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Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

openbazaar.org

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Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#201

Post by cpacia »

orf wrote: post #130
SamPatt wrote: post #114

I work on OpenBazaar and I'm happy to answer questions. This website links to the current version of OpenBazaar, but we're just about to launch a completely new version, which you can read about here: https://medium.com/openbazaarproject/openbazaar-2-0-p2p-trad... The 2.0 is built with Go and uses IPFS. It's open source and we welcome any developers into the project: https://github.com/OpenBazaar/openbazaar-go

This looks incredibly interesting, thank you! I have one question: how do you handle updates using IPFS? Say a seller updates the price of item X, then a user places an order while the seller is offline based on the older price (which is presumably cached in IPFS still)?

All the store data is kept inside a directory, the hash of which is mapped to your peer ID using IPNS. This enables all store data to be downloaded and authenticated using the peer ID.

Any change to the contents of your directory causes the root hash to change and the IPNS mapping is republished.

Mappings a numbered so when looking up a store via it's ID nodes will always use the most recent mapping they can find.

Republishing the IPNS root breaks the caching that accumulated on the root, but all objects inside the directory that haven't changed retain their caching.

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#202

Post by cpacia »

Dowwie wrote: post #113

Chris If I understood the docs correctly, openbazaar 1.0 server is written in Python but since it's release the team has worked on V2 in Go. I'd really appreciate learning the motivation for the migration to Go and think others may as well. Go programs are faster than Python programs but lo and behold is a viable v1 - a server whose performance may have been good enough? Please, enlighten!

1.0 is a bit of an MVP. While there's tons of room for optimization, Go is still much faster.

That plus the fact that the main IPFS codebase is written in Go were the main considerations.

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#203

Post by cpacia »

vit05 wrote: post #164
SamPatt wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a built-in escrow, which uses Bitcoin 2-of-3 multisignature. This means that if both buyer and seller are happy, they are the only two of three parties needed to release funds, but if either of the parties is unhappy they can bring in the escrow party. Escrow is provided on a marketplace as well, anyone can act as an escrow agent.

Sounds cool, I just read the explanation, it's on the Features tab. But in the gif it is showing that you will have to pay for it, and it will be a % of the total business. Similar to what already occurs in other markets. But, as it will depend on a person, not a company, what is the legal responsibility of that third person in the deal? Will these people have a profile or decision history so you can decide who to tr…

> But in the gif it is showing that you will have to pay for it

Only if the escrow resolves a dispute. The escrow agent doesn't actually learn of the transaction if all goes well.

As to the rest of the questions, the arbitration is a bit ad hoc at the moment.

The vendor selects the escrow agent he's willing to use and offers that as part of a "bundle" with product.

If the buyer doesn't know the escrow agent or doesn't trust him then he should not buy.

Obviously, having reputable escrow agents will be critical and there currently isn't any good in-app way of evaluating the reputation of the escrow.

Currently people tend to bring their reputations in from other platforms and use other platforms to recommend trusted escrows.

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#204

Post by matthewbauer »

SamPatt wrote: post #114

I work on OpenBazaar and I'm happy to answer questions. This website links to the current version of OpenBazaar, but we're just about to launch a completely new version, which you can read about here: https://medium.com/openbazaarproject/openbazaar-2-0-p2p-trad... The 2.0 is built with Go and uses IPFS. It's open source and we welcome any developers into the project: https://github.com/OpenBazaar/openbazaar-go

Are you concerned at all about legal ramifications of OpenBazaar? It seems like if you guys succeed, you're going to have to deal with lots of illegal transactions. Are you able or willing to work with law enforcement in these cases?

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#206

Post by matthewbauer »

notliketherest wrote: post #173
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you have merged PRs allowing use via Tor, you seem to be tacitly encouraging Open Bazaar to be used by those who want to hide their identity. In the wake of the recent darknet market closures, people have been saying that the drug trade might move to decentralized markets like this. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14828864 As facilitators of this technology, do you have an opinion on how it should be used?…

Dear Vint Cerf, since you have created TCP-IP, and another contemporary of yours - HTTP, you seem to be tacitly encouraging a decentralized worldwide exchange of information used by billions around the globe to facilitate exchange of ideas, pleasure, and commerce, free from government censor...

I thinks it totally different. At the end of the day, the law could reach the original Internet. It really wasn't much different than telephone lines. Encryption is where everything changes. I think everyone should be at least a little bit nervous about where these crypto technologies are taking us. Once criminals learn how to use this technology, there's probably no going back.

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#207

Post by csuwldcat »

matthewbauer wrote: post #206
notliketherest wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dear Vint Cerf, since you have created TCP-IP, and another contemporary of yours - HTTP, you seem to be tacitly encouraging a decentralized worldwide exchange of information used by billions around the globe to facilitate exchange of ideas, pleasure, and commerce, free from government censor...

I thinks it totally different. At the end of the day, the law could reach the original Internet. It really wasn't much different than telephone lines. Encryption is where everything changes. I think everyone should be at least a little bit nervous about where these crypto technologies are taking us. Once criminals learn how to use this technology, there's probably no going back.

Drug purchasing sites have actually helped reduce violence and crime associated with prohibited items/activities. I'm more nervous about where authoritarian government is taking us.

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#208

Post by nyolfen »

Iranibangbang wrote: post #177
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After digging into some Reddit comments, this reply appears to downplay the extent to which you're directly facilitating the darknet market migration. https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenBazaar/comments/6oifak/is_it_po... "Well if the devs want massive adoption and 2.0 is functional then getting it to work on tails in the next 3 months will get them that." "If someone would post an eli18 walkthrough on how to config tails s…

You're wrong that they are supporting illegal dark type uses. The team has background in the American intelligence community. Some people are saying their aim is to push toward a backdoored or monitorable supposed darknet.

were there only some way we could examine the software for such a backdoor. alas

tor was developed by the US military initially, as well

Re: Open Bazaar – decentralized Bitcoin marketplace

#209

Post by mirimir »

matthewbauer wrote: post #204
SamPatt wrote: post #114

I work on OpenBazaar and I'm happy to answer questions. This website links to the current version of OpenBazaar, but we're just about to launch a completely new version, which you can read about here: https://medium.com/openbazaarproject/openbazaar-2-0-p2p-trad... The 2.0 is built with Go and uses IPFS. It's open source and we welcome any developers into the project: https://github.com/OpenBazaar/openbazaar-go

Are you concerned at all about legal ramifications of OpenBazaar? It seems like if you guys succeed, you're going to have to deal with lots of illegal transactions. Are you able or willing to work with law enforcement in these cases?

One would expect that devs would be unable to assist law enforcement. Except to say that it's hopeless. That's pretty much what Tor Project says. Maybe that's just BS, of course. But one can hope.

An official statement from OpenBazaar devs would be good.

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