Author: Russell O'Connor 2023-08-21 14:47:18+00:00
Published on: 2023-08-21T14:47:18+00:00
The email discusses the possibility of banning "arbitrary data" in programming and its potential consequences. The author argues that if arbitrary data is banned, actors will simply encode their data within sets of public keys as a way to bypass the restriction. Public key data is indistinguishable from random data, making it difficult to determine whether a given public key is actually encoding data or serving its intended purpose as a public key. The author suggests that unless the blockchain is padded with proof of knowledge of secret keys, it will be challenging to distinguish between legitimate public keys and those used for encoding data.The email draws parallels to how certain governments attempt to censor internet protocols, and users respond by tunneling their protocol through something that appears innocent, such as HTTPS. The remaining HTTPS stream, like public keys, is indistinguishable from random data and can be utilized as a communications channel for arbitrary data. The author posits that if efforts are made to ban arbitrary data, users will adapt by tunneling their data over innocent-looking public key data instead.The author also mentions Counterparty, a programming platform that has previously encoded their data within public key data, highlighting that this concern is not hypothetical but has already been implemented in practice.
Updated on: 2023-08-22T01:55:12.231326+00:00