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Topic: Bitcoin Forums should eliminate 'Scammer' ratings and 'Trust' ratings (Read 3845 times)

sr. member
Activity: 375
Merit: 250
perhaps a complete definition of trust is needed. any takers?

it seems like there are at least two different definitions being used and if any progress is to be made, then agreeing on the terms may be beneficial.
hero member
Activity: 658
Merit: 502
Doesn't use these forums that often.
agreed trust shouldn't be part of the equation. Please send me your bitcoins here :
165sBm8mohPjjF1oxmXNbK36kgc9SpPD23

I'll give it to you back plus a bonus.

A no-need-to-trust-me fellow,
I don't trust you.
sr. member
Activity: 490
Merit: 250
agreed trust shouldn't be part of the equation. Please send me your bitcoins here :
165sBm8mohPjjF1oxmXNbK36kgc9SpPD23

I'll give it to you back plus a bonus.

A no-need-to-trust-me fellow,
full member
Activity: 134
Merit: 100
Sure, behaving honorably in the past doesn't preclude the possibility of scamming in the future.  All other things being equal though, i'd still bet on someone who hasn't scammed before than an established scammer.

True, but you're more likely to get scammed BIG by someone who was previously trusted, because you simply wouldn't trust someone for a lot of money without some reputational background.  A good con artist knows to build a reputation before the big score.
A good con artist at first was a bad con artist in the beginning. And became a good one only because he had the opportunity.
Listen to you all background checking everywhere has no sense. If background checking was good enough, probably con artist would never be a good one.
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
Hodl!
If you feel that scam tags might be undeserved and you want to rehab the poor innocent luser with some high BTC transactions, go nuts.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
Even if you feel that the scammer labels/negative trust have 50/50 chance of being rigged, you should still avoid trading with tagged users if non-tagged users are available.  Not necessarily fair, simply statistically sound.

*There are possible scenarios in which this doesn't hold true, but those are pretty contrived.

Well, despite the unreliable criteria used to determine those 'scammer tags' you can at least be fairly certain if someone has one of those tags, it's probably deserved.  I suppose they at least have some historic value.
full member
Activity: 210
Merit: 100
Sure, behaving honorably in the past doesn't preclude the possibility of scamming in the future.  All other things being equal though, i'd still bet on someone who hasn't scammed before than an established scammer.

True, but you're more likely to get scammed BIG by someone who was previously trusted, because you simply wouldn't trust someone for a lot of money without some reputational background.  A good con artist knows to build a reputation before the big score.

You do have a point -- if we have cops, we become less vigilant in protecting ourselves.  I simply don't see it as a strong argument for getting rid of cops altogether.

Even if you feel that the scammer labels/negative trust have 50/50 chance of being rigged, you should still avoid trading with tagged users if non-tagged users are available.  Not necessarily fair, simply statistically sound.

*There are possible scenarios in which this doesn't hold true, but those are pretty contrived.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
Sure, behaving honorably in the past doesn't preclude the possibility of scamming in the future.  All other things being equal though, i'd still bet on someone who hasn't scammed before than an established scammer.

True, but you're more likely to get scammed BIG by someone who was previously trusted, because you simply wouldn't trust someone for a lot of money without some reputational background.  A good con artist knows to build a reputation before the big score.
full member
Activity: 210
Merit: 100
You need collateral because you don't trust me without my trust ratings.

i would agree that i need collateral because i dont trust you, however, im not looking to trust you, and even if i were, trust ratings and scammer tags only have some correlation with previously documented behavior, but they do not have a causal relationship to future behavior.

economic incentives do have a causal relationship to future behavior.

Causation is simply correlation with a good backstory, so correlation is better than nothing.
Sure, behaving honorably in the past doesn't preclude the possibility of scamming in the future.  All other things being equal though, i'd still bet on someone who hasn't scammed before than an established scammer.
full member
Activity: 134
Merit: 100
correct. my mistake.
 that is what I was intending.

in the case of scammer tags and trust ratings the user must trust bitcoin talks approval of the scammer tag and the people making the ratings.

my understanding is that the scammer tags are no longer in use, and a distributed evaluation in the form of trust ratings are less easily corruptible.

I think the trust ratings are a step in the right direction, but they might be a little misleading. I think it would be easily perceived as a probability that a user is a scammer or probability that a user is not a scammer. this is definitely not the case.

it should be viewed as reputational currency. how much RC do they stand to lose if they scam, and compare that to the actual gains of a scam. this calculation is nearly impossible to calculate. at least with the current rating system.

I believe that scammer tag should stay forever, does not matter if it is happened only once. That way people will think twice before scam. Also, I want to know if the party scammed even once. No need to have "Not a scammer" tag, cause it does not mean anything. Yesterday was not a scammer - today is.
sr. member
Activity: 375
Merit: 250
correct. my mistake.
 that is what I was intending.

in the case of scammer tags and trust ratings the user must trust bitcoin talks approval of the scammer tag and the people making the ratings.

my understanding is that the scammer tags are no longer in use, and a distributed evaluation in the form of trust ratings are less easily corruptible.

I think the trust ratings are a step in the right direction, but they might be a little misleading. I think it would be easily perceived as a probability that a user is a scammer or probability that a user is not a scammer. this is definitely not the case.

it should be viewed as reputational currency. how much RC do they stand to lose if they scam, and compare that to the actual gains of a scam. this calculation is nearly impossible to calculate. at least with the current rating system.
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
One of the reasons people use bitcoin or any crypto currency is to eliminate the need to trust the other party.

Starting from a flawed premise.  The stated purpose of Bitcoin is to allow transactions without a TRUSTED THIRD PARTY.   Most transactions involve trust of the counterparty.  Even if it is a cash for BTC trade in person in a public place you need to trust the other party isn't going to hit you over the head with a crowbar and take both the BTC and cash.
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
nearly dead
Please keep these tags and always show the trust rating. You might also want to add a TROLL tag, as it is impossible to stand certain sub-forums around here. People might stop replying to trolls if they are clearly tagged as such.

Can you define a troll? Cause what some people call a troll, other people call a smart person. In my case people call me a troll and some people call me a very smart visionary of the future of bitcoins Wink You can't tag something that has a very loose definition.

The same applies to the scammer and trust ratings. The scammer might have had personal issues that caused him to be marked as a scammer, but maybe he was a very honest person. Since you are creating situations, I'm feeling free to create them too. The trust rating may be applied among a group of friends, creating the illusion that a person is trusted by the whole community. You can't tag something that goes beyond what you can evaluate here, uhm ?

Here is an actual troll: https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/asicsrus-140852

No cause a scammer can always talk to the lender and try to work out a payment plan or even better give up an item of the value they are trying to seek. If they have issues and don't communicate them, then they should be a scammer, they took money and due to the situation they couldn't pay. A troll is someone who voices an opinion and is labeled that cause people don't like him for that opinion very different things here.

It could be that the supposed scammer just lost internet connection, for whatever reason. A troll can be clearly labeled, just like a scammer supposedly can.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1722
Trust ratings are important, but I'm not convinced the ones on BCT are worth anything.  The "scammer" tag seems reserved only for people who rip off the people who run the site.  You can rip off anyone else with impunity, as I've found, and no matter how blatant the scam (basically a MoneyPak trader who NEVER delivered and was a pure ripoff), they don't get a scammer tag.

Scammer tags are no longer "awarded" since the introduction of the trust ratings which serves as a replacement for the scammer tags, and people can now rely on their own due diligence and the judgement of people within their trust lists. Theymos now also doesn't need to spend time on looking through the evidence and deciding whether someone deserves a tag or not, which could have eventually become dull with more scam artists flooding the forums this spring.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
Trust ratings are important, but I'm not convinced the ones on BCT are worth anything.  The "scammer" tag seems reserved only for people who rip off the people who run the site.  You can rip off anyone else with impunity, as I've found, and no matter how blatant the scam (basically a MoneyPak trader who NEVER delivered and was a pure ripoff), they don't get a scammer tag.
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
nearly dead
Please keep these tags and always show the trust rating. You might also want to add a TROLL tag, as it is impossible to stand certain sub-forums around here. People might stop replying to trolls if they are clearly tagged as such.

Can you define a troll? Cause what some people call a troll, other people call a smart person. In my case people call me a troll and some people call me a very smart visionary of the future of bitcoins Wink You can't tag something that has a very loose definition.

The same applies to the scammer and trust ratings. The scammer might have had personal issues that caused him to be marked as a scammer, but maybe he was a very honest person. Since you are creating situations, I'm feeling free to create them too. The trust rating may be applied among a group of friends, creating the illusion that a person is trusted by the whole community. You can't tag something that goes beyond what you can evaluate here, uhm ?

Here is an actual troll: https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/asicsrus-140852
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
Please keep these tags and always show the trust rating. You might also want to add a TROLL tag, as it is impossible to stand certain sub-forums around here. People might stop replying to trolls if they are clearly tagged as such.

Can you define a troll? Cause what some people call a troll, other people call a smart person. In my case people call me a troll and some people call me a very smart visionary of the future of bitcoins Wink You can't tag something that has a very loose definition.
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
nearly dead
Please keep these tags and always show the trust rating. You might also want to add a TROLL tag, as it is impossible to stand certain sub-forums around here. People might stop replying to trolls if they are clearly tagged as such.
full member
Activity: 134
Merit: 100
Okay if you want people to scam you for your money, then you ignore the rating and trade with everyone (incl. the ones with a scammer tag).
I know that I wanna have the lowest possible risk when trading.
+1
Exactly, if you think that scam tag is not good - just do not pay attention on this tag and trade like it is not there.
newbie
Activity: 41
Merit: 0
It's designed to remove the need to put all your trust in banks and governments. People never started using Bitcoins thinking they can just freely send it around in trades and never get scammed. Something has to be there to encourage trading with the right person. In this case, scammer and trust ratings. I think it's a good idea.
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