Question: Bernard von NotHaus (the creator of the [Liberty Dollar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar)) was convicted of violating a U.S. federal law that forbids the minting of a currency by anyone in the U.S. besides the federal government. Might it be claimed that bitcoins are also a currency and their users or creators violate that same law?

Answer: 
There are many complementary currencies in use around the United States quite openly and without government interference, including BerkShares, Ithaca Dollars and similar hyper-local currencies, various bartering or time swapping systems like LETS or Time Dollars, etc. The case you are referring to revolved around minting coins that could easily be confused with US money and allegedly circulating (and encouraging others to do so) to local businesses while passing them off as US money (by a lie of omission, if nothing else).

It may well be that Bitcoin faces legal challenges in various countries, including the US, but this particular case will have set no precedent in that regard.
There is no evidence to suggest that law applies to Bitcoin. See also [What is the current legal status of Bitcoin?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/131/what-is-the-current-legal-status-of-bitcoin-around-the-world)