Read <a href="https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf">Blockstack</a>.

<p>
Everyone should do <a href="../lab1.html">Lab 1</a> for today.

<P>
Blockstack's main technical focus is associating names with people.
Why is that so important? Why does it make sense for naming to be the
key ingredient in a new decentalized Internet (rather than for example
storage)?

<p>
How does a Blockstack app find a file owned by a user other than the
user running the app? How does the app check that it received the
correct content?

<P>
How does a Blockstack persuade Gaia that it's allowed to write
a particular file?

<p>
Do Blockstack names carry meaning? What use are they?

<p>
Why is it important that Blockstack names be unique, human-readable,
and decentralized? Why is providing all three properties hard?

<P>
Why does Blockstack use Bitcoin? 

<p>
What information does Blockstack store in the Bitcoin block-chain?

<P>
Presumably Blockstack, like Bitcoin on which it is based, takes tens
of minutes before a transaction is known to have succeeded. Does that
adversely affect how Blockstack can be used?

<P>
Suppose I store my calendar and my e-mail using Blockstack, and access
them using decentralized applications. If I want to prevent my
calendar app from reading my e-mail, will Blockstack help me? What
about if I do want my calendar and e-mail apps to see each other's
data?

<P>
Suppose there's some information that multiple people want to modify.
Does Blockstack support that?

<P>
Why does Blockstack charge money (BTC) for names? Who receives the
payment?

<P>
What's in a zone file? Does each user (or web site, or DApp) have
their own zone file? Is a user expected to have a zone file entry for
each of the user's files, or perhaps just a single entry pointing to
the user's storage provider?

<P>
Could a Gaia server return an old version of a data block, correctly
signed, and get away with it? If so, is this a serious problem?

<P>
How do Blockstack applications know what servers to talk to in
order to get at Blockstack-related services such as name lookup
and Gaia?

<p>
What happens when a user authorizes an app to use the user's
Blockstack identity? The app needs to be able to sign data it stores
in Gaia; where does the required private key come from?

<p>
What private keys are associated with a user, and where do they live?

<p>
What does a user do to start using an existing Blockstack identity on
a new device? What are the consequences of someone stealing a user's
device, and how can the user recover?