The most important factor for any currency is security.
That usually means if they aren't able to be merged mined with bitcoin they are doomed to be attacked if they ever become worth attacking, since ultimately the security model for a blockchain is that even if everyone in the world who is not securing the chain with their computer power were to attack it, they would all add up to not enough to threaten it because it has way the heck more computer power securing it than the entire rest of the world has.
So really bitcoin is the only secure coin, even namecoin is not as secure as bitcoin.
So if we want more than just bitcoin, we really should start by making sure the merged coins, like namecoin, are in fact merged by pretty near all the miners who mine bitcoin, which means basically ensuring all the pools do merged mining. potentially if all the pools merged all the coins that can be merged then possibly we could end up with more than just bitcoin and namecoin as reasonably secure coins. But is namecoin reasonably secure yet even? Hmm...
-MarkM-
That usually means if they aren't able to be merged mined with bitcoin they are doomed to be attacked if they ever become worth attacking, since ultimately the security model for a blockchain is that even if everyone in the world who is not securing the chain with their computer power were to attack it, they would all add up to not enough to threaten it because it has way the heck more computer power securing it than the entire rest of the world has.
So really bitcoin is the only secure coin, even namecoin is not as secure as bitcoin.
So if we want more than just bitcoin, we really should start by making sure the merged coins, like namecoin, are in fact merged by pretty near all the miners who mine bitcoin, which means basically ensuring all the pools do merged mining. potentially if all the pools merged all the coins that can be merged then possibly we could end up with more than just bitcoin and namecoin as reasonably secure coins. But is namecoin reasonably secure yet even? Hmm...
-MarkM-
It may not be just USA to worry about... China or Russia would be much more ruthless.
In China, for example, organizations must apply for a permit to use encryption...
Any encryption technology on your laptop must be declared as you enter the country.
I've been to China numerous times and no one ever asked me to declare any encryption I use.
Kinda silly too because open source encryption software like TrueCrypt can create hidden partitions on your HDD anyways.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=cr&ei=-eI0UrOMPPKA2QX0qYD4CA#q=china+encryption&spell=1
I just saw this: http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/1d35wo/traveling_to_china_and_encryption_what_are_your/
Wow, I guess I'm bringing a cheap disposable laptop next time I visit China.
