Or, you know, actually know your trading partners well enough to know when something is not right...
Unbelievable how quickly people forget that Bitcoin was designed to enable PERSON TO PERSON transactions. Then everyone demands it be like every other system with mommy and daddy telling you things will be ok, dictating to everyone what they can and can't do. Then we are back where we started. Take some personal responsibility.
This incident with Master-P never would have happened if you had not demanded someone else take responsibility for your personal liabilities. When you do this you are basically saying that you have no faith in your own ability to make sound judgements and do research, and or you are too lazy. Then you wag your finger at everyone else when things don't work out. You people need to look in the mirror.
So you trade only with persons you know IRL since at least 2 years?
Person to person transactions, as you say, doesn't change the fact that you can be scammed, in any way. If I want to buy something, I have no guarantee whatsoever that it will be sent unless I know really well the seller and trust him. But to trust him, I need to have made at least a few deals with him.
Trust is built, built on what? On successfull exchanges. And I don't see the link between "your own ability to make sound judgements" and business trust. You're saying we should make researches on everyone we trade with? Fair enough, and how do you do when it's a first trade for someone? Imagine someone wanting to sell a 700$ worth miner, but he's not a legendary trusted member and never made a trade here, he's still a newbie. So how do you do your "own judgement" TECSHARE here? Or you tell him "nah bro, can't deal with you, wait for 2 or 3 years and when I'll know you better then maybe.
Not saying escrow is perfect, but you can't say it's just because "people are too lazy to do there own research".