That said, most people hoping for recourse in a court of law do not understand the expense, timeline, and likelihood of actual collection involved. (Six figures, years, and "probably nil", respectively.)
Is there any legal precedent for this? What would you sue Mt.Gox for? Do they have contracts or some form of binding agreement with people who store their BTC with them?
I'm not sure they're really bound by any laws in regards to currency. Maybe contractually, but beyond that, not sure what you could sue them for without some real concrete evidence of criminal activity.