[liberationtech] A decentralized anonymous marketplace [x-post from /r/Rad_Decentralization]

I came across this https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-March/013304.html

I was asked to repost it here, I was told you guys might enjoy it.

x-post from /r/Rad_Decentralization


Comments


[5 Points] detrasdetiimbecil:

I've pondered this many times, even going so far as to try to think up a protocol for how it might operate.

I considered using Bitmessage behind a downloadable HTML/JavaScript client that would turn a bunch of disparate posts into a browsable marketplace, but I wasn't sure if this was a good approach. I also wondered if Bitcoin itself could be an adhoc marketplace -- by creating very small transactions and attaching messages to them.

My background is web development, but I believe there are smarter people than I (with CS degrees) who could do a much better job.

Still, I would have thought that the death of the original SR would have prompted a switch to a decentralized marketplace sooner than this. It was the day of SR's shutdown that I immediately started to question how to create a decentralized marketplace.

But yeah, any hosted marketplace is just a target for law enforcement and will eventually be shut down. That is if the admins don't run off with the funds first. Decentralize the whole thing; force law enforcement to try to take down individual vendors. That'll be a much more challenging game of whack-a-mole than trying to knock down entire marketplaces.

Also I feel there's plausible deniability for the creator of such a platform. The sale of illicit drugs is mere happenstance; all he or she did did was create a decentralized e-commerce protocol that happened to later be used for illegal activity.


[1 Points] DrawJosh:

Is this as awesome an idea as I think it is?