Topic: Realistically, how long until we can use multi-signature escrow? (Read 734 times)

So I'd really, really like to be able to do escrow transactions with BitCoin, without relying on a third-party I've never heard of. (There are a bunch of these, I know.)

I know the core developers are working on this, but they seem to have been derailed by politics and some very earnest arguments.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bip-16-17-in-laymans-terms-61125
(To think people worry about the developers putting something evil in BitCoin - it turns out they can't even get something beneficial out into the world, because even after 6 months of discussions some guy pops up and says maybe they need to paint the shed a different colour...)

Presumably it's going to take some time from getting the thing into the blockchain to actually getting useful features into the client. So realistically, how long are we talking?

The reason I ask is that if it's going to be a while I'm thinking about setting up a site to help people do their own escrow transactions (without me sitting on their money) by making a wallet, encrypting it and splitting it among the participants. Thoughts on how I'd like to do this transparently (with as little need to trust me as possible) here.
http://edmundintokyo.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/can-anyone-sell-me-a-transparent-cloud/
But I don't want to bother doing this if it won't be long until BitCoin supports doing it properly, with no need to trust me or verify my stuff.

PS. I'm not sure who reads this "Newbie" forum, but I'd appreciate it if someone could promote the thread to the regular one, which is probably where the people who can answer my question are.