Re: [circle] p2p auctions

[Jiri Baum]

thomasV:
> If you have a way to counter that, I am buying it.

Theoretically, this can be done by starting the web of trust from yourself. 
Any chain from yourself to a fake identity must then pass through at least 
one individual whose identity you can verify but who cannot provide you with 
the identity of the next link in the chain.

Follow the chain, asking each person "please give me the legal name and 
address of <next link in chain>", until you reach the dead end. That's the 
person whose fault it was that you trusted a fake ID.

In practice, webs of trust like this don't work so well, as shown by the 
experience with PGP / GPG. They could probably be made more reliable by the 
addition of actual liability for the links, but it would be difficult to 
design it in a way that wouldn't lead to infinite liability, and therefore no 
links at all.


Jiri
-- 
Jiri Baum <address@hidden>           http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jirib
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