For enhanced privacy, you can now access Loom through TOR (The Onion Router) at this address:

https://6hvlygtawsfibj54.onion

The SSL certificate for that domain is signed by the Rayservers Certificate Authority.

Also, as an extra precaution against DNS hijacking, the nameservers for loom.cc are now at rayservers.ch instead of rayservers.com.

Note: Loom servers are NOT located at the public IP address. Data is mirrored locally and geographically.

Thu 2011-02-24 : Loom Version 110 Source Code Now Available

Look around our site, and you will see why we are excited about this momentous event!

We have turned back the clock to the days of privacy in your financial affairs, combined with modern internet technology!

We are using the finest platform available, the Loom interface! Loom offers you the safety, privacy, and flexibility to manage, spend, and save your money your way. And all with the confidence that Big Brother is not only not looking over your shoulder, but can’t!

That’s because the Loom system is totally encrypted, and with the unique way that it stores your data, not even the system’s admin can view your data!

Of course, this means no passphrase recovery is possible, so you need to store your information in a safe place. It’s the same thing as if you left a pile of cash in the road – the wind will come or a thief will come and it is gone. So be safe and keep your passphrase in multiple locations if possible.

We are initially starting with 4 asset types for your convenience: USD, EUR, Gold Grams and Silver Grams.

We as the admin for this system do not do your registration or customer support. That is done by the Exchanger of your choice.

Simply click on the button above to view our current list of trusted exchangers, and register with them as a customer, telling them you want to establish a Global Banking Account. They will then send you an invitation to open your new wallet on the Loom system. Please direct all customer service and support issues to your exchanger.

Remember, with our system, we don’t know who you are and we don’t want to know!

Other things we don’t know: we don’t know where the server is located, who really runs the system, or your personal information.

We are run under the auspices of Global Financial Security, a fully registered New Zealand Financial Services Company. They will, at some point, offer safe investment opportunities [in other words, real world investments, NOT ponzi schemes] offering a solid, safe, rate of return. You will be registered through the Loom interface only and your dividends will be returned to the account you spend from.

If you run an online business, it’s easy to become a merchant. Simply contact us for details. The Loom interface has an easy to use SCI and mass pay feature for your use with your customers, distributors, and affiliates.

Plus, under our “merchant sponsorship program,” you can sponsor your customers to get an account in our system without the normal $50.00 minimum opening balance! Please email us details of your business and we will see if you qualify to participate in this special program. Full details will be rushed to you via return email, or LIVE when we are on live chat.

And, as icing on the cake, we can give you a special deal on our Offshore Visa Debit Cards for you to offer your people!

We look forward to you becoming a loyal Global Banking Account customer today! Simply apply through one of our Official Exchangers today!

—

OffshoreCashier.com is the transaction processing site for Global Banking Accounts held by members of Global Financial Security.

Global Financial Security is a fully authorized New Zealand Financial Services Company, and as such is empowered to conduct all banking services to citizens of all countries EXCEPT NEW ZEALAND. If you are a New Zealand citizen or resident, we are sorry, but by law we can’t help you.

To get your Online Offshore Savings Account, you must first register with one of our Official Exchangers.  You should also visit Global Financial Security’s website to find out more details on the account.

Through our Global Banking Accounts you have access to a highly private, exclusive club that also gives you many of the tools you need for success.

Our Global Banking Accounts are better and more useful than your average offshore or onshore bank account.

Normal bank accounts, for instance, don’t provide an easy way to send and receive money around the world. You can authorize the payment of bills in many countries of the world without incurring the hassles and expenses you would usually encounter with your normal bank account.

Your accounts can be denominated in US dollars, Euros,  Gold Grams, and Silver Grams, offering you full flexibility in how you want to save your wealth.

Further, you can in exchange or out exchange many of the popular Internet E-currencies between those currencies and your banking account by using our own exchanger, offshorearnings.com, or any of the other exchangers we have accepted into our community.

And, you can discuss business and self improvement topics on our forums at SuccessQuest.info – and we have many private, member’s only forums for members to interact with each other.

So, why don’t you JOIN TODAY and begin to receive the benefits of membership in an exclusive online club made up of progressive, forward looking people who not only want to improve themselves, but are among the very few who ever go beyond wanting to acting!

Now everyone may easily participate in the Loom phenomenon quietly sweeping the globe. Words alone cannot express our thanks but “thanks Patrick”. Here is the link to that amazing code. http://github.com/chkoreff/Loom

To initiate any activity on the Loom system, each user must create at least one wallet (also known as a folder) which will hold all of the user’s assets. There are no formal accounts in a Loom system as you may find in conventional online payment systems like PayPal or Moneybookers. Unlike PayPal which restricts all users to just one account, Loom users are permitted to have multiple folders.

The process of opening a Loom folder, requires NO identifying information which, like a PayPal type system, would connect, link and legally bind a user through the Terms Of Service Agreement. A PayPal or Moneybookers accounts may require some or all of these items:

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email
• Credit Card Information
• Local Banking Information
• Utility Bill
• Telephone Call Verification
• ID Copy

The Loom folder does not require any identifying information (not even a name) and the only activity required to create a Loom folder is to choose a passphrase. The passphrase is the single identifying item(data) required to open & operate a Loom folder. Don’t lose it and don’t let others get your passphrase.

Security of design and basic transaction functions

A basic description of the Loom system might involve comparing it to an endless checkerboard or grid. As one user wants to send an asset to another user, a randomly generated location in cyberspace accepts a deposit of that asset. The secret location (number) on the grid which now contains that asset value is then delivered to the recipient. Private delivery of this number can be accomplished by any host of methods including but not limited to email, phone, fax, sms or written on a slip of paper and hand delivered.

Once the receiver has the number in his possession, they can simply log in to their private folder and accept the asset (remove it from the identified checkerboard location and place into their folder). This is a rather simplified description of the Loom operation but it is accurate.

There are also a host of software and API add ons which can automate this process, simplify the acceptance of an asset (payment) or incorporate the Loom activities into an existing shopping cart application. Example: Arto Bendiken is now integrating the Loom system into Drupal. See http://drupal.org/project/digitalcurrency , http://ar.to/

The information displayed in a Loom wallet(folder) is contained in these four sections:

• A dialog box for making payments
• The assets in your wallet
• Any assets in transit between you and your contacts
• Your personal transaction history

To sum things up, “an account” at any standard online payments company is comparable “a folder” in the Loom system. A payment is comparable to an asset transfer. Unlike a Moneybookers account where a transaction may be completed by sending money, Loom transactions have two parts. The sender places the asset in a shared location and the receiver then picks up the asset. The transaction is not completed and may be recalled until the receiver picks up the asset. By placing an asset on a private location and sharing that location, the Loom user is creating a “shared asset” which can be accessed by both users and is visible in both folders.

What is a Loom asset?

An asset is a type of digital value that can be created by a Loom user and moved around between contacts in the Loom system. Assets under the full ownership of the issuer which have not been already transferred to another user destroyed(removed from the system) by that issuers.

An digital asset may represent something of value in the real world. However, the Loom asset is just the digital representation of ownership. In effect users are moving the digital “right of title” of a physical asset. If the issuer of a Loom  The representation, worth and value of a digital Loom asset are determined by the individual who created it, known as the issuer.

Any user can issue new assets at anytime, these new assets may be identified in any way the issuer permits. However, most new users find it more common to accept assets already issued by another trusted parties. A new user may have been invited to create a folder and use the Loom system by accepting some existing assets given to him by an existing user.

Example: Graham is an existing user who has issued a digital gold gram product. A brand new user may be invited to create a folder and receive 2 grams of digital gold as payment for services rendered. In such a case the new user would not issue his or her own assets but just receive the gold gram payment.

Please understand that no physical assets ever change hands. The Loom system offers digital units which represent an item. Those digital units may have a valuable physical asset pledged by the issuer as backing or the digital assets may represent anything else of no real world value, such as a “Thank You”, an “IOU” or just “Hugs and Kisses”.

Creating a new asset.

Users may create as many assets as they desire, there is no limit to the variety or amount of assets which can be privately created by any user. (no restrictions) Users also have the option to transact exchanges using existing assets which were issued by another party. As a new user, you are not required to create new assets, you may use already issued assets.

When a user creates a new asset, that user is the sole issuer and pays that new asset into existence.  Once created, a new asset will appear as a negative balance on the creator’s home page. The negative reference indicates that the asset is a liability to that user who created it. Viewing a brand new asset, the ledger will show a balance of zero (-0, negative zero) because at that time no units of that asset have been spent into existence. Once transfers of the asset begin to take place the balance for that asset will drop further and further into the negative value depending on how much is being used at any time. The magnitude of the negative balance will, at all times, be equal the total quantity of the asset held by all other users in the system. This total figure is equal to all currently issued digital units of that asset. Example: If 100 users each have 1 unit, the issuer’s balance will show -100.

Details of an asset

Adding asset details to your folder is required before anyone can transact in a particular asset.

In order to effect a transfer between users, the receiver must be given specific details about the units and then add those details to their folder. Once the asset parameters exist in the user’s account, transfers of that asset can occur between folders.

Assets have several parameters which must be ‘set’ upon the creation of that asset and also anytime another user adds the ability to accept that asset into their folder. These 4 parameters are shown here.

1. The “ID” is a number which uniquely identifies the asset. It must be a “hexadecimal” number, consisting of exactly 32 digits 0-9 or a-f. Note that when creating a new asset, the software will automatically insert a brand new random ID on your behalf, which can be used with confidence or if preferred any other hex number may be substituted at the time of creation, if so desired.
2. The “Name” is used to identify the asset and can be anything the user prefers. If the original issuer called his assets apples, another user may want to exactly copy this term or use another. Any user may label that asset anything they desire. It does not have to be unique across the entire Loom system. (As a user, you may want to label the asset “green apples” or “purple oranges”, this is your choice.) This label is only visible from the user’s own folder.  The ID is the specific label which truly distinguishes the asset.
3. The Scale is a number which tells the system where to put the decimal point. For example, if you have 123456789 units of the asset type and the Scale is set to 7, the number will be displayed as 12.3456789 in your folder. If you omit the Scale, it’s the same as 0.
4. The Min Precision is optional. This forces the system to display at least a certain number of decimal places. For example, if you set Min Precision to 3, then the number “12.1″ will be displayed as “12.100″.

Fortunately the software developer has automated much of this work. To add an asset to your folder, a user is only required to enter the ID, the rest is set automatically.

Activity between users falls into three categories: person2person, person2business and business2business. (Loom makes no distinction between “person” and “business”)  The digital units which exist on a Loom system are distinctly private and their existence is only known to the user which created the unit. (issuer) There is no public disclosure (menu, index or list) of digital units which exist on the Loom software.

As a user, if you create an asset for the movement of value between specific friends or business associates, that asset if only known to you and to others whom you disclose its existence. (There is no dropdown menu or list of assets where a random user may select to use your private asset, this information is absolutely private to the issuer.) The actual knowledge an issuers name, who uses that asset and what that asset is used for….is 100% private. Even the operator of the system, the person who installed the software and operates the server, does not have the ability to discover which assets have been created or are operating on the system.

Some Loom users will keep their assets private and only provide that information to known friends or associates. Other users will publicly list their units with the intent of attracting more customers and business. The bottom line: If others learn of your asset it is because you wanted to share that information.

As a user, if you are not aware of an asset or have not added the asset’s details to your folder, it is technically impossible to effect a transfer of that asset. Example: If I tell you, I would like to transfer you ownership of 100 “Guru Gold” grams, before you can accept these assets, you must have already received the precise ID, Scale and Min Precision. Once a user has set up their folder to send or receive this asset, movement of units in or out of the account can begin. Since this process is now automated the only item needed to add the asset profile to your folder is the ID.

Loom assets, should NOT be considered or labeled as digital money, digital currency or any sort of physical assets of any value. The term “value transfer” as generally defined also is NOT 100% accurate for describing Loom software because privately created digital units only represent the ownership title to an asset not the actual item. These asset transfers might not not considered “digital money” as the digital unit representing an ‘asset’ may have real value backing such as gold or the asset may exist as a virtual label. The asset may have no real worth beyond its digital representation between two users. (one asset may be gold grams, hugs-and-kisses, and still another may be thank-you-happy-thoughts–Sending a friend “thank-you-happy” units technically cannot be classified as a value transfer:-)

Asset examples:

• Guru Gold Grams
• Thank-You-Happy Thoughts

These may be two assets which trade between Loom users and each digital unit is a title representing something to that user. However, these digital units may or may not represent any real value.

Introducing an asset to another user

If a user needs to exchange an asset with another user who has never before accepted that asset into his own folder, the receiver needs an ID description like this one:

1650f617c024d6441461b2538c6d9540x7x3x476f6c644e6f7742616e6320476f6c644772616d73xbea0ad51

It should be easy to double-click, copy, and paste that description into an email or chat. You can also publish it on a blog or web site (along with some explanatory text) so others can see it and investigate it for themselves.

When the receiver gets this ID, he can easily accept it into his folder. After that time the two users can create a shared point and exchange this asset.

The entire Loom system is built upon a very solid Application Programmer Interface (API). There are two primary APIs:

• Grid [https://loom.cc/?function=grid_tutorial&help=1]
• Archive [https://loom.cc/?function=archive_tutorial&help=1]

These links also include a “Tutorial” which gives you the chance to try out the API interactively.  The Loom Content Management System [https://loom.cc/?function=edit] is a very basic system for managing documents in the Loom Archive. You can create, delete, edit, and upload data here, paying in usage tokens. There is also some Tools [https://loom.cc/?function=folder_tools] which do some computations with IDs and passphrases.

Entry into this system is by invitation only. Before anyone can create a folder, the new user must find a sponsor who is willing to send an invitation. Here are a few suggestions:

• Check with well-known and reputable exchangers on the web, for example: Goldnow.st
• Ask a friend who already uses the system.
• Search on the term “loom invitation” or “usage tokens” using a prominent search engine.
• Read blogs, post queries on email lists, etc.

Additional Information on Loom (essays)

• What is Loom? — by Sandy Sandfort
• Bead Metaphor
• Free markets and digital currencies in China — “Who’s the commie now?”
• Bill St. Clair’s Loom page
• “Monetize Yourself” — A user recounts his experience and insights.
• Rapid Trends Blog
  — fresh monetary news from Alex Stanczyk of Anglo Far-East Bullion Company
• Download Version 87 of the Loom source code.

Now in addition to paying to normal permanent contact points, you can also pay to “[Cash: New]“, which you will see in the contact drop-down menu. When you do this, it creates a new temporary contact and moves the asset there. You then copy and paste the token and send it to the payee.

When the payee receives the token, he logs in and pastes it into the “Receive Cash” field. The received assets appear and he can claim them normally with a single click.

This new “cash” feature is handy when you want to pay someone but don’t expect to interact with him very often in the future. This way, you and the payee can avoid the step of adding a shared permanent contact point to your folders — which you would probably never use again. It’s also useful for quick invitations — just pay 100 usage tokens to “cash” and send the token to the invitee.

Of course, when two people *do* pay each other frequently, the shared permanent Contact point is still the most convenient method by far, since the two parties don’t need to copy, paste, and securely send a brand new “cash ID” every time they pay each other.

Both modes of usage are highly convenient in their own right, depending on the circumstances.

(thanks Patrick)

There will be more on Loom.cc in this months’ DGCmagazine.