At 12:15 AM 11/11/95 -0700, bryce@colorado.edu wrote:

I don't really understand the use for "can't be opened until Christmas" tricks. If you don't want anyone to see your info until Christmas then just don't give them a copy until then! If you want to prove that you have it but not let them see it until later then do timestamping of hashes, zero-knowledge proofs and so forth.

For instance, suppose you want to give someone digicash on a certain day (like a bond from your bank...) Or leave a will, which nobody can hassle you about while you're alive. Or (as an extension of both) a trust that can't be spent until some time certain in the future, like when you want to pay Alcor to thaw your carcass out. For the more realistic case, bonds, you want to be able to give them the bond so they've got it in their hot little hands, but can't cheat by spending it. In a normal business relationship, where all the parties have names of some sort, this isn't so tough; it gets harder when some or all of you are pseudonyms... #-- # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts@ix.netcom.com # Phone +1-510-247-0663 Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281