Published on: 2015-05-25T18:07:09+00:00
During a conversation, someone praised a tool that could serve as a building block for oracle-based services but acknowledged the annoyance of working with X.509. They suggested documenting the process of extracting data from a certificate and highlighted two issues: the difficulty of working with X.509 and the presence of embedded text within the certificate, which is not developer-friendly and poses the risk of parsing errors. To address these concerns, they proposed embedding either a protocol buffer or DER encoded structure inside the extension, enabling developers to extract notarized data directly without additional parsing.Jonas Schnelli expressed his appreciation for http://www.deedbot.org, a website providing proof of existence and ownership for various types of information such as Bitcoin funds, real estate value, DNS ownership, and web page contents. The generated factoids can be recorded on the blockchain or included in a free attestation chain maintained by the website. Each factoid has a permanent URL and an available X.509 certificate for download. However, Schnelli suggested improvements to enhance the user experience, including resolving issues with Bitcoin payment verification and adding a "US only" badge for weather and real estate notarization. Additionally, he proposed two ideas: decentralizing the notary service log through an open-source P2P daemon and introducing an open-source UI app to examine certificates, showcasing independence from the website and its services.A website has been established to offer proof of various facts such as Bitcoin funds, address ownership, tweets, real estate value, DNS ownership, existence, web page contents, and weather conditions. The site ensures privacy by not revealing public addresses or fund location on the blockchain. Factoids can be recorded on the blockchain by paying for the transaction using Bitcoin or PayPal. The website provides a permanent URL for each factoid and allows users to download an X.509 certificate, ensuring its preservation independently from the website. However, the site requires improvement in terms of user experience and the resolution of payment verification issues. Furthermore, weather and real estate notarization are limited to the United States. Two ideas have been proposed: decentralizing the notary service log through an open-source P2P daemon and introducing an open-source UI app for examining certificates, demonstrating independence from the website and its services.In May 2015, Emin Gün Sirer, an American computer science professor, introduced the Virtual Notary project as an online witness or attestor to various factoids. The project aimed to provide proof of Bitcoin funds, address ownership, and tweets without disclosing public addresses or fund location on the blockchain. Simultaneously, a subsidiary of Dunvegan Space Systems pursued a similar concept. Interested parties were advised to email JGarzik at DSS.co for more information about the project. Jeff Garzik, a Bitcoin core developer and open-source evangelist, concluded the email with his credentials and included a link to the BitPay, Inc. website.The Virtual Notary project serves as an online witness for factoids, offering proof of Bitcoin funds, address ownership, tweets, real estate value, DNS ownership, existence, web page contents, and weather conditions. Factoids can be recorded on the blockchain or included in a free attestation chain maintained by the website. The site provides a permanent URL for each factoid and allows users to download an X.509 certificate. They actively seek individuals to further develop the service and welcome suggestions for new types of proof or factoids, as well as ideas for building a business case around the core concept. For more information, visit http://virtual-notary.org, and to explore the various factoids and their use cases, refer to the write-up at http://hackingdistributed.com/2013/06/20/virtual-notary-intro/.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T12:48:31.024450+00:00