> HOWEVER THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE INTERNET IS AGAINST. This will prevent all sort of anti-fraud that is going on now. You will wind up bypassing years of innovation to create a black market. It will be detremental.
Right now, in meatspace, I have both options: I can pay with cash and have little to no recourse or record, or I can pay with check or credit card and have a record and various fraud protection measures. I want to have both options on the Internet as well.
Also note that various bitcoin escrow agencies have popped up, which serve the obvious function. Assuming an agency exists that both parties trust, you can have the fraud protection you want if and when you want it.
But bitcoin escrow agencies don't solve the SOPA problem -- once you have a small number of intermediaries paying these websites, they become the place where the law can apply its force. They will be ordered/coerced to stop funding ThePirateBay or whatever site the media industry targets, so these sites either can't have reliable BC payments or they are subject to being cut off by these laws without trial.
Only if they operate in jurisdictions that can apply such force, and only if they make a connection between their online presence and their offline presence. An escrow agency could operate pseudonymously online without having an offline presence, as long as they built a trusted reputation around their online pseudonym and cryptographic identity.
Right now, in meatspace, I have both options: I can pay with cash and have little to no recourse or record, or I can pay with check or credit card and have a record and various fraud protection measures. I want to have both options on the Internet as well.
Also note that various bitcoin escrow agencies have popped up, which serve the obvious function. Assuming an agency exists that both parties trust, you can have the fraud protection you want if and when you want it.