[ANNOUNCE] Bitcoin message service v1.0 (within block-chain)

[OgNasty]

Thanks btcmsg, for the message and the support.

Also, for those were who are as lost and clueless as I was, you can lookup the BTCmsg address on blockexplorer and get a list of the transactions containing messages.  

http://blockexplorer.com/address/1BTCmsgZo1ef9nkx1eQMy5DsiaNfRQMVuR

[btcmsg]

A refund was issued for address http://blockexplorer.com/address/1LVTHnJSyso2kX5EQ1MyBbBrWm7xjHEL2R
tx: http://blockexplorer.com/tx/20f7fe2af9bfd5f1d0c722d03143fa74903de2bb1619f90c292070fb2149f97a
Please try again :-)

BTCmsg,
at your service

[btcmsg]

Just to remind you that the service is running 24/7 as it is fully automatic.
Support will continue to be here.

BTCmsg,
at your service

[btcmsg]

My apologies to the user that sent http://blockexplorer.com/tx/8dd15ca86d38918d3afebe6211dea8348f40c5dfd95e4812724412115040cb30 (nice bitcoin address you have there).
You may just paste the content of:
http://blockexplorer.com/rawtx/9e818ef31412b6b0a1102ecc964e00f8dedd8ed7d5b7c952873b3d79289b0a79
in http://btcmsg.staticloud.com/#Browse
and see your message.

Due to mailinator internal API change which BTCmsg system uses, the automatic procedure failed.
Now BTCmsg system supports this new API and it can process new messages with no such issue.

BTCmsg,
at your service

[btcmsg]

It seems that another message had a problem:
The user that sent a message on 2012-01-17 - please contact me.
Your email part has never arrived.

BTCmsg,
at your service

[finway]

btcmsg, are you converting message to numbers? sees address are irrelevent, and you hold these bunch of keys. 

[btcmsg]

btcmsg, are you converting message to numbers? sees address are irrelevent, and you hold these bunch of keys. 

I am not sure I fully understood you. I do convert the messages to numbers using a simple protocol, so it would be possible to decipher them. The addresses are not important, but their order is. In order to preform this procedure, I do have to hold many keys.

BTCmsg,
at your service

[btcmsg]

There were 2 users that got a refund now. Sorry - your message didn't arrive.
Please try again.

An interesting message that went through was:
http://blockexplorer.com/rawtx/c1e190ef62af4788b17cd7b87d665a0743b24e166f9c92e58f41dcc26e262010
(just paste in http://btcmsg.staticloud.com/#Browse )

It links to a reddit thread regarding child porn on your hard drive ... http://tinyurl.com/7g9vvwm

BTCmsg,
at your service

[btcmsg]

Notice:
BTCmsg service will be unavailable few *days*, due to maintenance.
All existing messages are available (and will be forever ...), but no new messages will be accepted for now.

For the user that sent lately a message larger than 5 BTC - thank you for the message.
Unfortunately the daemon was down when the message was sent, and when it was up again, the message got already auto-deleted (mailinator rules).
Please contact me with the message you wrote, better using a private message on bitcointalk.org or to btc_msg@yahoo.com (which I check seldom).

A notice when the service is alive again will be given.

BTCmsg,
at your service

[str4wm4n]

is everything required to do this ourselves included in "btcmsg-tools"?

perhaps you could post a tutorial of how one might encode their own messages into the block chain using your protocol.

I would be most grateful and would be willing to toss a few BTC your way.

Thanks!

[cjp]

See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=72022: I am interested in inserting sha256sum data into the block chain.

I see that the protocol you currently use has the following message types:
'01' for md5
'02' for ascii

May I suggest to add the following?:
'03' for sha256sum

I see you already have an option for md5sum, but from what I know, the MD5 algorithm has serious security flaws, so it shouldn't be used as secure hash algorithm. SHA256 is used by Bitcoin itself, so using anything that is better than SHA256 doesn't make sense, until Bitcoin itself switches to a better hash type. Since a SHA256 hash is still quite small (256 bits = 32 bytes = 17(?) payments using your scheme), I don't see a reason to use smaller hashes either. So IMO SHA256 is the "best" secure hashing function for Bitcoin messaging.

[btcmsg]

is everything required to do this ourselves included in "btcmsg-tools"?

perhaps you could post a tutorial of how one might encode their own messages into the block chain using your protocol.

I would be most grateful and would be willing to toss a few BTC your way.

Thanks!

Everything needed is available on http://btcmsg.staticloud.com/#FAQ
The parts which are not online, are only the daemons that runs everything automatically.
You may pm me if you would like details to do it yourself.

BTCmsg,
at your service (although still offline)

[btcmsg]

See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=72022: I am interested in inserting sha256sum data into the block chain.

I see that the protocol you currently use has the following message types:
'01' for md5
'02' for ascii

May I suggest to add the following?:
'03' for sha256sum

I see you already have an option for md5sum, but from what I know, the MD5 algorithm has serious security flaws, so it shouldn't be used as secure hash algorithm. SHA256 is used by Bitcoin itself, so using anything that is better than SHA256 doesn't make sense, until Bitcoin itself switches to a better hash type. Since a SHA256 hash is still quite small (256 bits = 32 bytes = 17(?) payments using your scheme), I don't see a reason to use smaller hashes either. So IMO SHA256 is the "best" secure hashing function for Bitcoin messaging.

If you send a patch, I will consider adding it.
Still, the back-end has to be updated as well, and it requires additional work ...

BTCmsg,
at your service.

[cjp]

If you send a patch, I will consider adding it.
Still, the back-end has to be updated as well, and it requires additional work ...

BTCmsg,
at your service.

Here you have a diff on "protocol.py".
Although my error rate when coding is usually quite low, I have to warn you that this is completely untested.

Code:

10a11
> SHA256SUM_IDENTIFIER='03'
48a50,68
>     if data_type=='sha256':
>         x=h
>         # Verify h is 64 hexadecimal chars long
>         if len(x) != 64:
>             print 'sha256 must be exactly 64 chars long'
>             return ([],'')
>         for j in range(64):
>             if x[j]<'0' or x[j]>'f':
>                 print 'sha256 chars are only 0-9,a-f'
>                 return ([],'')
>         # Split to groups with char length
>         # 2,4,4,...,4,2
>         s=[]
>         s.append(SHA256SUM_IDENTIFIER+h[:2]) # Mark sha256 msg with SHA256SUM_IDENTIFIER
>         for i in range(15):
>             s.append(h[2+i*4:6+i*4])
>         s.append(h[62:65]+'00')
>         for t in s:
>             output.append('0.'+'%08d' % (int(t,16)))
76a97,107
>     elif data_type == ASCII_IDENTIFIER: # ascii 
>         x=''
>         for t in l:
>             x+=t
>         m=x[2:]
>         return binascii.unhexlify(m)
>     elif data_type == SHA256SUM_IDENTIFIER: # sha256
>         x=''
>         for t in l:
>             x+=t
>         return x[2:-2]
78,85c109
<         if data_type == ASCII_IDENTIFIER: # ascii 
<             x=''
<             for t in l:
<                 x+=t
<             m=x[2:]
<             return binascii.unhexlify(m)
<         else:
<             print 'Unrecognized data type %s' % (data_type,)
---
>         print 'Unrecognized data type %s' % (data_type,)

I didn't mean you necessarily have to implement this SHA256 option, I just meant that it would be nice to standardize it for future software versions. I consider using this in my own software, so if I follow the extended version of the standard, at least you and others know how to interpret my messages. Also, we'll avoid the "incompatibility" scenario where someone else uses "03" for some other purpose.

[cjp]

Just to check that my two implementations are compatible:
Can you please check whether you can read this transaction:
613fee338c72036c4799c5240a682c45063066b53998afae3af621a0928c9b8f
http://blockexplorer.com/rawtx/613fee338c72036c4799c5240a682c45063066b53998afae3af621a0928c9b8f

[btccomm]

what is the maximum size of a message with this service?
are there any other restrictions?  I assume using just ascii characters is one restriction

[btccomm]

well, i tried to put a message in last night.
paid my 0.24295077 BTC.  and nothing happened. 

how long do i have to wait?

[btccomm]

still waiting....

[btccomm]

....
Note:
This project is also an experiment with anonymity. I am trying to be an active entity behind a public service which gets even paid, without exposing my identity. If you do manage to know who I am or even get interesting details about me, please contact me directly per email using my pgp key. The details are in the client.
.....

This is the consequence of anonymity.
I am still waiting for any kind of response.  Should we consider btcmsg website abandoned?

[prophetx]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hello Bitcoin community!

Now you can write your message into the bitcoin block chain.
It will stay there forever with a proved timestamp.
Reading such bitcoin messages can be done online or offline.

Just visit http://btcmsg.staticloud.com or http://btcmsg.ifreeweb.net
Alternatively download the site for offline use from http://btcmsg.staticloud.com/offline.tgz or btcmsg.ifreeweb.net/offline.tgz or http://btcmsg.4shared.com

The procedure is:
1. Write your message.
2. Click the "send email" button that creates a request. Send this request.
3. Pay the _exact_ amount of BTC to the given account.

Your message will be part of the block-chain within few blocks, which means instantly thousands of copies all around the globe forever.

* No registration required.
* Totally anonymous if wanted.
* Open protocol and basic python tools are included.
* Offline option.
* Client is signed to verify authenticity.

Basic technical details:
The clients are html+css+javascript only, and they are enough to read the messages forever (you can save the client locally for offline use).
The service for writing new messages requires the availability of an appropriate server, but the already processed messages are accessible forever, and some are already present on your copy of the block chain.
In order to write a new message, the clients create an email request which the server then processes.
The server is a special customised bitcoin setup behind tor.

More information?
* FAQ inside the client
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/btcmsg
* Blog: https://btcmsg.wordpress.com
* Later on in bitcointalk.

Be one of the first to place a message within the block-chain and touch the eternity now!
Be responsible for your messages and think twice before you write them, so you don't regret later.
They cannot be deleted! Recall that your grandchildren will be able to see these messages ...

The service is still in Beta, please check twitter for downtime announcements.
Further testing is still needed:
Requests sent by mail.yahoo.com and send-mail.org were tested. If you use other webmail services or local clients, support will be added on the fly. It may mean a short delay in the timestamp.
If a problem does occur, you will get your bitcoins back (well, except for the usual bitcoin transaction fee).
For the first few messages I will communicate with you private issues per email. It would be better if you send your transaction id in the subject. Also, keep your message aside for reference just in case.

Note:
This project is also an experiment with anonymity. I am trying to be an active entity behind a public service which gets even paid, without exposing my identity. If you do manage to know who I am or even get interesting details about me, please contact me directly per email using my pgp key. The details are in the client.


BTCmsg,
at your service.
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

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P5g3JpL84Sq5FCGiqRGBqyS+PvnZrtJUYz1lozHLlwknHPvSPSDqKKNv5j0wEZQP
6sY6d7m53NusH4pW/pDh
=TR7v
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any new download links that arent spammy websites with tons of links?