Bitcoin Forum

A proposal for a system combining barter,escrow,social networking and proof of work.

After chatting with chaord about an idea we had for an educational certification implementation I became inspired to come up with a system for transferring value I call proof of work certification or powc for short. What powc means is that any piece of work you do as long as it is verified in an accepted manner can then be used to earn a benefit elsewhere. Powc can be as simple as a code hidden in packaging or as difficult as pgp keys and cryptography. The important thing is that the powc is decided by one party to the contract specifying the conditions of redemption.They will lay out what proof they accept that you have completed your side of the bargain.As long as this proof is met the transfer will take place.

Bitcoin does this perfectly using the block chain as the proof of work.It is the premiere digital system for doing so which begins to show the power of the idea. Someone said bitcoin is like burning a field of wheat and taking a photo which you use as currency lol. I propose flipping that idea over and make it so you are not burning fields of wheat but are instead doing something positive such as education. 13 years of school is basically a real world block chain when you think about it!



Imagine this scenario -
                                   You are playing a game on facebook that involves farming and you would would like to get a virtual good such as a chicken that lays eggs faster.There is a course at a local school or online that teaches you how to raise chickens.Upon completing the course the teacher issues a powc.You upload this powc to the farm game on facebook and you receive the chicken that you wanted.This is beneficial to the game because it keeps you playing and progressing.

   Now this can also work the other way.You play the farm game a lot and the game can issue you a powc. This certificate can then be used to purchase an item in the physical world,such as a carton of eggs or a discount on your chicken raising course which has been sponsored by the game you play.

    Let us pretend you are playing second life and also looking to purchase a house.If your local real estate has advertising in the game and you perform an action that results in you receiving a powc from the virtual real estate this could then be redeemed for a discount when you purchase a house using the actual real estate agent!Advertising in virtual worlds could be more effective using this concept.

    I believe the ability to earn virtual goods in such a way is a powerful motivating factor especially for educational purposes. Doing  jobs or attending courses which earn you certificates that can be used as proof of work to further your learning,get benefits in virtual worlds or earn you discounts on products is a positive step away from destructive forms of currency . It also promotes companies supporting education which helps to reduce the cost burden involved.Successful virtual game companies will also be able to reach out to the physical world and interact with people in a whole new way.

    

So this is what I imagine a site using these principles would look like.
POWCER.COM


Powcer------->(sounds like 'poker')
Friends------->Powcer Buddies
When two people agree on an exchange----->Powcer Match!
 
Edit: Any sort of currency used on the site would be called----->Powcer Chips!   :D

 You need to give proof to a certifying agent that you fulfilled your side of the contract before you claim your wanted item,which is a virtual or physical good or service.
A credit can be anything at all virtual or physical.

  Powcer.com  is  a server - client setup using either Diaspora or  the Appleseed  project http://opensource.appleseedproject.org/ (http://opensource.appleseedproject.org/) which means everyone owns their own data and the site just organises the connections like a hub.This is the main firehose or river where you can see all the updates from the different groups or categories you choose to follow.Think of it as a wheel with the spokes (spowcs) being the separate categories or groups (see below). It is only the spowcs you follow which show up in your main feed . It is only when you need to purchase powc credits or list your existing powc's that you use the certifying section.

Of course the powc principle can be used anywhere not just on powcer.com

Spowc's
SOCIAL
CHARITY
EDUCATION
LIBERTY
BUSINESS
ENTERTAINMENT
CULTURE
ADULT


 Any competing certification company who supports our model would just register with powcer.com as a spowc.Thanks chaord  :P
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1024.msg12600#msg12600

sounds great.  My first response would be what's to protect against inflation of these powces?  e.g. some fake online school just issuing powces.  Maybe I don't quite understand your proposal exactly...  Is every powce indistinguishable from every other powce, or are they unique and thus each can have their own market value?

No a powc just describes the process of transfer not the credit/currency or item used. The escrow part ensures the person has done the work or owns the good or service and can prove it.  If you can prove you spent time doing something you can give this proof to the other party.

Say you are reading an ebook and there is a secret code that is different in every of the authors books but he knows the codes. You can prove you read the book by telling him the correct code and that will get you a discount on his next book.

Using an app like foursquare where you check in at a business is a powc that can earn you a discount if you become the mayor. Foursquare is the certifying authority in this case.

You powc your bank by showing them your I.D. which lets you open an account.

This thread is also a powc :D   

aha...so the people who issue the powce would try to ensure that it is not trivial to obtain it, such as by having non-unique codes in each copy of the ebook in your example.  Thanks for clarifying.  

So you are basically extending the concept of "proof-of-conceptwork" and "currency" to absolutely anything.

   That is the idea. Also it sucks that facebook is based on sharing yet have you ever wondered why it is so unfair that they never share any revenue with you ? Social networks that pay have been around for awhile but using powcer you can convert virtual value into physical goods or vice versa. If you spent hundreds of hours mowing virtual lawns wouldnt it be nice to get your actual lawn mowed ?  

  I also think a p2p social network that is done the bitcoin way is better than some monolithic identity selling monster that leaves your privacy in the toilet.

  A p2p social network combined with a p2p cryptocurrency would be pretty epic.

zeldab (http://zeldab.com)
movim (http://movim.eu)
ucentric (http://ucentric.org)
openlink data spaces (http://ods.openlinksw.com/wiki/ODS)
socialriver (http://socialriver.org)
mozilla's drumbeat (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Drumbeat)
diso project (http://diso-project.org)
appleseed (http://opensource.appleseedproject.org)
higgin's project (http://openid.net)
gnusocial (http://www.gnu.org/software/social/)
smob (http://smob.me)
onesocialweb (http://onesocialweb.org)
status.net (http://status.net)

more (http://w3.org/2005/Incubator/socialweb/wiki/FinalReport#Decentralised_Social_Networking_Projects)
also (http://gitorious.org/social/pages/ProjectComparison)
... (http://libreplanet.org/wiki?title=Group:GNU_Social/Project_Comparison)

Thanks Miz!

Maybe I will contact their communities and see if they would accept bitcoin as an open source alternative to facebook dollars? A p2p social network with a p2p payment system for games and transferring value between users makes a lot of sense.

That's a great idea!  Yeah...social networking is a great opportunity to spread bitcoin!

Maybe can you post a draft letter that you would send out to these communities?  That way the bitcoin forum community can look at it together and make it look nice and appear to come from the bitcoin community to them.

I wonder if bitcoin could be easily integrated with one of these open-source social networks to allow a "Send Bitcoins" button inside the client.  Maybe one of these open-source social networks is more easily modifiable, and would thus make a good target to start with.