diff --git a/docs/source/whitepaper/corda-technical-whitepaper.tex b/docs/source/whitepaper/corda-technical-whitepaper.tex index dc10cb93d7..171a225f37 100644 --- a/docs/source/whitepaper/corda-technical-whitepaper.tex +++ b/docs/source/whitepaper/corda-technical-whitepaper.tex @@ -1857,30 +1857,30 @@ such a requirement. % TODO: Nothing related to data distribution groups is implemented. -\subsection{Merging networks} - -Because there is no single block chain, it is theoretically possible to merge two independent networks together by simply -establishing two-way connectivity between their nodes then configuring each side to trust each other's network operators -(and by extension their network parameters, certificate authorities and so on). - -This ability may seem pointless: isn't the goal of a decentralised ledger to have a single global database for -everyone? It is, but a practical route to reaching this end state is still required. It is often the case that -organisations perceived by consumers as being a single company are in fact many different entities cross-licensing -branding, striking deals with each other and doing internal trades with each other. This sort of setup can occur -for regulatory reasons, tax reasons, due to a history of mergers or just through a sheer masochistic love of -paperwork. Very large companies can therefore experience all the same synchronisation problems a decentralised -ledger is intended to fix but purely within the bounds of that organisation. In this situation the main problem to -tackle is not malicious actors but rather heterogenous IT departments, varying software development practices, -unlinked user directories and so on. Such organisations can benefit from gaining experience with the technology -internally and cleaning up their own internal views of the world before tackling the larger problem of -synchronising with the wider world as well. - -When merging networks, both sides must trust that each other's notaries have never signed double spends. When -merging an organisation-private network into the global ledger it should be possible to simply rely on incentives -to provide this guarantee: there is no point in a company double spending against itself. However, if more evidence -is desired, a standalone notary could be run against a hardware security module with audit logging enabled. The -notary itself would simply use a private database and run on a single machine, with the logs exported to the people -running a global network for asynchronous post-hoc verification. +%\subsection{Merging networks} +% +%Because there is no single block chain, it is theoretically possible to merge two independent networks together by simply +%establishing two-way connectivity between their nodes then configuring each side to trust each other's network operators +%(and by extension their network parameters, certificate authorities and so on). +% +%This ability may seem pointless: isn't the goal of a decentralised ledger to have a single global database for +%everyone? It is, but a practical route to reaching this end state is still required. It is often the case that +%organisations perceived by consumers as being a single company are in fact many different entities cross-licensing +%branding, striking deals with each other and doing internal trades with each other. This sort of setup can occur +%for regulatory reasons, tax reasons, due to a history of mergers or just through a sheer masochistic love of +%paperwork. Very large companies can therefore experience all the same synchronisation problems a decentralised +%ledger is intended to fix but purely within the bounds of that organisation. In this situation the main problem to +%tackle is not malicious actors but rather heterogenous IT departments, varying software development practices, +%unlinked user directories and so on. Such organisations can benefit from gaining experience with the technology +%internally and cleaning up their own internal views of the world before tackling the larger problem of +%synchronising with the wider world as well. +% +%When merging networks, both sides must trust that each other's notaries have never signed double spends. When +%merging an organisation-private network into the global ledger it should be possible to simply rely on incentives +%to provide this guarantee: there is no point in a company double spending against itself. However, if more evidence +%is desired, a standalone notary could be run against a hardware security module with audit logging enabled. The +%notary itself would simply use a private database and run on a single machine, with the logs exported to the people +%running a global network for asynchronous post-hoc verification. \subsection{Privacy upgrades}\label{subsec:privacy-upgrades}