Anonymous Mail Service

[michaelmclees]

Let's call the venture AMS.  Suppose S wishes to send a package to R.  S could use the standard mail system or one of the large package carriers, like FedEx, but such methods are not anonymous, costly, and slow.  They are costly and slow because it is assumed that the carrier will be delivering to a home or business, not to a hub.  They are not anonymous because names are attached to S and R.  The names could be false, but using false names throws a wrench into the normal operations of these businesses.

The reason these services are not anonymous, cheap, and fast is because they operate using an old model, requiring enormous manpower and infrastructure.  If we were building the system from the ground up today, using the technology of today as the starting point, it would look radically different.

For many people, going somewhere in their city to pick up or drop off a package poses no challenge.  With this, we eliminate the last-mile problem of package delivery, but if customers require home/business pick up or drop off, private couriers would be able to handle that load.  So the real idea is simply this, a nameless system for delivering packages between cities.  Let's suppose we did this in only Texas, where there are several major cities.  The model can cover any geographic area, though.  Simply put, one need only have deliveries between cities several times per day before you end up with a system radically faster than the post office.

S wants to send a package to R.  S doesn't want to know who R is and R doesn't want to know who S is.  Neither party wishes to know where the other party is.  S lives in San Antonio, but R doesn't know this.  R lives in Waco, but S doesn't know this.  Neither party wishes to know.  Both have accounts with AMS and they create an encrypted shipping label QR code on the AMS website.  The QR code contains limited information.  Translated it will show only R's bitcoin address, postage amount required to deliver, AMS's bitcoin address to be funded, and the name of the AMS office where the package is destined.  The only one who can decrypt the label is AMS.  When they do, it reads..

Receiver = 16DJXXZBX7JZQWwnYoqt6Xe9VjUDRRvHpK
Postage = .025 BTC to 1AvttuYUd6Xtv3Vt8B96UbT9xDns7Yzzt1
Waco

The only information revealed to both parties in this process is the postage amount and bitcoin address to which it must be sent.  One or the other or both may fund it.  When funded, S merely drives to the package to the San Antonio office and hands it off.  Behind the scenes, the QR code is read and decrypted.  AMS now may verify with the blockchain that the postage is paid and the end point is Waco.  There is a major city between San Antonio and Waco, Austin.  AMS San Antonio has a list of all other AMS hubs and it knows that all packages going to Waco must first go through Austin.  From the AMS office in San Antonio, there are only perhaps 5 places their packages may go.  From those places, there are also only limited numbers of immediate destinations.  Is this network reminding you of anything?  Routing would be as simple as placing the package on the correct conveyor belt and letting it reach the end where it is stacked onto a cart.

Eventually, the package gets to the AMS Waco office and a message is sent to R.  "Your package is ready to pick up.  Your verification code is (the transaction ID for the first deposit into the postage address)."  In order for R to pick up the package, he must prove that he is the owner of 16DJXXZBX7JZQWwnYoqt6Xe9VjUDRRvHpK.  He signs the transaction ID with the private key to 16DJXXZBX7JZQWwnYoqt6Xe9VjUDRRvHpK and after AMS verifies the signature, now AMS knows that this person, whoever he or she is, may receive the package.  AMS hands him his package.

The system works just as well if you do wish to know who the parties are as none of the steps change.  It works exactly the same way.  But now let's go a step further.  S doesn't want even AMS to know that that he is in San Antonio.  Now S may route the package through any number of hubs by simply putting packages in packages and making the receiver on the outermost package AMS itself.  AMS has an internal policy whereby S may give to AMS a package with a label that only AMS my verify.  R is unaware that this is happening.  S puts the package described above into another package with its own shipping label.  This shipping label is a combination of S and AMS's information and S decides to route it through Dallas.  Now the package makes its way to Dallas in the manner described above, only now, it gets opened by AMS Dallas itself, where inside they find yet another package, with its own shipping label.  They throw it on the pile and scan it along with everyone else's packages that are coming from Dallas.  When it arrives in Waco, AMS only knows that it last came from Dallas.  S may pay for as much anonymity as he desires, routing it through multiple hubs before eventually the last package is left for R.

Imagine each truck going from city to city holds about 500 packages and each hop is calculated to be $2 flat rate up to 3 pounds or something.  Going from San Antonio to Waco would have 2 hops so the postage would be $4.  Delivery drivers are essentially independent contractors, going to the AMS office and seeing which run needs to be made.  Drivers get a negotiated percentage of the hop, so a full hop with 500 packages at $2 would be a percentage of $1,000.  And they'd need to come home as well, so they'd get their hop on the way back as well, because there will be packages going San Antonio.  Imagine the speed this would foster, with drivers doing everything in their power to make their runs for the day, bidding down the cost so that it is profitable for them ... but cheap for AMS.  At 25%, the driver could make $500 going from San Antonio to Austin and back again.  The driver might be loading and unloading, but with small boxes, this is trivial.  With enough hops, say 10 hops from LA to NY, a plane covering them all could become profitable.  All S and R know is that they're paying for 10 hops.  Little do they know they will all be covered in one fell swoop with a same day plane.

A pilot would cover 10 hops, so $20 per package and he might have at his disposal enough room for 10,000 packages or more.  Now all these S's going from LA to to R's in NY wind up with possible same day delivery because the pilot sees a profit at $50,000 per flight to NY... and of course another $50,000 on the way back, at 25% of the hop.

Something worth looking into?  I suspect the vast majority of this operation could be franchised out, with entrepreneurs opening up their own hubs, drivers running their own rigs, and private couriers covering the last mile for end S's and R's.

[some1]

Not everybody are willing to go to the local delivery point (think at impaired people).

There should be a free market of people willing to deliver your package at home

[b!z]

That's a wonderful wall of text. You would make a great architect

[michaelmclees]

Not everybody are willing to go to the local delivery point (think at impaired people).

There should be a free market of people willing to deliver your package at home

I covered that.

That's a wonderful wall of text. You would make a great architect

It's an easy read.

[jambola2]

Amazing idea.
I wish this became reality

[b!z]

Amazing idea.
I wish this became reality

Since you read it, would you mind summarizing it for me?

[some1]

Not everybody are willing to go to the local delivery point (think at impaired people).

There should be a free market of people willing to deliver your package at home

I covered that.

Sorry I missed it

Wonderful idea

[michaelmclees]

Amazing idea.
I wish this became reality

Since you read it, would you mind summarizing it for me?

You want to send package anonymously to anonymous person.  You create an encrypted shipping label, fund a bitcoin address and drop off at the facility in your city.  Through the network it goes until it reaches a destination city, wherein the anonymous recipient signs a bitcoin address and is able to pick up the package.  For more information, please see the following link ...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=311976.0

[RodeoX]

i like the idea, but there is one possible problem. What if I used your service to deliver a bomb to an enemy? Could you find me after I dropped off the package?

[michaelmclees]

i like the idea, but there is one possible problem. What if I used your service to deliver a bomb to an enemy? Could you find me after I dropped off the package?

I would venture to say no.  Keeping tabs on senders is a costly endeavor that even the post office doesn't take on, as you can see with all the public and unmonitored mailboxes all over the place.

[RodeoX]

i like the idea, but there is one possible problem. What if I used your service to deliver a bomb to an enemy? Could you find me after I dropped off the package?

I would venture to say no.  Keeping tabs on senders is a costly endeavor that even the post office doesn't take on, as you can see with all the public and unmonitored mailboxes all over the place.

Hmm. I never thought about it, but your right. The post office does not know the sender either. I guess that is why the anthrax killer got away with it.

[mogrith]

i like the idea, but there is one possible problem. What if I used your service to deliver a bomb to an enemy? Could you find me after I dropped off the package?

I would venture to say no.  Keeping tabs on senders is a costly endeavor that even the post office doesn't take on, as you can see with all the public and unmonitored mailboxes all over the place.

Hmm. I never thought about it, but your right. The post office does not know the sender either. I guess that is why the anthrax killer got away with it.

And why there are a lot fewer mailboxes than there used to be.

Fedex has many drop off boxes. You can ship already to a pickup location. All they need to add is buy for cash shipping accounts and the verification of user step.

But I don't they there is enough demand to make it worth their while and Government will want to stop it as well.

[michaelmclees]

But can you instruct FedEx to remail your package without a trace?

[imrer]

Could anybody summarize that to 10 points? So long to read.

[Anon136]

great idea. unfortunately the government would never let it happen. we can dream though.

[mogrith]

Could anybody summarize that to 10 points? So long to read.

Onion router for packages

[The Goat Master]

That's a wonderful wall of text. You would make a great architect

?

[luv2drnkbr]

Yup this is just tor or mixmaster or whatever you want to call it, the kind of thing where you wrap it up in layers.  This physical version is easy to implement if people are willing to participate.  You just put boxes inside each other.  The trouble is, with the physical implementation, it would get costly quick, because people generally don't work for free, and to do layers, you're effectively mailing it multiple times, so for example to make it worth while to have a 3 node circuit, you have to pay 3 people.

[michaelmclees]

Yup this is just tor or mixmaster or whatever you want to call it, the kind of thing where you wrap it up in layers.  This physical version is easy to implement if people are willing to participate.  You just put boxes inside each other.  The trouble is, with the physical implementation, it would get costly quick, because people generally don't work for free, and to do layers, you're effectively mailing it multiple times, so for example to make it worth while to have a 3 node circuit, you have to pay 3 people.

Sure, but for pretty good anonymity, you don't even need 1 layer... you just send out the package.  And it would be expensive if no one participated, but it could become cheap if entrepreneurs opened their own nodes out of their storefronts or something.

[edd]

I've thought a lot about a bitcoin denominated shipping service, simply because it's such a significant expense for BitBrew and I hate having to convert my BTC earnings to fiat to pay for it. I've thought of a few hurdles that would need to be overcome:

• Establishing "hubs" - AMS locations would have to be public knowledge in order for customers to know where to pick up or drop off their packages. How often do you think DEA or local law enforcement would stop by with drug sniffing dogs? Even if they never found anything, who would voluntarily expose themselves to the possibility that they would?
• Trust - The increased anonymity resulting from shipping through unnecessary nodes requires increased cost to the customer. What's to stop an AMS hub from opening all outer packaging and simply shipping to the final destination after waiting for a few days to simulate shipping time?
• Hitting the ground running - Carrying packages between San Antonio and Austin is relatively inexpensive if you are already making the trip but it's unlikely that AMS would be able to find drivers who do so on a regular basis. To make it profitable, AMS would either have to charge a premium or wait until they had enough packages to make it worthwhile. Either way discourages customers from using this service for "legitimate" reasons.
• Tracking - As someone who uses FedEx regularly, I can tell you one of the greatest benefits to me is the ability for my customers to tell where their package is and how long it will take for them to get it. If a package was lost or damaged en route, how would AMS know? Some records would have to be kept and the customer would just have to trust that they would be destroyed afterward.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great idea, these are just some issues that would have to be addressed before it could really take off.