Here is the original signed escrow agreement with redacted information in {}. Due to the modifications to remove identifying and transaction specific information, the signature is not included. If all of the information in this contract becomes public by the statements of the involved parties, I'll re-post it intact with valid signature.
Some of the terms of this agreement were modified after the agreement was sent, but before anything was shipped. I'll dig through my PM history and if/when I find the modifications to the agreement, I'll include them in this thread. I've marked in
in the agreement those portions of the agreement that appear to be relevant to this discussion:
Based on my understanding of what I've been told so far, here's what I put together. Let me know if there are any details I've misunderstood or failed to include. If there are any changes to the agreement let me know once you've settled on a final agreement. I will be unavailable today from 13:00 EDT until 22:00 EDT. As long as you both send me a message indicating agreement with any changes, the changes will be honored even if a new signed agreement isn't sent out yet. This is specified in the signed details of the agreement below where it says:
GPG signing is not a requirement, and any written exchange in the form of private messages or posts on bitcointalk.org, communication seen by me in IRC, or email is effective as a 'statement of condition'.
and
To add, change, or remove the release conditions, both the bitcoin provider and bitcoin receiver must communicate their acceptance of the modified terms with the escrow holder
As such, as long as you both indicate agreement with any modifications to the current details, it is ok for the escrow address to be funded, for soniq to monitor the escrow address in the public blockchain, and for soniq to send the equipment once all escrow funding transactions have at least 4 confirmations.
Note there are several common details that have not yet been indicated. Such as:
- What shipping provider will be used? (UPS, FedEx, etc)?
- Will the package be insured?
- Will a signature be required on delivery?
- Will a tracking number be provided for the shipment?
- When is item expected to be shipped out?
- What is the expected delivery date?
Reaching agreement on details such as these can reduce the risk of disagreement if everything doesn't go perfectly. I’ve made some assumptions about some of these details in the initial agreement below.
Product list:
My current understanding of the transaction terms is as follows:
Normal issue-free transaction:
- MikeMike will supply {redacted} BTC to escrow before 23:59 UTC on Friday 2014-04-25
- soniq will supply an additional {redacted} BTC to escrow before 23:59 UTC on Friday 2014-04-25
- All parties will wait for the escrow transaction to receive at least 4 confirmations
- MikeMike will pay the first ${redacted} of shipping on the first three packages.
- soniq will pay the next ${redacted} worth of shipping on the first three packages.
- MikeMike will then pay all remaining shipping costs.
- soniq will send {redacted} to an address supplied by MikeMike for delivery within 5 days of the funding of the escrow bitcoin address
- soniq will provide MikeMike a tracking number from the shipping company within 24 hours of the escrow being funded
- After receiving the {redacted}, MikeMike will authorize me to release escrow to any bitcoin address supplied by soniq
Disagreement about receipt of product:
- If any packages are received after Wednesday 2014-04-30, and if soniq is at fault for the delivery delay, then MikeMike will receive compensation from escrow equivalent to {redacted}, and soniq will receive the remaining portion of the escrow as authorized.
- If MikeMike does not receive a valid tracking number within 24 hours of funding the escrow, he can request that escrow is released back to him.
- If MikeMike does not receive {redacted} by 23:59 UTC Saturday 2014-05-03, he can request that escrow is released back to him
- If any such refund or compensation request is made, soniq will have 48 hours from when the request is sent to state an objection.
- If MikeMike refuses delivery or returns any of the product, soniq will receive compensation from escrow equivalent to {redacted} worth of bitcoins at the BitStamp exchange rate at the time the decision to refuse the equipment is made known, and MikeMike will receive the remaining portion of the escrow
- If any such compensation request is made, MikeMike will have 48 hours from when the request is sent to state an objection
- If there is no objection from either party, then the bitcoins in escrow will be released as indicated
- If there are any objections to the refund or compensation requests, the transaction will enter a phase of public conflict resolution
Purchaser fails to authorize release and disappears:
- If MikeMike does not confirm receipt of {redacted}, and does not request a refund within 10 days of soniq providing the tracking number, then soniq can request release of the escrow in MikeMike’s absence.
- If such a release request is made, MikeMike will have 48 hours from when the release request is made to state an objection
- If there is no objection from MikeMike, then the bitcoins in escrow will be released to any bitcoin address supplied by soniq
- If MikeMike does object to the release request, the transaction will enter a phase of public conflict resolution
If both parties are satisfied with the terms of the transaction as they currently stand, please send a message indicating such. If there are any corrections to my current understanding of the transaction, please let me know.
The escrow address is included in the signed escrow agreement below:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512
Escrow ID: 201404231415
The escrow address for the transaction beginning on 2014-04-23 between MikeMike (the bitcoin provider) and soniq (the bitcoin receiver) will be:
{redacted}
Please agree to any conditions (quantity, price, payment method, transaction fees, penalties, conflict resolution, etc) beforehand.
If possible, GPG sign your agreement to prevent any discrepancies later on. GPG signing is not a requirement, and any written exchange in the form of private messages or posts on bitcointalk.org, communication seen by me in IRC, or email is effective as a 'statement of condition'.
Please understand that I am doing this as a community service for users of bitcointalk, I am assuming the risk of holding the escrowed Bitcoins, and I am using my own time to facilitate this transaction. As such, if it does not represent a burden to do so, please consider sending a bitcoin gratuity to {redacted} (valid for this transaction only) after the satisfactory resolution of this transaction.
The fine print:
This Contract is solely generated for the purpose of facilitating the transaction between the bitcoin provider and the bitcoin reciever, identified by the pseudonyms used on bitcointalk.org
The escrow holder, Daniel Hamilton (pseudonym DannyHamilton), assumes and gives no liability or guarantees on the satisfaction of all parties involved, although he agrees to mediate and facilitate the deal to the fullest extent he is capable of. On the event that any problems arises, he will release the escrow to whichever party presents him with the most convincing proof and after an open discussion with others and the moderators of bitcointalk.org.
Neither party should fund the escrow address or provide anything of value to the counter-party until the terms of escrow release have been determined and agreed to by both parties. If no other conditions are received, the default conditions of the contract assume:
{redacted} bitcoins will be placed in escrow by the bitcoin provider. An additional {redacted} BTC will be placed in escrow by the bitcoin receiver. All parties will wait for at least 4 confirmations on the escrow transaction before the bitcoin receiver ships any equipment. The bitcoins will be released from escrow to the bitcoin receiver after the bitcoin provider informs the escrow holder that he has received delivery of the specified equipment in proper operating condition.
If, 5 days or more after the funding of the escrow address, the bitcoin provider claims he has not yet received the equipment in advertised condition, and there is no objection from the bitcoin receiver, then escrow will be released back to the bitcoin provider. If, 5 days or more after the bitcoin receiver announces that the equipment has been sent, the bitcoin provider fails to acknowledge or deny receipt of the equipment, escrow will be released to the bitcoin receiver. The bitcoin provider will pay the shipping costs up to {redacted} per unit. The bitcoin receiver will pay any additional shipping costs up to {redacted} per unit. If shipping costs more than {redacted}, then the bitcoin provider will pay all remaining shipping costs.
If, for any reason, the bitcoin provider backs out of the transaction, refuses delivery, or returns any products, the bitcoin provider will compensate the bitcoin receiver the equivalent of {redacted} worth of bitcoins at the BitStamp exchange rate at the time the decision not to accept delivery is announced.
If, for any reason, the bitcoin receiver does not deliver the products, the bitcoin receiver will compensate the bitcoin provider for any costs incurred from any shipping charges not credited. To add, change, or remove the release conditions, both the bitcoin provider and bitcoin receiver must communicate their acceptance of the modified terms with the escrow holder.
BITCOIN RECEIVER PLEASE NOTICE:
___________________
The default terms of this contract are designed to protect the bitcoin provider against a fraudulent bitcoin receiver. The protections provided to the bitcoin receiver are minimal. Under the default conditions of this contract the only protection provided to the bitcoin receiver is the ability to refuse to provide anything of value until better conditions have been negotiated. If the bitcoin receiver delivers the product without first negotiating and confirming other conditions, there is an opportunity for the bitcoin provider to lie and claim that they never received the equipment or that it was non-functional on arrival. The burden of proof would then be on the bitcoin receiver to demonstrate that the bitcoin provider did indeed receive it and that it was working properly when it arrived.
The written acceptance by both parties (or the failure to reject) and the sending of bitcoins to the escrow address above constitutes the acceptance of the terms and conditions stated as well as acceptance of any mutually agreed escrow release conditions, and the activation of this contract.
The following contact information can be used if the bitcointalk website becomes unresponsive before the transaction is complete:
Daniel Hamilton
P.O. BOX {redacted}
{state redacted}, IL {zip code redacted}
{phone number redacted}
{email address redacted}
Thank you.
DannyHamilton (the escrow holder)
2014-04-23 14:15 CDT (UTC-5:00)
Escrow: {redacted} (valid for this transaction only)
Tips: {redacted} (valid for this transaction only)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----