If the Bitcoin client cannot connect to the IRC channel, it uses an in-built list of initial nodes to connect to the P2P network. Shutting down the IRC channel via a court order wouldn't shut down the Bitcoin network.

You could harvest IP addresses from the IRC channel, but you could also do that by running the client and noting down which peers you connect to. Unless you're running behind Tor or I2P, it's not hard to figure out which IP addresses have connected.

However, assuming the government had this list, what would it do? It's hard to bring charges against a large number of individuals scattered throughout different jurisdictions, and historically, the US government hasn't gone after the people using alternative currencies; they'd go after the source.

They could shut down the Bitcoin site - which would be quickly moved to an international domain. They could try and prosecute the lead programmers of the Bitcoin software, but this would not be particularly successful. It wouldn't stop Bitcoin, and I think it would be hard for them to show the currency as being illegal without, for instance, affecting MMO currencies as well.

I figure their best move would be to shut down the currency exchanges, or at least tie them up in court long enough to damage confidence in the Bitcoin economy. However, if the exchanges win, then Bitcoin has an official seal of legality, and a huge heaping of press attention.

This helps some I guess, but I don't think it'd be that hard to take out all or almost all of the hardcoded initialization nodes if they're able to get IRC taken down, too. btc really needs a more robust method to locate peers. IRC with a few hardcoded fallback nodes is not very decentralized imo.

Hardcoded nodes are only needed if that's your first start. After that bitcoin client collects a databases of nodes, listening to "addr" messages from the network. On the next restarts, it uses addresses from that database one by one.

And there are about 300 hardcoded nodes right now from different countries.

I see. That's better I suppose. You just need a relatively easy way to update the seed nodes in case all of the included nodes are down. Does this exist? If not, maybe I'll add it to the client.

There is a dns-seeding (currently two domains which respond with multiple A records, pointing to known good nodes).

I think hardcoded nodes are updated only manually via git.

I don't think, that prosecuting of programmers will be unsuccessful. I won't be surprised, if Gavin's programming will be described as yet another "unique form of domestic terrorism".

Probably original bitcoin author remained anonymous for the fear of government's retaliation.

I meant unsuccessful from the point of view of shutting down Bitcoins. However, I suspect that they'd find it difficult to charge Gavin. The Bitcoin system doesn't use physical coins, so they won't run afoul of the same law that shut down Libery Dollars. There also isn't a lot of difference between Bitcoins and in-game virtual currencies like ISK, or WoW gold. You'd also have rights organisations like the EFF lining up to defend Gavin.