[Cryptography] Came up with a weird use case, got questions

[Phillip Hallam-Baker]

On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 11:28 PM Joshua Marpet <Joshua.Marpet at guardedrisk.com>
wrote:

>
>
>> Let us imagine that we got millions of people to take cat pictures and
>> escrow them. Then there would be an incentive to break the key.
>>
> --I have to admit, I laughed. You REALLY like cat pics!!! :
>

It was that or porn.

Each notary would have to delegate its function to a successor periodically
>> but that should not be too difficult to ensure.
>>
> --Sorry, I disagree.  This is the "practice" part that I don't think would
> work. Same problem as most secret societies. First generation secret
> societies are all fired up, the next generation goes, "Why are we doing
> this?" and stops. Unless there is a monetization or religious reason, it's
> going to fail.
>

I was assuming that there would be a financial incentive. But it needn't be
too much.

For example, how about we begin by encrypting the notary master key under
AES512 and splitting the master key 5 ways with a quorum of 3 and laser
engraving the shares onto anodized aluminum plates which are immediately
put into a tamper-proof evidence bag.

OK so now lets put the shares somewhere public like a box in the center of
DisneyWorld. The fact that there is a concentration of secret knowledge
there becomes a tourist attraction in itself. This is part of what I mean
by 'ceremony'.

I love what you've talked about here. I just worry about the ramifications
> of depending on, effectively, secret multi-generational societies.
> <scratches head> weird one. Maybe we should just set up a religion. :)
>

The societies don't need to be secret, they just need to keep a secret. One
could imagine founding a Freemason's lodge for the sole purpose of managing
the secrets.

And yes, there is a religious aspect to this. Many early religious
practices are intricately bound to preservation, propagation and use of
manufacturing secrets. The process for making Samurai swords for example.
Every step is part of a ritual ceremony whose purpose is to ensure the
correct outcome.
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