Vermont house sale registered using blockchain technology

When Katherine Purcell sold her home in South Burlington Vermont on February 20th, it was groundbreaking and different from the usual house sale. The sale was recorded on a blockchain.

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Pilot project with Propy

Last year the the city of South Burlington agreed to begin recording real estate sales on the Ethereum blockchain as part of a pilot program with the aid of Propy a real estate platform developed by the San Francisco based company of the same name.

The announcement of the project and details can be found on the Propy blog.

The purpose of Propy

Propy's platform allows anyone to buy or sell real estate anywhere online. The Ethereum-based blockchain records each step in the transaction, from expressing interest in a particular property, to signing agreements, to title transfers.

The process is much more secure than sales done through traditional methods would be. It would be impossible for a person to claim that they had not received a payment or signed a document, nor could they alter records. The process provides an unchangeable record on the blockchain ledger that cannot be hacked.

On its website Propy claims: "Propy integrates blockchain ledger for the governments to make title deeds issuance for your property instantly online, secure and cost-effective."

The nature of the pilot program

Donna Kinville, a South Burlington City Clerk said in February that the pilot program has four levels. The integration of Propy's system increases at each level. The sale by Purcell probably is at the first level. The processes used by the city are unchanged. The difference is that the paper title the city received includes the location of that title in the Propy blockchain.

At level four, Propy will replace entirely the system used by South Burlington at present to manage its land records.

Sale was the very first sanctioned use of blockchain technology for a public service

Often the crypto area is regarded with suspicion by governments and financial institutions but it is clear that blockchain technology has many applications in real estate, banking and in many other areas.

A Propy source said: “This first deal makes it much easier for the rest of the 49 states to iterate the process... In fact, Arizona and Colorado are next.”

The pilot project could represent a turning point for the use of blockchain technology in government offices. Many other jurisdictions may try Propy if the project turns out well. Its success could lead to use of the blockchain technology in other areas as well.

A video promo for Propy is appended.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Vermont towns vote to impeach Bush

I don't imagine that Bush or Cheney are shaking in their cowboy boots. It would be more threatening if the Democrats mounted a serious attempt to impeach Bush and Cheney.

Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney John Nichols
Wed Mar 7, 7:36 AM ET



The Nation -- When Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, a Republican with reasonably close ties to President Bush, asked if there was any additional business to be considered at the town meeting he was running in Middlebury, Ellen McKay popped up and proposed the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

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The governor was not amused. As moderator of the annual meeting, he tried to suggest that the proposal to impeach -- along with another proposal to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq -- could not be voted on.

But McKay, a program coordinator at Middlebury College, pressed her case. And it soon became evident that the crowd at the annual meeting shared her desire to hold the president to account.

So Douglas backed down.

"It became clear that no one was going home until they had the chance to discuss the resolutions and vote on them," explained David Rosenberg, a political science professor at Middlebury College. "And being a good politician, he allowed the vote to happen."

By an overwhelming voice vote, Middlebury called for impeachment.

So it has gone this week at town meetings across Vermont, most of which were held Tuesday.

Late Tuesday night, there were confirmed reports that 36 towns had backed impeachment resolutions, and the number was expected to rise.

In one town, Putney, the vote for impeachment was unanimous.

In addition to Governor Douglas's Middlebury, the town of Hartland, which is home to Congressman Peter Welch (news, bio, voting record), backed impeachment. So, too, did Jericho, the home of Gaye Symington, the speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.

Organizers of the grassroots drive to get town meetings to back impeachment resolutions hope that the overwhelming support the initiative has received will convince Welch to introduce articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney. That's something the Democratic congressman is resisting, even though his predecessor, Bernie Sanders, signed on last year to a proposal by Michigan Congressman John Conyers (news, bio, voting record) to set up a House committee to look into impeachment.

Vermont activists also want their legislature to approve articles of impeachment and forward them to Congress. But Symington, also a Democrat, has discouraged the initiative, despite the fact that more than 20 representatives have cosponsored an impeachment resolution.

"It's going to be hard for Peter Welch and Gaye Symington to say there's no sentiment for impeachment, now that their own towns have voted for it," says Dan DeWalt, a Newfane, Vermont, town selectman who started the impeachment initiative last year in his town, and who now plans to launch a campaign to pressure Welch and Symington to respect and reflect the will of the people.

It is going to be even harder for Governor Douglas, who just this month spent two nights at the Bush White House, to face his president.

After all, Douglas now lives in a town that is on record in support of Bush's impeachment and trial for high crimes and misdemeanors.

For the record, Middlebury says:

We the people have the power -- and the responsibility -- to remove executives who transgress not just the law, but the rule of law.

The oaths that the President and Vice President take binds them to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." The failure to do so forms a sound basis for articles of impeachment.

The President and Vice President have failed to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" in the following ways:

1. They have manipulated intelligence and misled the country to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq.

2. They have directed the government to engage in domestic spying without warrants, in direct contravention of U.S. law.

3. They have conspired to commit the torture of prisoners, in violation of the Federal Torture Act and the Geneva Convention.

4. They have ordered the indefinite detention without legal counsel, without charges and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention -- all in violation of U.S. law and the Bill of Rights.

When strong evidence exists of the most serious crimes, we must use impeachment -- or lose the ability of the legislative branch to compel the executive branch to obey the law.

George Bush has led our country to a constitutional crisis, and it is our responsibility to remove him from office.

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