Time Frames in a Lightning Channel #4
Description
There are some important trade-offs around considering the time frames in channels and HTLCs.
I will base off my argument from the user-perspective. User wallets will either run on a smartphone (online around 23/7, good for us) or on a desktop/notebook. On smartphones we can install a handler, checking for contract breaches regularly. On the other hand I know a lot of everyday people that aren't online on their desktop for days or even weeks. We can create services that alarm users when a channel was closed over SMS, and instruct him to start up his client. The service would need very little information, just enough to inform the user, such that the client on his machine can do the rest.
Having established that, we need to consider a timeframe, such that the everyday users have a chance to start up their clients in time. Non-tech-savvy people who also travel a lot will still be a problem in this scenario, but I think further services will emerge when we hit those problems.
I think it is reasonable to assume that everyone can gain access to his computer within 7 days of notice.
EDIT: I'm not sure anymore, I opened up the issue I had on the mailing list
http://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/lightning-dev/2015-September/000182.html