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Comment by ripperdoc | Hacker News Reader

Instead of the somewhat fuzzy method of dating via news, couldn't they combine this approach with that recommended by Errata Security to use bitcoin as a public ledger? http://erratasec.blogspot.com/2013/05/bitcoin-is-public-ledg...

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Dating with news can be somewhat fuzzy, which is why we always take our news from the financial press, and attempt to datestamp with "material" information ... that is to say, news with a very high monetary value that the market is racing to receive.

You could (conceivably) make up plausible future stories, but not things like quarterly results, lawsuit outcomes, etc.

Another good source of fixed-in-the-past yet unpredictable data is the closing price of a collection of stocks from the previous day. This would make verification easier to automate.

Easy to automate might not be the best goal for a system like this :)

I can't remember which show, but I remember watching a TV mystery with a picture of someone reading a newspaper as proof of someone being present on a certain day. Trouble was, the editor of the paper was in on the scam and ensured the headline would appear that day.

It seems easier to verify news than a bitcoin transaction. I'd have no idea how to go about doing that.

Not everyone loves or wants any involvement with bitcoin

The same could be said for PGP/GPG but that doesn't mean it couldn't be made useful for purposes like this.

There are many thins that could be useful as a way of proving date or making a mark on a public ledger. Shall we list all of them?

You used bitcoin as an example because of your fanboyism. In no way is it obvious to use a currency or it's surrounding infrastructure for this (non intended) purpose.

> You used bitcoin as an example because of your fanboyism.

Actually, I didn't. Next time you attack someone, make sure it's the right person. Dick.

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