On Sun, Feb 22, 2015 at 6:29 PM, Eric Lombrozo <elombr...@gmail.com> wrote: > As for 0-conf security, there are instances where 0-conf transactions make a > lot of sense - i.e. paying for utilities, ISP, web hosting, or other such > services which could be immediately shut off upon detection of a > double-spend.
Indeed. 0-conf risk calculus must include business conditions. Business cases such as placing an order for a physical good, making an in-person purchase at a brick-n-mortar store, or subscriptions already have countermeasures in place if funds go astray. Order fulfilment can be stopped, subscriptions cancelled, photos handed to police. A thief wants to maximize return, which usually means either stealing a few large amounts or many small amounts. Double-spending against a SatoshiDICE clone is easy to automate. Many other purchase situations are difficult to repeat without getting caught, or the level of effort (cost) is greater than the payout of double-spending a small amount. 0-conf is typically only used for small amounts, where useful theft relies on high repetition. Purely online, mostly anonymous services like SatoshiDICE will be easily attacked if they accept 0-conf transactions as there is little customer/reputation relationship to leverage. However, that observation cannot be easily applied to most other businesses. -- Jeff Garzik Bitcoin core developer and open source evangelist BitPay, Inc. https://bitpay.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dive into the World of Parallel Programming The Go Parallel Website, sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/ _______________________________________________ Bitcoin-development mailing list Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development
