Bitcoin makes the technical process easier but doesn't help with the hard problem (as you said): finding a third party with domain expertise, whom they both trust, who is willing to adjudicate at very low cost.
It sounds like your startup is trying to solve that and create a "Trust Marketplace". Godspeed. Establishing trust between strangers is a very hard problem.
And while you may find a way to innovate around existing laws, new laws will be written.
> finding a third party with domain expertise, whom they both trust
I would say that in this specific instance, they could've quite easily agreed on a reputable user from the comp.compression newsgroup whom they both trust.
> adjudicate at very low cost.
It makes sense that arbitrators for niche markets with considerable domain expertise could charge a premium for their services. Say, $50-$150 for that specific case doesn't seem like a stretch.
Also, note that the fee could be charged only in case of dispute. (and indeed, many trust agents on Bitrated offer their services for free or nearly-free when there's no dispute and no work on their part. 0.1% base fee + 2% for disputes seems to be a popular fee structure.)
> Establishing trust between strangers is a very hard problem.
Indeed! This is the main problem we're trying to tackle, which is arguably much harder than providing the technological platform for payments.
> And while you may find a way to innovate around existing laws, new laws will be written.
The thing is, we aren't taking advantage of some "loophole" or anything like that. The escrow regulations exists for a reason and makes a lot of sense - holding funds on behalf of others should have strict regulations attached to it. Escrow providers are trusted to keep the funds safe from thieves, not to "run away" with them, and to resist the temptation to invest user funds to make a (potentially quite high) profit while holding them (which could result in losing them, even in relatively "safe" investments).
With multi-signature, none of that risk exists, and so it makes sense that the regulation won't either. Even when new laws gets written to address that, they're likely to be much less strict.
The legal situation with multi-signature is very similar to a binding arbitration clause, so we anticipate regulations to be based off of that (and arbitration is significantly less strictly regulated than escrow).
It sounds like your startup is trying to solve that and create a "Trust Marketplace". Godspeed. Establishing trust between strangers is a very hard problem.
And while you may find a way to innovate around existing laws, new laws will be written.