EOS Whitepaper walkthrough: Note and Disclaimer
Read the Whitepaper here
Last time we went over just the abstract of the whitepaper, this time we are going over the note and the disclaimer.
PLEASE NOTE: CRYPTOGRAPHIC TOKENS REFERRED TO IN THIS WHITE PAPER REFER TO CRYPTOGRAPHIC TOKENS ON A LAUNCHED BLOCKCHAIN THAT ADOPTS THE EOS.IO SOFTWARE. THEY DO NOT REFER TO THE ERC-20 COMPATIBLE TOKENS BEING DISTRIBUTED ON THE ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN IN CONNECTION WITH THE EOS TOKEN DISTRIBUTION.
Wait what? The token that being distributed has nothing to do with the token that will power the EOS network?
Yep. You heard that right.
But why?
For one, the EOS network has not yet launched, that means that there is no way for you to get EOS tokens. Instead, when you purchase your EOS tokens, you are buying an IOU.
The tokens that are on the market now are ERC-20 tokens, and they need to be mapped to the EOS network when it does launch.
You can register your EOS tokens easily with the Exodus wallet.
Right now, Ethereum is the best network to launch an ICO. It is the most secured and many projects have launched their ICO there. It is a tested and trusted platform for ICOs.
It is the kickstarter platform for cryptocurrencies right now.
Most projects building on Ethereum find themselves handicapped by scalability. Doing this means that any ERC-20 based projects can migrate to EOS by adopting the same model as EOS.
So what happens when you register your EOS ERC-20 tokens?
You get a one-to-one exchange to a blockchain that adopts the EOS.IO software.
"A blockchain that adopts the EOS.IO software?"
Yep. Since the EOS.IO software is open-source, that means anyone can launch their own blockchain with the EOS.IO software if they so wish to.
This is akin to people launching their own cryptocurrencies while using the Bitcoin or Ethereum software.
This could happen, but it most likely won't because the cost of running a EOS.IO node is much higher that than of a Bitcoin or Ethereum node.
There are already people who volunteer to become EOS.IO nodes, and they have significant infrastructure support behind them.
You can find a list of the candidates here.
Moving on.
Copyright © 2018 block.one
Without permission, anyone may use, reproduce or distribute any material in this white paper for non-commercial and educational use (i.e., other than for a fee or for commercial purposes) provided that the original source and the applicable copyright notice are cited.
Pretty standard copyright stuff.
DISCLAIMER: This EOS.IO Technical White Paper v2 is for information purposes only. block.one does not guarantee the accuracy of or the conclusions reached in this white paper, and this white paper is provided “as is”. block.one does not make and expressly disclaims all representations and warranties, express, implied, statutory or otherwise, whatsoever, including, but not limited to: (i) warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, suitability, usage, title or noninfringement; (ii) that the contents of this white paper are free from error; and (iii) that such contents will not infringe third-party rights. block.one and its affiliates shall have no liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance on this white paper or any of the content contained herein, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will block.one or its affiliates be liable to any person or entity for any damages, losses, liabilities, costs or expenses of any kind, whether direct or indirect, consequential, compensatory, incidental, actual, exemplary, punitive or special for the use of, reference to, or reliance on this white paper or any of the content contained herein, including, without limitation, any loss of business, revenues, profits, data, use, goodwill or other intangible losses.
Now this disclaimer is a little interesting.
This basically covers the EOS.IO team (block.one) from any legal repercussions. As an open-source software project, especially one that deals with software that handles financial transactions, it is very easy for the developers to get embroiled in cases where someone implements the code incorrectly or there was a bug in the software that despite the best intention of the developer, ends up in the production software.
In centralize systems there is no doubting who is responsible, but in the decentralized world, things are a lot more complicated.
These cases drain resources and attention of the developers, and often can cripple development.
Cases like the DAO hack or the BitGrail hack are often due to third-party negligence, but dragging the development team with them.
Having this disclaimer in place creates a line between who writes the software and who is running the software. This allows for those who are running the software to make decisions regarding forks without getting the developers involved.
This may sound like a cop-out, but it actually offers a much better way to resolve future problems, when combined with what EOS calls a blockchain constitution.
Which we will get into when we finally dive into the juicy parts of the Whitepaper.
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If you would like to know more about me and what I'm doing you can read my introduction post here.
Read my series on the Steem blockchain:
Steem: Welcome to the Matrix. Part One
Steem: Operating in the Matrix. Part Two
Steem: Construction of the Matrix. Part Three
Read my series on the EOS blockchain:
EOS whitepaper walk-through. Abstract
And you can contact me in the following way:
@bluabaleno on Steem.chat