David Floyd writes about the arbitrator problem in crypto world, about possible solutions and EOS’ views.

"...So far, it seems many both inside and outside the EOS community aren't clear what ECAF, the main body tasked with resolving disputes between token holders on the network, is and what control it has over transactions.

That's largely because ECAF's role and duties were discussed back and forth over months of forum discussions, but clear methods and processes don't seem to have been decided on. It's become apparent over the past few days that this mess of information now needs to be organized and clearly communicated to the community.

Stepping back, all this turbulence began on June 17, just three days after the network's launch, when the network's top block producers unanimously intervened to stop seven addresses from making transactions. That decision was retroactively endorsed by an ECAF order (the arbitrator had initially refused to rule on the issue).

Then on June 22, an order made the rounds that ECAF wanted to freeze 27 more accounts, to which "the logic and reasoning ... will be posted at a later date." On June 24, another order was seemingly issued, demanding that tokens be revoked from some addresses.

That order, however, turned out to be a fake.

With all the mayhem, EOS New York made a big decision. Until it can be reasonably certain about their authenticity, the block producer wrote on Sunday, it will ignore ECAF decisions – or decisions that appear to be ECAF decisions.

"We cannot with confidence execute any statement claiming to be an ECAF opinion…"

Pixabay

Not about centralization

"...All of these events – and in particular ECAF's promise to explain "at a later date" – led critics, mostly from outside EOS, to call block producers a "junta" and a "cartel," "bankers" and "centralized." ECAF, with its use of flowery legalese, was compared to "kids" playing pretend, while the EOS network as a whole was accused of conducting "consensus by conference call."

But the idea that uncensorable transactions are the ultimate goal of cryptocurrencies – settled doctrine in many circles – is met with skepticism or outright rejection in debates among EOS block producers. Instead, EOS supporters want a blockchain that's fast and cheap, but also has the governance structure in place to make decisions that are in the best interest of the user.

That's why EOS was built on delegated proof-of-stake (dPOS), which allows for a certain number of organizations to validate the blockchain, instead of incorporating a proof-of-work mining system (like bitcoin has, for instance) ..."

Improving the process

"...And in a post on June 24, EOS New York outlined specific proposals for on-chain communication by arbitrators, governed by smart contracts.

Plus, EOS Argentina (ranked 22nd at the time of writing) recently rolled out an EOS-based application for signing and time-stamping documents on the blockchain, pointedly inviting ECAF to use it. Other block producers are deciding that from now on ECAF requests must be published through a "trusted source" and not just on social media.

EOS Authority's position, for instance, Abraham told CoinDesk, is that all orders "must be published through a trusted source such as the EOS blockchain or electronically signed by ECAF." Plus, he added, "All evidence and reasoning should also be published with all cases..."

 *The source: “The EOS Arbitrator Problem: A Crypto Governance Breakdown Explained” By David Floyd

 (originally published on the CoinDesk).