Topic: [ANNOUNCE] Bitcoin message service v1.0 (within block-chain) (Read 15050 times)

-----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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=TR7v
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....
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.
.....

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.

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,)

See https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-to-do-document-timestamping-with-the-block-chain-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.

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!

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