[cap-talk] Is "Authority" Subjective?

[Marc Stiegler]

Yes, there is a bit of subjectivity in the meaning of "authority".
Consider 3 cases: the authority to invoke the object that will create
a new List object, the authority to invoke the object that will create
a new Mint object, and the authority to create money in an existing
Mint object.

We generally consider the ability to invoke the object that creates a
new List object to be non-authority-bearing. This is seen starkly by
the decision in all the object-cap languages to allow this ability to
be ambient. We justify (rationalize?) with the observation that, if we
did not grant access to the list maker, the author of the object could
simply include code that would make and manage lists. List
construction and management is "pure computation", so it has no
authority.

Similarly, access to an object that makes Mints is not authority
bearing. Again, the author of the object could, if there is no
mintmaker available, include mintmaking code. Again, it is "pure
computation", no authority is born.

Ah, but now consider an existing mint, being used by other people. We
consider the ability to manufacture money inside this mint *is* an
authority. Is it pure computation? You don't access the external world
in any way -- you don't need access to a printer or a terminal or even
a network if the mint's users share the same vat. So it is in some
sense pure computation...except for the value the humans using the
mint place on the value of the currency. It is not pure computation in
the sense that, it is somebody else's computation, and what is done
with the ability to manufacture money affect the (probably informal)
understanding of the mint's users of the mint's contract (do they
expect it to be hyperinflationary or stable, etc.).

I hypothesize that there is a more formal definition hiding in the
concept of reliably enforcing a contract, but it is hazy to me.

--marcs

On 6/22/07, Toby Murray <toby.murray at comlab.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
> Hi cap-talk,
>
> I've hit an interesting issue during my work on the formal
> characterisation of authority. I've come to wonder whether the
> definition of "authority" is actually a bit subjective and
> intuition-dependent. I'm hoping this list can confirm or falsify this
> hypothesis.