Infrastructure · Verification
OathBind
Pre-commitment to penalties
Definition
Mechanism
An automated binding mechanism where an Actor cryptographically commits to a RuleSet. This creates a self-enforcing constraint where deviation triggers an automatic penalty (defined in the rules) via SpotAudit.
Invariants
- Penalty execution requires cryptographic evidence of the deviation.
- Immutability: rules cannot be changed after signing.
Risks
Failure modes
Penalty severity decoupled from deviation severity.
RuleSet ambiguity triggers an unintended penalty.
No path to contest
evidence is sound and the rule it proves a breach of was misconfigured, so an automated penalty executes correctly and wrongly.
Caution
Automated penalties — misconfigured rules cause cascading harm.
Relationships
Builds on
Used by
References
Mind
Pre-commitment against hyperbolic discounting
Society
Continuous ownership of a system invariant
Reference