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BCR-2026-XXX: Fair Witness Predicates#155

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ChristopherA wants to merge 7 commits intomasterfrom
bcr-2026-010
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BCR-2026-XXX: Fair Witness Predicates#155
ChristopherA wants to merge 7 commits intomasterfrom
bcr-2026-010

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Proposes Known Values for Fair Witness attestations in Gordian Envelopes — human observation with explicit acknowledgment of limitations.

Predicates defined:

  • observerWitness — The entity making the observation
  • observationTimestamp — When the observation was made
  • observerIndependence — Relationship disclosure (independent, affiliated, etc.)
  • observationScope — What was and wasn't directly observed
  • observationMethodology — How the observation was conducted

Codepoints: Community range 1120-1124

Based on the Fair Witness concept: reporting only direct observations with acknowledged limitations, distinguishing observed facts from interpretation.

Seeking rough consensus; willing to use 100000+ range if community prefers.

@shannona shannona self-requested a review February 3, 2026 19:49
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LGTM.

@ChristopherA
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Updates (Feb 4, 2026)

Per reviewer feedback:

  1. Notation: Changed CID(...)Digest(...) per Issue BCR notation question: Content-addressed envelope references in examples #157 resolution
  2. Type markers: Fixed quoting for type markers (e.g., 'FairWitnessObservation')

@ChristopherA
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Per Wolf's feedback: removed { } envelope wrapping from examples that don't include signatures. Wrapping is only needed when showing signed envelopes.

@ChristopherA ChristopherA changed the title Add BCR-2026-010: Fair Witness Predicates BCR-2026-009: Fair Witness (Renumbered from 010) Feb 4, 2026
@ChristopherA
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Updates (2026-02-04)

Renumbering

  • Renumbered: BCR-2026-010 → BCR-2026-009
  • Codepoint range: 1100-1104 (unchanged assignment)
  • Branch name bcr-2026-010 retained for PR history continuity

Content

  • No significant content changes
  • Cross-references updated to reflect suite renumbering

Related

This PR is part of a coordinated suite of 8 BCRs for attribution, authority, and endorsement predicates. See PR #151 for the complete overview of the suite structure.

Proposes Known Values for neutral observer attestation: observerWitness,
observationTimestamp, observerIndependence, observationScope, etc.

Community range 1120-1124. Seeking rough consensus; willing to use
100000+ if community prefers.

Signed-off-by: Christopher Allen <ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com>
Part of coordinated suite renumbering. BCR-2026-004 (Signing Event
Attestations) was inserted, shifting all subsequent numbers.

Codepoint range unchanged: 1100-1104

Signed-off-by: Christopher Allen <ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com>
Per Wolf's recommendation: use temporary letter designations.
Actual BCR numbers will be assigned at merge time.
Updated all internal cross-references to XXX format.

Signed-off-by: Christopher Allen <ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com>
@ChristopherA ChristopherA changed the title BCR-2026-009: Fair Witness (Renumbered from 010) BCR-2026-XXX: Fair Witness Predicates Feb 5, 2026
Clarifies that observerWitness identifies a person who observed facts
(human attestation), while sig:Witnessed is a commitment type enum
describing a signer's intent. Different subjects, different purposes.

Signed-off-by: Christopher Allen <ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com>
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Added distinction note clarifying observerWitness vs sig:Witnessed from the new Signature Qualifiers BCR.

Key point: observerWitness identifies a person who observed facts (human attestation with subject=Observation), while sig:Witnessed is a commitment type enum describing a signer's intent (subject=Signature). Both may apply together — a Fair Witness might sign their attestation using sig:commitmentType: sig:Witnessed while identifying themselves via observerWitness.

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