[4217] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: bearer = anonymous = freedom to contract
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Tue Feb 16 00:50:34 1999
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 19:53:43 -0500
To: dbs@shipwright.com, dcsb@ai.mit.edu, micropay@ai.mit.edu, e$@vmeng.com,
cryptography@c2.net, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net, mac-crypto@vmeng.com
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
--- begin forwarded text
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 15:41:32 -0800
From: Wei Dai <weidai@eskimo.com>
To: Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>
Cc: dbs@philodox.com
Subject: Re: bearer = anonymous = freedom to contract
Sender: <dbs@philodox.com>
List-Subscribe: <mailto:requests@philodox.com?subject=subscribe%20dbs>
Thanks, Adam, for this great explanation. It certainly cleared up my
confusion.
I think it is slightly unfortunate that RAH chose to identify "bearer"
with instant settlement, since it is conceivable that an electronic
payment system operating out of a jurisdiction with no illegal contracts
could offer instant settlement even when everything is based on book-entry
accounts.
Perhaps we can use the terms "payment system with instant settlement"
(PSIS) and "payment system with delayed settlement" (PSDS) instead? Then
we can also distinguish between PSIS with accounts and accountless PSIS,
and PSIS with anonymity and without, and so on.
--- end forwarded text
-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
