Re: Part 3: PaySwarm vs. OpenTransact Comparison

bcc: OpenTransact

On 01/09/2012 06:21 PM, Pelle Braendgaard wrote:
> Manu you must have a log of time on your hand writing these epics.

I wish I had a great deal of time on my hands... I do not.

Running a start-up leaves very little time for writing, including
doing thorough analyses of specifications. However, I did promise you
that there would be a thorough vetting of OpenTransact as it pertains
to Web Payments and this is me keeping that promise.

> From a really quick skim almost all the arguments here and in my
> earlier replies are because there is a huge difference in the
> fundamental approach to both standards.

If that is what you are seeing across the three blog posts that have
been written analyzing OpenTransact then you are missing the fundamental
point that is being made, which is summarized at the top of the last two
blog posts:

"The OpenTransact standard does not specify the minimum necessary
algorithms and processes required to implement an interoperable, open
payment network. It, accidentally, does the opposite – further enforcing
silo-ed payment networks, which is exactly what PaySwarm is attempting
to prevent."

You may choose to ignore this advice, but I'm afraid that unless a
number of design changes are made, that these issues are going to come
back to bite OpenTransact when it seeks approval by the various W3C or
IETF standards bodies.

While I do go paragraph-by-paragraph and respond to everything you have
written, those points only bolster the underlying point above - lack of
interoperability, the reasons for which are thoroughly outlined across
all three blog posts.

Let me be clear - there is a difference in philosophy between PaySwarm
and OpenTransact. However, there is also a fatally flawed design problem
with OpenTransact (interoperability) that must be rectified if it is to
succeed as a Web standard.

-- manu

-- 
Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny)
Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: PaySwarm vs. OpenTransact Shootout
http://manu.sporny.org/2011/web-payments-comparison/

Received on Tuesday, 10 January 2012 02:44:50 UTC