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No, in all seriousness I think the key to services such as these is trust. Trust that no matter what the company won't falter and nip into the database and change a few dates.
When people actually need this service, they'll really need it and I'm wondering without an accredited and independent survey of the site and company (as well an employees) whether this will be worth anything legally and in a court of law?
I don't know
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Practically speaking, couldn't I just tweet the SHA1 hash and let Twitter be my trusted timestamp authority? Assuming I don't work for Twitter, it's unlikely I'm able to modify the timestamp on a tweet. (The blockchain has a lot more confidence due to its distributed nature, but in the minds of say, a jury of your peers, I bet it actually appears shadier than Twitter.)
Also post it on your Facebook, for prosperity.
I killed almost a year on a similar project and it flopped majestically . I even worked out how to do the whole verification part that it works out of the box without the need for any software or 3rd party service. You just needed a Windows box. Still that made no difference whatsoever, because ultimately selling this sort of service is like selling insurance. You have to force people to think about bad things that c…
That being said, I really like how the service worked. If I understand it correctly, I would download the signed work (signed .exe with content included), which also means that I would have proof after the service got shut down.
Impending lawsuit from THE SOCIAL NETWORK... No, in all seriousness I think the key to services such as these is trust. Trust that no matter what the company won't falter and nip into the database and change a few dates. When people actually need this service, they'll really need it and I'm wondering without an accredited and independent survey of the site and company (as well an employees) whether this will be worth…
They're using the Bitcoin blockchain to post the one-way hash proving that the document existed at a certain time. They wrote: "This is possibly the first non-currency application of the Bitcoin Blockchain packaged in a commercial way for non-technical users."
That's precisely what Bitcoin is solving: it's the first system allowing to have trust without a chain of trust, without a central authority. And this is why IMHO Bitcoin is huge.
In a way Bitcoin-the-cryptocurrency is "just" one application of that decentralized trust.
Now that said that technique is known since a long time: if I'm not mistaken people have been using SHA256 of documents as private (?) keys to make a tiny transfer in the Bitcoin blockchain since basically as long as Bitcoin existed.
It's good to see it as an easy-to-use service although apparently there are already free alternatives...
I killed almost a year on a similar project and it flopped majestically . I even worked out how to do the whole verification part that it works out of the box without the need for any software or 3rd party service. You just needed a Windows box. Still that made no difference whatsoever, because ultimately selling this sort of service is like selling insurance. You have to force people to think about bad things that c…
Nice writeup, I think your conclusion is pretty spot on. People neglect to buy insurance, don't back up data, and ignore safety margins. Why would they start timestamping their files. That being said, I really like how the service worked. If I understand it correctly, I would download the signed work (signed .exe with content included), which also means that I would have proof after the service got shut down.
It used AuthentiCode executable signing to bind VeriSign's timestamps to the documents. Basically, this allows for an unlimited use of VeriSign's mature and robust timestamping infrastructure for a cost of a single signing certificate ($150/year or thereabouts). Not to pat myself on the back, but I think it was nothing short of ingenious :)
I killed almost a year on a similar project and it flopped majestically . I even worked out how to do the whole verification part that it works out of the box without the need for any software or 3rd party service. You just needed a Windows box. Still that made no difference whatsoever, because ultimately selling this sort of service is like selling insurance. You have to force people to think about bad things that c…
1. Make a SHA1 hash of your document 2. Convert the hash to a BTC address 3. Send 0.0001 BTC to the address you made 4. There you saved yourself $9.99
Practically speaking, couldn't I just tweet the SHA1 hash and let Twitter be my trusted timestamp authority? Assuming I don't work for Twitter, it's unlikely I'm able to modify the timestamp on a tweet. (The blockchain has a lot more confidence due to its distributed nature, but in the minds of say, a jury of your peers, I bet it actually appears shadier than Twitter.)
I wonder how this deals with like .docx files or .xlsx (Excel) files. Even of you change 0 fields it might end up "mutated" and the Proof does not longer work. A single flipped byte destroys the entire concept. Tech savvy people can deal with this, but not the average joe. Cool concept nonetheless.
I think you're right - not all smart people are tech savvy or command line hackers - so we offer an easy to use interface and store the file for them.
They would want an in-house, closed system with (of course) blockchain communication for the verification part. Or maybe a tool that creates a "Magic" executable that contains the a) file and b) a "Check" button to do the blockchain verification.
So I'm paying $9.99 every 3 months so that years into the future I will be able to prove I sent a document? I can see the value in proving you sent a document, but I don't understand the cost structure here.
We're still working on a pricing structure - it will likely be an annual or quarterly subscription, with a small fee to get each document Bitstamped.
Impending lawsuit from THE SOCIAL NETWORK... No, in all seriousness I think the key to services such as these is trust. Trust that no matter what the company won't falter and nip into the database and change a few dates. When people actually need this service, they'll really need it and I'm wondering without an accredited and independent survey of the site and company (as well an employees) whether this will be worth…
Did you read the description of their service? They're using the Bitcoin blockchain to post the one-way hash proving that the document existed at a certain time. They wrote: "This is possibly the first non-currency application of the Bitcoin Blockchain packaged in a commercial way for non-technical users." That's precisely what Bitcoin is solving: it's the first system allowing to have trust without a chain of trust,…
Not asking rhetorical questions, just seeing other peoples thoughts.