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For entrepreneurs, money talks. For users, convenience talks. For investors, returns talk. Everything else is water under the bridge.
I haven't followed this closely, but anytime the government gets more power that is not a good thing. The Internet is one of the biggest threats to government control, propaganda and power so naturally governments want to find a way to control it and it wouldn't surprise me at all that Net Neutrality is just part of a broader agenda to do that. What shocks me is how one-sided the debate has been. Next thing you know we'll have the Digital Currency Freedom Act that will protect people from hackers, scammers, child porn, and terrorists with a 50% tax on DACs and new coins so they can create a new Department of Internet Security and a new Internet czar.Anyways... I'll go back to Bitshares and more positive thoughts now....
The US government created the Internet and Tor. Yes the same government that hates the Internet created it. Yes the same government that hates Tor created Tor. Yes the same government that fears freedom helped to create the freedom it fears. It's always been like this in America.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/f-c-c-moves-to-free-up-community-broadband-services/?_r=0
Anyways... I'll go back to Bitshares and more positive thoughts now.... 
Here's a nice chart to get an idea of the different options and how they compare. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Payment_methods
The biggest problem is chargebacks, wires are fairly safe but you have to wait quite awhile for them to clear. I've heard of a wire getting reversed even after a month.
Cash is obviously the safest but there are some things you need to keep in mind. I've been using Localbitcoins for 2 years now and I've seen almost every scam.
Cash in person, you have to worry about your own personal safety and not getting "jacked". Its very rare but happens so bring a friend or meet in a public place if possible. Also the market is extremely limited when your talking about 'within 30 miles drive'... vs the entire country, but it is always nice to meet locals.
Cash deposit at a bank is by far the most lucrative, as you can reach the most people, and quickly complete the trade from home. Cash reversals, and man in the middle attacks, are surprisingly common so there are some steps you should take to protect yourself.
Always require a picture of the receipt with details of the trade written on it. like "trade between Alice and Bob for bitUSD at LocalBitSwap.com, No Refund without ID" something like that. This does 2 things. A man in the middle would have a hard time getting someone else to write strange names and website they've never heard of on the receipt.... it also gives some protection against a cash reversal with "No Refund" ... This isn't enough though in all cases. If possible you will want to move the cash out of the account either into another account you control or withdraw the money. For many banks it is possible to withdraw from an atm if the attacker has your account number name and routing number. The routing number is public information if they know what state your in and your giving them the account number and your name for them to deposit to. So whatever account you use make sure there is little to no extra money there. It goes against all sense but believe it or not some Bank of America's will refund a cash deposit even the next day if the depositor has the receipt or claims fraud.
Also keep in mind that if you do a lot of volume, your account will likely get shut down with the bank. Especially if your making purchases from coinbase or wiring to a bitcoin exchange etc.
Damn. I only intended to post a link and got carried away
This BitShares web wallet has the same trust/security model as blockchain.info. So if you trust blockchain.info you can (in theory) trust this web wallet (although I cannot vouch for the security practices of whoever is managing the wallet.bitshares.org host compared to the blockchain.info servers). Now call me paranoid, but I personally do not trust blockchain.info with my BTC for the reasons I already stated earlier in this thread, so you can imagine I would feel the same way with this BitShares web wallet.
I didn't watch the video, but the problem isn't if the server has encrypted secrets. The problem is that you are trusting the third-party server to deliver the code that will run on your local computer every time you load the page. That javascript code running on your computer has access to the local storage in the browser that stores your encrypted secrets. It also has access to the wallet password you type into the password box. If this code is compromised, then your funds will be compromised. Because you trust the server to deliver you the trusted code, if the server gets compromised the attacker can feed you malicious code instead. To prevent this you need to have a model where you manually approve of the initial installation of the code and any upgrades so that the server cannot feed you new malicious code without you knowing. Furthermore, you need a way to verify that the initial installation or the upgrade is good. This requires deterministic builds (not a problem with javascript) and signatures on the builds from trusted parties (e.g. the core devs). You need to be able to verify the upgrade is good before installing it. You also want the private keys of the trusted people that can sign the code to be stored offline (cold storage) to be secure and not stored on a hot server that can be hacked.
Does multisig and 2FA solve anything? No, because the multisig is provided by the web wallet server and if that is compromised then the multisig is also compromised and useless.
Can this be solved by having one or more of the multisig providers reside on another unknown server, or possibly from some or all of the delegates themselves?
You can distribute this keys of the multisig over multiple servers but at the end of the day there will only be a handful of servers to attack to gain access to all users.
The better solution is to force the attacker to hack into each user's computer at a minimum if they want to steal their funds. Adding multisig on top of that of course adds more security and I highly recommend that.
And as I explained, serving this as a typical web page (even if HTTPS protected) allows the attacker to avoid hacking into each user's computer. I think a browser extension that you have to manually install once and need to explicitly approve of any upgrades would help a lot. Personally, I don't feel very comfortable with using any browser-based solution for serious money. I would want to download a deterministically-compiled executable that is signed by enough of the core devs with their PGP keys which I have already established on my local computer (actually I would want the source archive signed by the devs and then would want to compile it myself, but the deterministic build is a better solution if you don't want to compile yourself). To make this easier, it should be possible to use the previous version of the client and the web-of-trust on the blockchain to validate the signatures of the new version of the client. That way upgrades can be very simple for regular users (no PGP required). The only issue then is how to establish the first installation of the client on a new computer. Still, even if we rely on HTTPS for the security of that initial download, the attack surface becomes so much smaller that it is difficult for an attacker to be very successful.
https://www.peerhub.com/items/6600-5-bitusd
So you can meet in person to do this transaction?
Accepting Paypal is pretty risky?
A localbitusd/localbitassets/localbitshares website is needed.
Any trusted individual within the US, such as a US based delegate, who's willing to accept wire transfer could offer to trade with you.
You can use the marketplace website Peerhub I started. It's like Craigslist (also like Ebay/Etsy etc.) Very easy to use and it would be great for people to buy and sell bitUSD/bitGold/bitShares there. There's a Tech->Bitcoin category you can list in.
I just added a sample post here:
https://www.peerhub.com/items/6599-10-bitusd
Once you're logged in you can filter by 'Local' and everyone with listings within 50 miles of the city you enter will show up.
It would be fantastic to have people here use the website for bitUSD exchanges. The target market for the website is mainstream users (although we did add Bitcoin functionality) so this can be a great channel to introduce new people to bitUSD/bitShares especially if there is good access to buy/sell bitUSD/bitShares. We also plan on integrating bitUSD on the platform.
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any questions... thanks!
You are awesome sir!!! When my paycheck comes in, I am coming your way!
A localbitusd/localbitassets/localbitshares website is needed.
Any trusted individual within the US, such as a US based delegate, who's willing to accept wire transfer could offer to trade with you.
How about 'normal' online businesses, and getting paid in bitXXX (possibly not the best abstraction there.. heh) ?
Would this not bring advantages, especially for those on the frontline who are already being paid in crypto? There seems to be good potential there, I'm willing to bet these people would prefer to have stable value on their earnings instead of being subject to btc/altcoin volatility.
Here are 2 misconceived/FUD points that I often hear people mention:
-BitShares is centralized! There are only 101 delegates.
-The peg will never work! As soon as there is a margin call, margin calls will cascade and the whole thing will collapse and BitUSD will be black-swaned into nothing.
1. Increased liquidity
2. Slick one-click mobile design
3. Easy ecommerce integration
4. ? ? ?
5. PROFIT
