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An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

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Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#131

Post by arthurcolle »

banachtarski wrote: post #123
arthurcolle wrote: post #3

god this is reposted so many times, SOO MANY TIMES public service advisory: read the whole btc wiki, there's a lot of great stuff in there! https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Agent https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script Links of note: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bootstrapping-a-decentr...

So we can't even retort mildly tongue and cheek without being flagged by a salty cryptocurrency preacher these days

I loved your comment, and made a funny in response of my own. Don't assume you're right all the time :)

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#132

Post by nosuchthing »

zone411 wrote: post #90

Not too long ago, I checked the number of images that were posted on the Ethereum blockchain and I also posted a test image ( https://etherscan.io/tx/0x3ee5575306ddc235b0586984172888b47e... ). There were 74 images with headers that appeared as jpg, gif, or png already posted before my test image. It's very easy to post to the Ethereum blockchain: just convert back and forth from file to hex using a site like http://t…

Goatse?

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#133

Post by zone411 »

nosuchthing wrote: post #132
zone411 wrote: post #90

Not too long ago, I checked the number of images that were posted on the Ethereum blockchain and I also posted a test image ( https://etherscan.io/tx/0x3ee5575306ddc235b0586984172888b47e... ). There were 74 images with headers that appeared as jpg, gif, or png already posted before my test image. It's very easy to post to the Ethereum blockchain: just convert back and forth from file to hex using a site like http://t…

Goatse?

Yes.

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#134

Post by posterboy »

otherwiseguy wrote: post #117
hapnin wrote: post #112

When PGP was released in the early 90s, one of the arguments used against it was "child porn". When P2P networks using DHT became viable earlier in this century, one of the arguments used against the networks was "child porn". The tech still remains and still functions, arguments or not.

The difference is between "the technology" and an "implementation of the technology". Sure, P2P DHT exists. Just like blockchains exist. But a specific blockchain, which is append-only, is trivial to make illegal by embedding illegal content in it, making every user of it technically in possession of illegal material. You can use a DHT w/o breaking the law. You cannot store child porn on your computer without breakin…

In some cases a link to a file is enough, which would implicate DHT, but due to the nature of the distribution would not compromise the whole network. Cf. Pirate Bay.

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#136

Post by luxnoo »

zeth___ wrote: post #25
philfrasty wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a tweet [1] from Vitalik Buterin on this exact topic. He was arguing that „possession“ (as in data on the blockchain) does not impose risks on others. Tweet was removed quickly. [1] https://steemit.com/ethereum/@titusfrost/ethereum-s-vitalik-...

> This entire Ethereum to me wreaks of New World Order involvement, just look at the members of the Ethereum Alliance. > Also I would suggest trying EOS which is supposed to wipe out Ethereum and hopefully will. I now fully endorse EOS as an alternative to Ethereum. > I also wanted to address the slanderous attacks against me stating that I am an "Anti-Semite" which is completely bogus. I criticize Zionists who are a…

> New World Order

I've memed this online and to friends. It doesn't help that one Ethereum Foundation member was celebrating on twitter about how esoteric people are in the EF even saying that there are oculist members.

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#137

Post by lopmotr »

otherwiseguy wrote: post #110
jmcqk6 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially if you consider the possibility of someone loading state secrets onto the chain. It wouldn't take a state actor to initiate that action, but that state actor could render the chain worthless.

That isn't as much of an issue. Once a secret is out, it is out. Something like child porn would be permanently illegal and permanently stored in the chain. Imagine hiding it there, letting a year or two of transactions build upon it before letting people know it was there. You can't remove it. The blockchain is now technically illegal. I was just thinking about this a lot this week, actually. The really crazy thing…

I think child porn laws are too one-size-fits-all. It's supposed to be to be a disincentive to abusing children to produce the images for profit. Once it's well and truly public so the profit motive is gone, it should become legal. Or at least at the same status as revenge porn if the subjects are identifiable.

Unfortunately, most people are too puritanical to even dare to think about the topic, let alone opens debate it or soften the law.

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#139

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

phkahler wrote: post #39
ddalex wrote: post #35

So the obvious bit here is that an adversarial actor can poison the blockchain with bits that make downloading, storing and processing the blockchain a highly illegal act. This may have a chilling effect on participating in the network, thus reducing the number of nodes, and undermining the trust on the blockchain and in the coin because the reduced requirement of computing power needed to mutate the blockchain. Acco…

In addition to illegal content, one could just put a huge amount of data in there to accelerate what seems to be a built in problem of ever increasing storage requirements.

There's a 1MB cap on block size and it's already being met.

Re: An Analysis of the Impact of Arbitrary Blockchain Content on Bitcoin [pdf]

#140

Post by oasisbob »

greenleafjacob wrote: post #63
oasisbob wrote: post #52

This gets close to something else I've been pondering lately - how to deal with immutable data structures in the realm of GDPR. Recitations in GDPR require systems to be designed with privacy in mind. Immutable structures like the Bitcoin blockchain or Merkle trees in other applications would seem to be fundamentally incompatible with some GDPR privacy requirements. Let's say Google receives a valid right to be forgo…

Simply encrypt the data and upon “deleting it” instead delete the encryption key. This is similar to concerns about backups.

Sure, crypto-shredding seems like a great approach for some things.

But in many cases the whole reason systems use these structures in the first place is so that there's transparency and public verifiability.

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