[Cryptography] Drop Zone: P2P E-commerce paper

[ianG]

On 26/03/2015 05:35 am, 17Q4MX2hmktmpuUKHFuoRmS5MfB5XPbhod at mail2tor.com 
wrote:
> I've been working on a new e-commerce protocol that's fully peer-to-peer,
> designed for anonymous exchange of goods offline, with no trusted third
> party, built on top of The Blockchain.
>
> The paper is available at:
> https://mega.co.nz/#!wsxhUbJa!UrXH4_dukdsa0X1PYPQtMvdSYVgvbtWaEM5fN4c6ito
>
> The main properties:
> * Encrypted communication using the Bitcoin mainnet and testnet.
> * Participants can be anonymous.
> * Built-in Reputation controls.
> * Contraband markets can be open and anonymous.
> * Decentralized e-commerce protocol.
>
> Drop Zone: An Anonymous Peer-To-Peer Local Contraband Marketplace
>
> Abstract. Drop Zone is a solution to the problem of restricted sales in
> censored markets. The proposal is for the design of a protocol and
> reference client that encodes the location and a brief description of a
> good onto The Blockchain. Those wishing to purchase the good can search
> for items within a user-requested radius. Sellers list a good as available
> within a geographic region, subject to some degree of precision, for the
> purpose of obfuscating their precise location. Goods are announced next to
> an expiration, a hashtag, and if space permits, a description. Once a
> buyer finds a good in a defined relative proximity, a secure communication
> channel is opened between the parties on the Bitcoin test network
> (“testnet”).

What does this mean -- does "testnet" have the capability for a "secure 
communication channel" ?  I'm unfamiliar with that, that would be a 
significant variation on testing the mainnet...


> Once negotiations are complete, the buyer sends payment to
> the seller via the address listed on the Bitcoin mainnet. This spend
> action establishes reputation for the buyer, and potentially for the
> seller. Once paid, the seller is to furnish the exact GPS coordinates of
> the good to the buyer (alongside a small note such as “Check in the
> crevice of the tree”). When the buyer successfully picks up the item at
> the specified location, the buyer then issues a receipt with a note by
> spending flake to the address of the original post. In this way, sellers
> receive a reputation score. The solution is akin to that of Craigslist.org
> or Uber, but is distributed and as such provides nearly risk-free terms to
> contraband sellers, and drastically reduced risk to contraband buyers.


So, my attack would be to (a) set up a seller of contraband stuff, which 
I simply steal from the evidence locker, (b) do all that stuff you 
mention above, and (c) surround the dead letter boxes with lots of 
cameras and other sensors.

(d) Sell, profit, then after a year go roll up all my entrapped & 
identified victims.  Oh, and refill the evidence locker.

(e) Rinse & repeat.


As far as I can see, the attack doesn't even damage my reputation score?!


> Full paper at:
> https://mega.co.nz/#!wsxhUbJa!UrXH4_dukdsa0X1PYPQtMvdSYVgvbtWaEM5fN4c6ito



iang