Open-Transactions: "Escrow" smart contract (3 new videos!)

[f3llowtraveler]

It's me again, your best friend, Fellow Traveler, with three more videos!

This time I'm going over the ESCROW smart contract:
http://open-transactions-tv.github.com/

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Since some have asked about the DIFFERENCE between the two-way-trade
smart contract, and the escrow smart contract, here it is:


TWO-WAY TRADE:

There are 2 parties: Alice and Bob. Take X units of currency Y from
Alice, take Z units of currency W from Bob, and then give Alice's funds
to Bob, and give Bob's funds to Alice (done.)

Vs...

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ESCROW:

There are 3 parties: Alice, Bob, and Judge Judy. Take X units of
currency Y from Alice, and stash them in the contract for Z days. (She
is paying these to Bob in return for some offline consideration. For
example, perhaps Bob is selling guitars online, and Alice is waiting to
receive a physical guitar from Bob in the snail mail, which she is
purchasing from him.)

The physical item that Alice is purchasing must be noted ON the smart
contract, in the "consideration" field.

Normally, the guitar shows up in the mail, and then after Z days, the
money that was stashed in the contract is then automatically transferred
to Bob. However, if Alice has not received the guitar within Z days, she
can file a dispute (by triggering a "dispute" clause, which is just
another script on the same contract.)

This sends a notice to all three parties, giving Bob an opportunity to
respond. Then Judge Judy has D days to make a decision, based on Alice's
dispute text, Bob's response text, and the text of the consideration
field itself, which ideally describes the exact criteria for determining
whether or not Bob has fulfilled his obligation. Judge Judy receives a
small fee for signing onto the contract, and an additional fee if she
actually has to get involved and adjudicate a dispute.

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-Fellow Traveler

P.S. special announcement coming up in my next email!