Rollback Is Not Undo

Rollback is not reversal. Rollback is declaration of invalid authority after the fact.

When a system rolls back, it does not erase history— it judges it.

I. The Dangerous Confusion Between Rollback and Undo

Undo implies:

the action never happened

consequences never existed

authority was never exercised

Rollback does not do this.

Rollback means:

the action occurred

the authority was exercised

the outcome was later declared invalid

This is adjudication.

II. Rollback Preserves History

A lawful rollback:

keeps the original action

keeps its timestamp

keeps its actor

keeps its consequences

adds a judgment declaring it void

Erasing history is falsification.

III. Rollback Is a Retroactive Verdict

Rollback applies law after execution.

It states:

“this should not have been allowed”

“this outcome cannot stand”

“future state must compensate”

Retroactive judgment must be rare, explicit, and justified.

IV. Rollback Changes Trust Boundaries

After rollback:

trust in the actor may change

permissions may be reduced

supervision may increase

safeguards may tighten

Rollback is corrective governance.

V. Rollback Requires Compensation

Rolling back state does not roll back reality.

External effects:

notifications sent

payments attempted

messages delivered

actions observed

These require compensation.

Ignoring compensation creates inconsistency.

VI. Rollback Must Be Explicitly Authorized

A lawful rollback requires:

declared rollback authority

scope limitations

reason codes

approval or quorum

Silent or automatic rollback is unchecked power.

VII. Rollback Must Be Recorded

A lawful system records:

the original action

the rollback decision

who authorized it

when it occurred

what was compensated

Rollback without record is secret revision.

Secret revision is illegitimate.

VIII. Replay Requires Rollback Semantics

Replay must reproduce:

the original execution

the rollback judgment

the compensation actions

the final state

If replay simply “never executes” the action, audit fails.

IX. Infrastructure Rollbacks Are Not Law

Database transactions, snapshots, and version control do not define rollback law.

They provide tools.

Rollback policy must live in:

kernel decisions

registry rules

versioned authority

Not in implicit transactions.

X. Final Conclusion

Rollback is not undo.

A lawful system:

treats rollback as retroactive judgment

preserves full history

applies compensation explicitly

restricts rollback authority

records and replays rollback deterministically

Anything else erases reality instead of governing it.