Doesn't this create the role of a payments processor? Or 'terminal' - the current strength of the system is that we all participate as potential payments processors if we generate the block. Creating a market niche for a trusted terminal provider (who would guarantee they'd get your transactions into the block chain, have up-time, not be compromised etc.) breaks away from that model.

I accept your point that you can just add the entire block chain to the download, it just seems a dead-weight. It's a question of mathematical certainty versus real world pragmatism - at some point a transaction is confirmed enough for me to send you the goods you bought - 'p' blocks... if that's enough history for us to do business - for me to risk my livelihood - then why is my standard of proof any different elsewhere?

Either way - thanks very much for replying to me. Nothing's ever as black and white as it looks at first!

Rich

Long time lurker first time poster:

Seriously - can someone either shoot this down or acknowledge that there is some validity to it? The block chain is a barrier to many things, new adopters, mobile applications - basically the things that will help BC grow...

The paranoia metric 'p' method as proposed gives an elegant trade off.

This goes hand in hand with the method for guaranteed time length blocks.

Would be good to see at least some debate

Satoshi... any comments?

Rich