Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Mike Hearn, Foundation's Law & Policy Chair, is pushing blacklists right now
by
kjj
on 15/11/2013, 04:08:49 UTC
I don't think it's a good idea to start making lists unless you don't mind being on someones list. I think it can easily spin out of control here hackers have lists, law enforcement have lists, and everyone is caught in the middle of being scrutinized by both hackers and law enforcement.

If you want to be on a list it should be voluntary. The list idea needs to be more well thought out, that is all.

Yeah, that's how lists work. 

Seriously, how do you expect to prevent other people from making lists?  For all you know, I have a list.  Maybe you are on it now.

That would be fine if that is where it stopped. But it becomes a slippery slope. The next logical step is enforcement in the protocol that such coins can't be spent. The other problem is that it is an avenue of attack. What is to stop someone getting their enemies coins redlisted?

If the protocol had a mechanism that prevented spending of listed coins, there would be no point in notifying users.

But first, how would you convince people to use the fork with enforcement?



The bottom line is that right now today, with no changes to anything, if you end up with coins bearing an interesting history, you take the risk of someone becoming interested in you.  You cannot prevent this risk.  You cannot mitigate it.  If you ditch the coins, you are still part of the chain, and you may get a knock on your door from people wondering how they came to you.

Widespread mixing, if and when it arrives, will hopefully muddy the trail of every transaction, maybe even to the point that most investigations become futile.