timestamped ideas
i don't quite remember how this idea materialized in my head this morning, but since it was interesting enough to keep us discussing it during breakfast, i thought i'll share it here.
the fact that blogger lets you arbitrarily adjust the timestamps of your posts, got me thinking about a business model of an independent timestamp authority. this authority would allow you to combine any text with a digital timestamp, just to proof that a certain idea existed at a given time. it wouldn't be about patents, copyright, or anything alike, just really about bringing the text and the timestamp together in a secure way.
as for most internet business models, they are either (a) not of public interest, or (b) they already exist (most often, it's actually (a) and (b)). we may be geeks, but we didn't have internet access during breakfast. however, it came to no big surprise that some people are already making money with this.
