[Webfunds-users] Third party deposits

Wed Mar 29 13:28:01 2000

Steve Foerster wrote:
> 
> Craig, responding to Ian, wrote:
> 
> >> I.e., you can do if you like 3rd party deposits.
> 
> > I like this feature!
> 
> Me too.  If I understand correctly, third party deposits
> facilitate escrow, useful in an anonymity friendly
> environment.

Not sure if we're on the same wavelength here.

By 3rd party deposits I mean:  Alice writes a payment to Bob,
but Carol deposits it.  In this case, Bob didn't take any part
in the deposit, and doesn't know it happened (until the receipt
turns up).  Carol, who does the deposit, never sees the money,
can't control it, can't spend it, all she did was form a "useful"
proxy by providing her WebFunds for some comms.

Now, I don't see that as useful for escrow, as for Carol to be
an escrow agent, she has to have the funds.  The only way to
guaruntee that Carol has the funds is for her to deposit the
payment to herself.

Mind you, my use of the term "3rd party deposits" is loose, I
only invented it this morning, so maybe I've stumbled on a term
that was already in use for something else.

iang