New-economy FAQ ("frequently" asked questions, with answers):
contracts
EskWI...@spamblock.panix.com
asked What contract? and How does this "bid" and "contract" system work?
Answer: (How will it work, after it's eventually implemented.)
One user, henceforth called the "employer", having already accumulated
some labor-time credits on my system, will post a Request For Bids (RFB)
on the system, offering to pay the lowest bidder, up to some limit,
for completion of a task, and simultaneously put into escrow that limit
amount of his accumulated funds. The RFB will also state a lower amount
of labor-time credit which will result in immediate acceptance of the bid
without waiting for possibly lower bids. The RFB will also state how
long the bidding will remain open before it is forced closed by
timeout.
Other users will see that RFB and some
of them will post bids in response. In order for a bid to be valid,
the user making the bid must currently have at least 10% of the bid
amount in his account.
The RFB limit and immediate-contract amounts, and each bid in response,
are stated in whole number
of seconds of realtime.
All bids less than the limit will
be accepted by the system, providing that each bidder has 10% of the
bid available at the moment (but this 10% is not yet put
into escrow). Any bid less than or equal to the immediate-acceptance
amount results in immediate start of the contract, otherwise bids are
all put into a database, and when the timeout occurs then the lowest
bid currently in that database is accepted as the lowest bid,
and the person who made that bid is given a short time to come online
and acknowledge that he knows he had the lowest bid and wishes to
start the contract now. If that bidder withdraws the bid, the
next-lower bidder is notified and given opportunity to start, etc.
(Anyone may withdraw a bid at any time prior to actually starting a
contract, whether lowest bid or not.)
As soon as a contract starts, whether because of an immediate-acceptance
bid, or lowest bid at timeout, 10% of the contract amount is immediately
moved from that user's account into escrow, as possible penalty in case
of failure to perform the contract, to deter frivilous bids.
At that same moment, the clock starts ticking, and the person
who got the contract, henceforth called the "employee", must strive
to complete the contract and submit final work before the deadline
(starting real-time plus bid time-interval equals deadline real-time).
If all requirements specified in the RFB have been completed and submitted,
the employee receives the full amount, from escrow from employer,
and gets a refund from escrow of the 10% failure-to-perform. If none
of the requirements are submitted, the 10% fee is forfeited
from escrow to the system
and the bid amount from employer now reverts from escrow to employer.
If only a part of RFB specifications are submitted, a prorated amount
from escrow is paid to employee and the rest of contract amount
reverts to employer and the rest of 10% penalty goes to the system.
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