At 15:52 2003-07-25 -0700, Bill Frantz wrote:
On Friday 25 July 2003 11:40, Steve Schear wrote:
... Now that many are un- or under-employed there still doesn't seem to be any activity by those active on this list in this critical infrastructure area.
In some sense, we have enough code. Code exists that can be deployed. It may have to go thru the same evolutionary stages the P2P software is going thru (Napster to Kazza to ???) as security problems become serious, but it is deployed now.
What we don't have is:
* Patent licenses
Not necessary. Remember, blinding is implemented solely at the client end. I'm sure once a useable, open source, non-blinded client is available there will be parties available to add the 50 lines or so of blinding code. Alternatively, since the blinding patent is not recognized in many well-connected Net countries the code could legally be released from one of them, so that the user selects blinding based on jurisdiction and interest.
* Easy to use code
By any reasonable measure we DOI OT have a useable, even by techies, for a blinded digital cash system. The closest thing I'm aware of is Lucrative but it still hasn't reached the alpha demo phase for client and server SW. Contributions by competent list members are keenly invited to "finish" the infrastructure code if not help deploy a real test mint and financial institution.
* Users
Techies can work on the ease of use issue, but patent licenses take time and/or money, and users take marketing and sales.
EBay spent almost nothing in its first years. None of the Digital Gold Currencies have spent much at all for these purposes, yet they have 100,000s of active accounts and around $30 million in gold bars backing their monies. Only word of mouth, the best advertising, is required for a really needed product/service with a workable business model. I think many techies have been flimflammed by the VCs and CEO-types who couldn't bootstrap a venture if their lives depended on it. steve "Il dulce far niente" The sweetness of doing nothing My unemployment motto