Overview
--------
-An epoint server is a large billboard, where clients can publish
-draft documents (acknowledging debt, "i owe you")
-
-Draft documents are digitally signed by the clients and the
-clients are identified by their public key.
+An epoint server is a large billboard, where clients can place
+draft documents (acknowledging debt, "i owe you").
Any client can issue debt (issuer), and a client holding the
debt (holder) can transfer parts of it to any other client using
The main purpose of the server is to make it easy to check the
current balance of a client.
-To achieve this the server needs to store all the drafts and the
-public keys of the clients so the drafts are verifiable. The
-ordering of the drafts matters when the constraints are checked
-so the server must keep track of the balances in such a way that
-there is no ambiguity. It must be easy to audit the server and
-prove if it does not calculate the balances properly. This is
-done using server signed certificates declaring the balance of
-a client after each change and referencing related documents
-(draft, previous certificates) with cryptographic hash.
+The server stores all the drafts and the public keys submitted
+by the clients so the drafts are verifiable. The ordering of the
+drafts matters when the constraints are checked so the balances
+are maintained in such a way that there is no ambiguity. Every
+change to a balance is recorded in the form of a server signed
+certificate. The certificate declares the new balance with a
+timestamp and references documents (draft, other certificates
+and keys) required to verify the claim. The ordering is
+guaranteed by using cryptographic hash references. The hash
+chain of documents makes it possible to audit the system and the
+signatures allow the construction of proof if the server makes
+mistakes.
projects / epoint / blobdiff