On a similar thread I would like a method of timestamping that couldn't be spoofed. For example I would like to be able to record when I came up with a certain idea or make a prediction like "Linux will have X market share by date Y" and then be able to prove that I did it on a certain date. I can already see one problem with the potential solution. I'm reminded of an episode of the US T.V. show "Cheers!" where the main character Sam finds out he's going to sleep with the main female character, Rebecca I think. He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and reads it,
"Today, April 23rd 1982, I will sleep with Rebecca"
Someone replies,
"That's amazing! How did you know that?"
He replies,
"Simple, I make a new one every day."
For example you have to make sure that someone can't just sign multiple documents saying that "Nader will win", "Bush will win", "Gore will win" etc..
So, how do you prove that you signed something on a particular date? Does it require a third party? I don't like the idea of a centralized third party. Perhaps some sort of system where the time/date was verified by several timeservers in different countries run by various groups so you could be pretty sure that the system wasn't compromised.
On a similar topic, I was recently asked to clean up the web pages of an employee who had been terminated over said web pages. It was pretty minor stuff like links to the Bible and various political sites. When I was asked to clean up the pages I demanded that they tell me exactly what to clean up as I didn't want to be the one making the judgement on what is right and wrong.
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On a similar thread I would like a method of timestamping that couldn't be spoofed. For example I would like to be able to record when I came up with a certain idea or make a prediction like "Linux will have X market share by date Y" and then be able to prove that I did it on a certain date. I can already see one problem with the potential solution. I'm reminded of an episode of the US T.V. show "Cheers!" where the main character Sam finds out he's going to sleep with the main female character, Rebecca I think. He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and reads it,
"Today, April 23rd 1982, I will sleep with Rebecca"
Someone replies,
"That's amazing! How did you know that?"
He replies,
"Simple, I make a new one every day."
For example you have to make sure that someone can't just sign multiple documents saying that "Nader will win", "Bush will win", "Gore will win" etc..
So, how do you prove that you signed something on a particular date? Does it require a third party? I don't like the idea of a centralized third party. Perhaps some sort of system where the time/date was verified by several timeservers in different countries run by various groups so you could be pretty sure that the system wasn't compromised.
Any thoughts?
On a similar topic, I was recently asked to clean up the web pages of an employee who had been terminated over said web pages. It was pretty minor stuff like links to the Bible and various political sites. When I was asked to clean up the pages I demanded that they tell me exactly what to clean up as I didn't want to be the one making the judgement on what is right and wrong.
Scary times.