Regulation is not the answer-obviously

[FreedomFeens]

"private quality assurance companies" So regulation then.  I take from this you are anti government, not anti regulation.  We just have to trust the private regulator has our best interest in mind, they have an incentive to, right?  Who pays for them?  The party being regulated.  Hang on...
cf. credit rating agencies for example of how this can work out.

"it would not benefit phone companies to do so [use their own technology]".  I think maybe you misread this, you could still terminate on any other network. I take from this you are poorly informed.  This used to be the model of mobile phones in the US, consequently the handsets and their functionality were years behind what was available in Europe and Korea where common standard was observed.  And in a previous era phone company's did restrict you to their network, as did early electricity companies: to lock you in to their eco-system, forcing you to buy appliances from them.  You don't believe in a free market people will happily get locked into a private eco-system?  cf. Apple.  (fortunatly there's broad enough market to exist outside the Apple Appstore: this is only an illustration that incentives differ between business models, im not saying Apple should be regulated).

Likewise people did (possibly still do) buy cheap anti-freeze wine because its cheap and didn't know any better.  Car manufactures had to be forced to add safety features and do so consistently.  I didn't chose the examples at random, they are all good references to why some central regulation is necessary sometimes.

Because I am for regulation, I want the strictest and strongest regulation which can only be provided by a free market.  I have some ideas on how free market regulation may be profitable, but remember, the free market is unlimited and it's ways to produce value are infinite so there is no way i could know the most efficient way it would work.  I would guess that businesses could pay a membership or fee to be inspected by a private regulatory company who would then endorse them as long as the paying company met certain requirements per their industry.  Insurance companies would benefit from having healthy and safe locations to reduce the number of claims so therefore they may have an incentive to pay.  I would also assume some individuals would pay to benefit from these services as well. You just have to follow the incentives.   These are just a few ideas, I am no expert.

I was aware that this was the model of phone companies previously, but again, remember that corporations are creations of the state and would not exist at such a large scale in a free market to do practically no barriers to entry other than natural ones.  Under our current crapitalism system, if the government disapeared tomorrow, some people may get locked into systems, but given the complete openness of the market, providers link ting and smaller services would have a much easier time stealing customers from the locked down services.  It would only be necessary to say: "On our service, you can talk to this many more people than you can on x locked down service."  Problem solved.

That wine company would be out of business nearly immediately, especially if they damaged their customers bodies.  Remember that in a free society, property rights are not weakened by government; eminent domain, asset forfeiture, theft by taxation, corporate corruption, etc.  Insurance agents for the damaged party would have claim to the assets of the wine seller and they would be able to prove the wine was tainted.  Dispute resolution organizations would work with both insurance organizations to make the victim whole.  No one would ever buy wine there again, problem solved and the incentives are correct.

I just want to point out (partially to Pening's point), that countries like Russia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and some others have horrific fatality / poor maintenance airline records going back years because there is such lax or nonexistant regulation, and they still do a shit ton of business so I'm not sure why "Free Market" hasn't wiped them out yet.

edit: forgot the word Airline

Those are all states not free markets.  That's like saying somalia is a anarchist libertarian paradise when in reality it is a failed state that is now being torn to pieces by states trying to take it over.

[pening]

"I have some ideas on how free market regulation may be profitable..."  I have some ideas how profitability is probably the worst motive for regulation.  No, not ideas, actual real examples.  Already mentioned the credit rating agencies.  Paying a "private regulatory company" is how alot of industry used to work, and some low key areas still do.  Where  quality rather than safety is prime concern, or it doesn't really matter.  We turned to the state to regulate because private or industry regulation often doesn't work very well - the regulators in a competitive regulation world are likly  to undercut each other in cost and standards to get the business.  Then which one do you trust?  

Really the idea of commercial regulation in some areas isn't just daft it seems like a contradiction.  If there's a company signing off restaurants as clean, are they going to be as rigorous as a local authority?  One sends round an agent who does some checks and refuses to issue a sticker if the standard isn't met.  The other sends round an agent who does some checks and shuts you down if the standard isn't met.  Which one are you really going to take your family to?  

Clearly, i'm not going to convince you, there some deep ideological objection to the state going on.  At least understand that some industries are large because they have to be, for the capital required to invest in them, not because of the state.   I dont *like* regulation, only recognise theres a place for it, and sometimes the state is the only* trustworthy regulator (* or most? least worst?  ).  

[FreedomFeens]

"I have some ideas on how free market regulation may be profitable..."  I have some ideas how profitability is probably the worst motive for regulation.  No, not ideas, actual real examples.  Already mentioned the credit rating agencies.  Paying a "private regulatory company" is how alot of industry used to work, and some low key areas still do.  Where  quality rather than safety is prime concern, or it doesn't really matter.  We turned to the state to regulate because private or industry regulation often doesn't work very well - the regulators in a competitive regulation world are likly  to undercut each other in cost and standards to get the business.  Then which one do you trust?  

Really the idea of commercial regulation in some areas isn't just daft it seems like a contradiction.  If there's a company signing off restaurants as clean, are they going to be as rigorous as a local authority?  One sends round an agent who does some checks and refuses to issue a sticker if the standard isn't met.  The other sends round an agent who does some checks and shuts you down if the standard isn't met.  Which one are you really going to take your family to?  

Clearly, i'm not going to convince you, there some deep ideological objection to the state going on.  At least understand that some industries are large because they have to be, for the capital required to invest in them, not because of the state.   I dont *like* regulation, only recognise theres a place for it, and sometimes the state is the only* trustworthy regulator (* or most? least worst?  ).  

First off, thanks for having a polite discussion!  I really enjoyed it.  Well the model you have proposed is only one model, businesses like the BBB, underwriters labs, consumer reports, etc could all be applied to bitcoin.  Those models are private and have already proven quite successful, i have no doubts that the same type of system could be applied to bitcoin.  I dont know about you, but before I buy a product or go out to eat, i look at amazon reviews and urban spoon everytime.  Its just part of my life, millions of other people do as well.  i see no reason why bitcoin accountability could not be privatized, especially given the public nature of the blockchain.

Great conversation friend, best of luck to you.  Put your coins in cold storage if you have not already.  I prepared a guide on it here for anyone who wants to know how, its a bit long winded but thats how i speak:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1u5yn6/easy_to_use_guide_how_to_get_bitcoin_safely_store/

Everybody be safe and do your due diligence.