Final edit - simplification

docs/source/whitepaper/corda-introductory-whitepaper.tex

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ In particular, each financial institution maintains its own ledgers, which recor
 
 A plurality of financial institutions drives competition and choice but the plurality of technology platforms upon which they rely drives complexity and creates operational risk. However, until recently, this was unavoidable: except for centralised market infrastructures\footnote{Examples of this include the Depository Trust \& Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Continuous Linked Settlement Group (CLS).}, there were few effective ways to consolidate technology across firms without also consolidating the firms themselves.
 
-Centralised market infrastructure utilities have gone some way towards increasing the amount of data and business-logic sharing between firms\footnote{Many market infrastructure utilities are actively studying the technical approaches discussed in this paper\cite{DTCC}.} but, overall, the degree of integration achieved in the realm of financial transactions still lags far behind that which has been achieved in the realm of information exchange since the advent of the web. \cite{IT}
+Centralised market infrastructure utilities have gone some way towards increasing the amount of data and business-logic sharing between firms but, overall, the degree of integration achieved in the realm of financial transactions still lags far behind that which has been achieved in the realm of information exchange since the advent of the web. \cite{IT}
 
 We believe that the maturation of cryptographic techniques, exemplified in part by what is commonly referred to as ``blockchain technology", provides a new opportunity: the possibility of authoritative systems of record that are securely shared between firms. This vision provides the opportunity to transform the economics of financial firms, particularly but not exclusively in post-trade services, by implementing a new shared platform for the recording of financial events and processing of business logic: one where a single global logical ledger is authoritative for all agreements between firms recorded on it. This architecture will define a new shared platform for the industry, upon which incumbents, new entrants and third parties can compete to deliver innovative new products and services. 
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Principles underpinning a possible end-state using distributed ledger technology
 \begin{itemize}
 	\item Facts recorded by the ledger are, by contract, accepted as admissible evidence and legally binding by all parties in any dispute.
 	\item Facts recorded by the ledger are regarded as authoritative rather than ``shadows" of authoritative data held elsewhere, enabling settlement to take place directly across the platform.
-	\item Once all parties to an agreement have assented, facts recorded on the ledger are final and immutable\footnote{By ``immutable", we mean that attempts to tamper with previously committed records will be evident and will be rejected}; errors and unwinds must be processed through a subsequent transaction. Firms will be under pressure to re-engineer their internal processes to increase accuracy and quality.
+	\item Once all parties to an agreement have assented, facts recorded on the ledger are final and immutable; errors and unwinds must be processed through a subsequent transaction. Firms will be under pressure to re-engineer their internal processes to increase accuracy and quality.
 	\item Any authorized actor may, in principle, connect directly to the ledger and use it to record agreements with its counterparts. No actor is compelled to deal with any other but we may see a decline in ``tiered" or hierarchical market models. 
 	\item By promoting open standards and inclusive access, existing and new service providers can connect and compete to offer differentiated services, promoting choice and competition.
 	\item The only parties who should have access to the details of a financial transaction are those parties themselves and others with a legitimate need to know.