I killed almost a year on a similar project and it flopped majestically.
I even worked out how to do the whole verification part that it works out of the box without the need for any software or 3rd party service. You just needed a Windows box. Still that made no difference whatsoever, because ultimately selling this sort of service is like selling insurance. You have to force people to think about bad things that could happen in order to make a sale, and that's just not everyone's cup 'o tea.
I found your project when I was researching to see if anything like Bitstamped.io already existed.
One of the key differences with Bitstamped is that the publicly verifiable time-stamp (the QR code link) is circulated with the printed document.
So as well as the proof, it might also be a deterrent against plagiarism.
I bet a lot of start-up founders go through that anxious "what if someone steals my idea" phase whilst they're pitching it around.. Having some part of the business plan (doesn't have to be all of it) Bitstamped might just help alleviate some of that anxiety. Maybe.
Nice writeup, I think your conclusion is pretty spot on. People neglect to buy insurance, don't back up data, and ignore safety margins. Why would they start timestamping their files.
That being said, I really like how the service worked. If I understand it correctly, I would download the signed work (signed .exe with content included), which also means that I would have proof after the service got shut down.
It used AuthentiCode executable signing to bind VeriSign's timestamps to the documents. Basically, this allows for an unlimited use of VeriSign's mature and robust timestamping infrastructure for a cost of a single signing certificate ($150/year or thereabouts). Not to pat myself on the back, but I think it was nothing short of ingenious :)
I even worked out how to do the whole verification part that it works out of the box without the need for any software or 3rd party service. You just needed a Windows box. Still that made no difference whatsoever, because ultimately selling this sort of service is like selling insurance. You have to force people to think about bad things that could happen in order to make a sale, and that's just not everyone's cup 'o tea.
Postmortem - http://swapped.cc/certtime