Re: [PLUG] Schneier: Illegal Content and the Blockchain

[JP Vossen via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On 3/18/21 8:39 AM, Rich Freeman wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 12:27 AM JP Vossen via plug
> <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
> > Really interesting: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/03/illegal-content-and-the-blockchain.html
> >
> > My question is why is arbitrary data in the Bitcoin blockchain in the first place?  Despite Eric's talk I know (or remember) next to nothing about it, but it seems like data in a ledger would be ledger-like data, and not arbitrary.
>
> The issue is somewhat controversial, but it is currently allowed.  It
> is also impossible to really eliminate since data can be encoded in
> arbitrary ways.  After all, data in your RAM is one-and-zero-like
> data, and not "arbitrary," and yet here we are using it to send emails
> and post cat pictures online.
<snip>

That all makes sense, esp. tiny transactions to send codes or what have you.  I guess I was thinking more about embedding arbitrary data of a non-trivial size.

Again, I know nothing about blockchain or bitcoin, but for a ledger transaction it seems like the minimum you need is: 2 account/wallet/whatever IDs, an amount, and a direction.  Assuming even trivial data validation, I do not see where you put that cat GIF in there.

That said, I could easily be missing a bunch of fields, perhaps an arbitrary length "description/notes/memo" field, in which case...game over, but also arguably poor planning.

Later,
JP
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